I tried to line up on the far left side of the pack at the start. I'm slow, this was my first tri, and I didn't want to get pummeled. Then the race officials told us to all squeeze in toward center, and as the starting horn went off I realized I was in front of a bunch of people...not good.

I tried to swim freestyle, but found myself sucking down water, bumping other racers (and getting bumped), and totally getting out of breath. To calm down, I tried breast stroking for a while. This is something I've practiced a total of about 5 lengths in the pool since I learned to swim. Not good. I could sight the buoy better, but I was still getting out of breath.

I flipped over and tried backstroking. This helped, and I was able to catch my breath and start getting mentally un-freaked-out again. After a while, I started wondering why I had spent all that time in the pool learning how to freestyle. I had certainly proved I couldn't swim freestyle in a race!

Or had I...

I rounded the first buoy, still backstroking, and paused for a few seconds to look back at the 'field' behind me. There weren't many left, just a few sad stragglers like me, all backstroking or breast stroking or simply floating there like pieces of driftwood.

Hmmm, maybe I should try freestyle for a couple minutes, I thought. This time I really (really) tried to stay calm and relaxed. I focused on reaching with each stroke, keeping a nice, slow pace, and breathing. When I rounded the second buoy I knew I could finish.

I must have moved up a few spots after I started freestyle swimming, because I completed the 1500m swim in 30 minutes, putting me into solid "front of the back of the pack". :-)

Before my next triathlon I will spend a LOT more time swimming in open water with a wetsuit. I did get exactly one practice swim the week of the race, but it was short and I kept stopping frequently.

More time in the pool will help, too!

Coming out of the water, the zipper of my wetsuit got stuck briefly, but other than that my wetsuit came off easily. I tried to put on socks, but it seemed like it would take way too much time with wet feet, so I ditched that idea and went sockless.

I put on my bike shoes, Camelbak, helmet, and sunglasses, and ran out of T1 for a transition time of 1:37 (22nd fastest overall). My gloves were on the ends of my handlebar. It was difficult putting them on while riding, and I actually dropped one and had to stop and get it.

Next time I will try a tip I got today: Ultimax triathlon socks, which are supposed to be easy to put on with wet feet. I will also put my gloves on before leaving T1.

This mountain bike course is why I wanted to do a triathlon! I started off at a reasonable pace up the first hill, then gradually increased the intensity level throughout the course. I never felt like I was redlining it, though. I wanted to save a lot left for the run.

I carried my bike through the first water crossing, but I was able to ride two of the next three because they were more shallow. Overall I was happy with what I was able to ride. Just a couple of dabs and a couple of places I had to carry my bike up a 4-foot ledge, but most of it was ridable. The downhills were ridiculously fast and rough, but my Turner 5-Spot (rest its soul, it was stolen last night) performed admirably on this terrain. I felt sorry for anyone on a hardtail.

A slow swim does give you more people to pass, so that was fun...

I would push the pace just a little more. I got passed near the end of the bike course and remember thinking, why am I letting that guy pass me? I'm not working all that hard.

I did not attempt to take my feet out of my shoes before arriving. I did unclip my Camelbak and helmet straps ahead of time, however. Upon arriving, I jumped off, ran to my spot, dropped my Camelbak, and took off my gloves and helmet.

My bike shoes came off easily, and my running shoes with Yankz laces went on quickly. However, with wet feet (from the water crossings) my insoles got bunched up under my toes and the balls of my feet. I made a quick decision just to tolerate it, grabbed my visor, and got out of there. It made for an uncomfortable, but still tolerable, run.

My time of 37 seconds was 15th fastest overall, so I'm happy with that.

Wear socks. This would help my feet slide into my shoes without bunching up the insoles.

It was starting to get hot by this point in the day, with temperatures in the high 90s and no protection from the sun. The beach sand on the first out-and-back was just ridiculous to run in. It was so soft and deep. After that it got better, but the run still seemed long.

I got passed by two or three guys in my age group, but they were strong and I didn't think I could stay with them.

I tried to pace it well and picked it up over the last third of the course.

My bunched up insoles were bugging me. Perhaps I could have run faster if I'd stopped to fix them.

At the end I felt like I could have pushed just a bit more. For my next triathlon I should have a better feel for pacing.

Drank a bottle of water and a Red Bull. Sat in the shade. Ate some food.


My swim was my big limiter. Even having a few more open water swims under my belt would have enabled me to swim freestyle the whole distance. This would have taken a couple minutes off my swim time, I'm sure. In any case, I have plenty of room to improve my swim with additional training.


Anyone who is interested in XTERRA racing and isn't afraid of a real mountain bike course should come out to Moab next year for an event they will not forget!