OMG! The swim was atrocious! BUT the only one to blame is myself. I could not breath well and I never got comfortable. I wanted to quite on lap one. This kinda felt like when I first started running and couldn't do more then 5 minutes without my chest exploding...I remember I always asked myself 'why am i doing this!?!?'...this time too. Granted this was the first open water swim of the season and the training was started too late. The other people swimming didn't bother me though...I stayed out of their way (or tried too).

Get up to at least an hour long swim MONTHS before the race...I ramped up too quick and only had a month of 4 50min swims. I never was able to work on speed either. Oh well, this was expected. Training has been difficult to juggle.

I walked from the beach to the T1. Couldn't get my shirt on. It rolled up and my number ripped out of the corner. I forgot to tape my gels to my bike...they stayed in my camelbak...ON MY BACK! Whoops. Ate a gel though. Took too long getting the sand off my feet.

Plan a little better. Should have run to the T1 but since only race #1, kept it relaxed.

I kept my pace and gearing just like training. Didn't want to get too excited. I drank 3-4 swallows of gatorade every 10-15minutes. Never had to pee. Had to stop at the half-way to get a gel to eat. About 4 big 'granny gear' hills for me. I recovered quickly from them. The course was quite, serene and relaxing. Lots of farms and feilds to look at. Although I never smelled any breakfast as I passed. I guess the farmers get up way early to do their eating.n I didn't pass anyone. Then again, I was near last on the swim and on a MTB...couldn't expect anymore.

A real bike would improve my time considerably. I was riding on knobbys. Someday when I am not poor...or when somebody wants to give me a real bike! :) I kept it relaxed pace on the bike...I could have pushed it a lot more if I wanted to. But it was the first race this year.

Racked the bike and took off...also got a gel to eat as I left the transition...that is gel #3 for today.

Nothing.

Had a drink of Gatorade at every station...just a couple of swallows. The run started out good. I never got the time to practice bricks and was very surprised that my legs felt good and NOT rubbery. I kept a relaxed pace. This was the only part of the race where I passed several people. This was actually the only part of the race where I SAW people! :) An interesting observation: Most people were quite..not too many 'good jobs' or 'way to go' people seemed more focused...or more near death being near the back of the pack with me! This race series does offer a couple 10 thousand dollar purses at the end...maybe this race had more 'serious' athletes for competition and less newbies that I have seen at just isolated races that are not part of a series. Who knows. Everyone was nice nevertheless.

I held back. The run was the only event that I was ready for. My long runs has been from 70-90 minutes for 3-4 months. Running was the only thing I could fit in this winter and early spring.

Walked some and drank some more liquids. Didn't stay long as I had to get back to my expectant wife who just turned 26...we were celebrating her birthday today with a cookout...so I had to jet. I chattered with a guy from Pittsburg who had his bike racked near mine...told me of his 1/2 and full IM experiences. I was tired, ate chocolate and drank coffee to stay awake for the long, busy drive home.


Personally, I really sucked-@ss on this race...I am embarrased to even post this report. But it IS a benchmark for this season and it will be cool to see how my times change as I focus on different events as the season progresses. That or either they get worse after our second kid is born due to no training! SO WHAT LIMITED ME TO PERFORM FASTER? Limited training time available. Getting started on swimming too late. Riding a MTB. I would love to shave at least 40minutes total off my time by the end of the year...that would put me mid-pack. Gonna try the swim 3x/week and some drills for speed so I can hopefully get the 43 minutes to about 30-35. The bike? I need a real bike if I am gonna improve much here. I may see about getting some sliks put on to start. The run...I may work on some intervals...I have a good base established. Will try to go for negative splits during training.


This is an excellant beginners race with a calm lake, only a few hills for the bike AND little traffic. Lots of volunteers...I never made a wrong turn. Plenty of drink stations for the run. There were about 6 different waves going out at different times due to at least 4 different races (sprint/oly/male/female/du). They all went off on time. Kudos to HFP.