Didn't like the "on land" part of the 2 lap setup of the swim. I felt that I swam well, but I'm not sure how well since there was a lot of walk/running too. My training was putting me at around 55 secs/50-yards when doing 1000meter swims and my race time states I did better than that, but due to the walking in shallow water part, I'm not sure how fast I actually swam. I swam mostly on the outside of the pack, since I got boxed out a few times when cutting turns ... I think I even drafted on some parts and could feel the difference. The ocean was a fun swim since I even saw lots of schools of fish and the bottom of the ocean the whole distance too. Also, the water temp was great.

I wish I wouldn't have started in the very back and had more time to stretch out and relax. I actually did better than I would have thought with a time that was over 2 minutes better than the all male average for the swim.

First off, the distance between the swim exit and the transition area had to be over a 1/4 mile (which seemed really long to me) and all uphill. I was suprised that I was so out of breath and couldn't run faster than I was running. I also forgot my water bottle in the car (I was glad that was all I had forgotten), but I lucked out and had a bottle of Gatorade that fit (although it had a screw off cap ... Dooh). Put my runing shoes on, grabbed my bike, and took off.

I would have liked to had more time to get set up.

I was surprised that I really liked the biking part since during training, this was my least favorite part. I had front-of-the-knee pain while training, but thanks to some help at this website, I increased my cadence at the race and didn't have the knee pain going into the run. I taped a goo to my bike and had it 3 miles before the end. I'm glad I had something backup to put on my bike to drink, but had to hassle with getting a screw cap on and off and eventually, dropped it. I also felt funny cruising on my old mountain bike while people were just flying by on nice road bikes.

Get a new bike ... I plan on getting a new mountain bike, but would get the slick tires, pedal clips, and maybe even aro-bars before my next Tri ... or maybe go for a cheap road bike. I need to get more real road riding since most of my training was on gym bikes and only the last 3 weeks of training I got my old tank-of-a-mountian-bike fixed up and started riding outside. Also, I would have liked to have had water instead of Gatorade (or maybe both) on my bike since with the goo and Gatorade, I felt really thirsty for plain water. This is where I lost a lot of time, I was 16 minutes slower than the all male average for the bike.

This transition was easy. I was riding with my running shoes already on, so I only needed to put my bike up and take the helmet off. I was really thirsty for water though, so I chugged a bunch before leaving for the run.

If I had bike shoes that clipped in, it would have been nice to have a quick break and change shoes. I also was so thirsty for water that I chugged a lot before leaving T2 (maybe I should have ran with the water?). I think I drank too much water at once since the run turned out to be the part that was a lot slower than my training brick runs were.

Out of T2, I felt great. I was tired and hot, but my joints and muscles were ready. After 1/2 mile though, I really started to feel the 100 degree temp with 40% humidity. I live in Tucson, AZ and trained during the heat, but the humidity killed me. Also, my chugging of water in T2 started to give me a cramp. After about 3 miles, I found a place to pee and that helped me out somewhat, but I never really got in the groove of doing the 8 min/miles I did during my brick training sessions that were close to the race distances. I did more of a run and walk method which gave me over a 10m/m pace. I did finish really strong and sprinted the last 1/4 mile.

Have 2 bottles on my bike, one with water and one with a sports drink so I would come into the run well hydrated and not have to chug a drink in T2 and go to the bathroom during the race. I also should have trained more closer the race conditions (hot and humid), but I thought it would have been cooler than it was that day (as everyone else did too that day). I was only less than 3 minutes slower the all male average for the run, so I guess my run wasn't that bad for my first Tri.

Passed the finish line and stood under a water tent for 15 mins. I just drank lots of water and couldn't even talk for a while since my lungs felt really sore.


The weather mostly and getting a cramp after T2. Also, my heavy standard mountain bike was a lot slower than the a road bike would have been. I need a better bike for the next one ... I think that's what slowered my overall time down, where I was 16 minutes slower than that all male average for the whole race. But, over all not too shabby for my first Tri ...


This event seemed poorly put together. I did the run part only last year and it seemed better put together last year than this year (although, last year it wasn't super great either). I plan on doing more triathlons, but not sure if I would ever do this event again. I think I need to do a bigger event to get a better feel for it all. This event had less than 150 men&women doing the whole Tri and only about 10 relay teams.