not entirely sure of how long this took, but I wasn't too far back in the pack. I was surprised at how calm I was, given previous open water experiences. Strangely, having people around me helped. The only problem was that I wanted to pass a couple times and also found it hard to keep my head down until we passed the second buoy.

Maybe not hang *quite* so far back at the start. Then I wouldn't get so boxed in.

I'm guessing the time. I wore my suit the whole way, so just put on my bike shorts quickly & got my shoes on. This felt good and quick, tho I didn't have a split. The only thing that might be better would be to get lace locks.

Lace locks.

This is my strongest part of the race. I took the bike easy since I didn't want to blow it for the run. Also, I was psyched that the swim was over and I could now enjoy myself. I caught Sarah & Carol on their mountain bikes late in the ride (~mile 14?) then passed them. My bike computer said it was only 16.8 miles, but the race coordinators said 18 miles.

Try it a little faster? Maybe, but in general this felt good. In general, this was a flat, fast course.

Pinning the number on my suit was impossible with my heart rate that high. I wasted at least a minute with my hands shaking. Other than that, I didn't have to do much since I didn't have to change my shoes.

Get a belt for the number or pin my # to a tank top before the race, then put that on.

It was still pretty cool for the run. My left ankle/calf was hurting from the ride, but I put it out of my mind. I tried to start & stay slow for fear of running out of gas. Lots of women passed me in the beginning of the run, but then it evened out. Carol & Sarah caught me about a mile into it & I told them to keep going. By the end I was still feeling good and surprised myself with an all-out sprint to the finish with 25 yards to go. Maybe I saved a little TOO much. ;)

I'd like to train to run at a faster pace and get comfortable with a more effortful run. I think I could have done the run a little faster. Maybe practice in some 5k's?

Chatted with Aaron, Carol & Sarah about how great our first tri experience was. It turns out we 3 girls ended up with very similar times, but probably our splits were very different.


It was my first, so I'm happy with it. Can't wait for the next one!


The race was good for me as a beginner -- not too hard or too intimidating. Maybe next race I'll pick one where I get my splits or I'll invest in a good stopwatch.