In the Ohio River, which was surprisingly clean. A couple of patches that smelled like diesel. Very warm--they waited until the last minute to announce that the swim was wetsuit legal at which point the neoprene began to fly all through the transition area. Clearly warm enough not to wear a suit but I did for security in a somewhat intimidating body of water.

The swim felt long, and when I mapped it (http://tinyurl.com/bvljg), it came out at 1.25 miles. I'd be way happier with that pace (2:13/100m).

Turned out to be comfortable and not too choppy. Navigation was poor. I swam in straight lines and sighted fine, but could not spot buoys, so went off course at least once.

Swam too close to the first turn buoy and got clobbered in the traffic.

Go a little harder; find the ^%$#! buoys; stay away from them. My first Olympic-distance swim. I'm sure I can improve this a good bit.

Wetsuit came off fine.

So-so ride, with neck and shoulder aching

Drink a little less--was sloshing on the run.

First splits were faster but I faded and got passed a lot. Felt steady and strong nonetheless.

Learn to run faster.

Lack of speed training in all three disciplines.


My first Olympic distance race. Endurance is clearly there and I felt strong througout. Swim was slower than I wanted but felt easy and relaxed. Bike was also steady if slow, and run felt good even if (you guessed it) it was slow. Overall a good experience. I was aiming for MOP in my age group and at 17th out of 27 you could argue I made it. Just a couple of minutes faster would have gained me several places.

Hooray for a Midwestern race with temperatures NOT in the 90s for a change.