I didn't want to go out too fast or expend all of my energy on the first run. My goal was 20 minutes, so mission accomplished. The first wave was Men 30-39, so we were first off.

Nothing

I didn't jump on the bike for fear of crashing. I have not practiced this yet. I ran to the mount line and then tried to slow down/stop to hop on the bike. My cleats started sliding, and I'm sure I looked completely out of control. It was funny, because the race announcer was saying something about someone scaring the other competitors on the course, and I'm not sure if he was talking about me, but he probably should've been!

Work on transitions. I knew I was not going to be on the podium, so I just wanted to try to do this cleanly...guess not.

I was most worried about the bike going in, and it appears I have put my worries in the right spot! I'm sure I was passed by at least 50 riders. I passed 2. 1 may have passed me, and I passed him back. So, that means I only caught 1 person on the bike.

The sad thing is, this was my best bike yet! I haven't biked nearly this tough of a course yet, and I haven't averaged over 19 mph on a training ride yet, regardless of distance. Since I live near the course, I will be hitting these hills more frequently. It appears that I need to "Ride Lots" to learn the bike. If I could just get respectable, say to 21 mph average, I would've placed a lot higher.

I worked hard on the bike, so it wasn't like I was taking it easy. I'm sure the bike I'm using isn't the best, but I don't think that is the main problem here.

Just need more practice and more time in the saddle

I didn't do a flying dismount. I stopped and made sure not to crash. My wife and kids were right at the dismount line, so it was neat to see them there. My right hip started cramping as I was trying to get running shoes on.

Nothing really.

I felt decent. Legs were harder to get going than on any of my brick workouts. Probably due to how hard I had pushed the bike. Once I got over the initial hill and was able to move on flat ground for awhile I felt pretty good. I just tried to keep the turnover going strong. I was catching plenty of tired people on the run, so that felt good. I passed a few 30-39 year-olds in the last mile, so that was fun!

Nothing. I had paced decently overall, I was happy to not feel like I was going to die.

About 5 minutes of running and some stretching. I hung out with my family and shared some of the post-race goodies with them. It was my daughters 7th birthday, so it was nice that she wasn't complaining about cheering Dad on.


I'm slowing building a base for this type of event. I had a goal of 1:45, so I didn't quite get that, but I think that was mainly due to the bike. I will focus on the bike more now.


I'll give it a 5. It's in my town!