DAMN GOGGLES. I had to stop swimming four times to rinse my damn goggles out, in spite of my use of anti-fog drops (damn things don't work very well). And once the lenses were clear, omg, sighting was soooo easy, but then they'd fog up again in no time, and then my navigation would SUCK ASS because I wasn't really sure where I was going. It doesn't help that my contacts have a VERY old perscription so I really am pretty blind. This was very frustrating b/c I feel that I could have had a better/faster swim leg if I had been able to see. Apart from that, the swim was nice. When I got down to the lake, it looked a lot longer than I expected it to look. But once we actually started swimming, the turns came much quicker than I expected. Which was a good thing. I rounded the turns pretty tight which was good as well (once I was that close, I could see the freaking thing so I had no problem navigating...)!

Definitely need to get a "go-to" pair of goggles that I trust and know will NOT fog on a 2.4 mile swim (let alone a 1500 m swim)! Shannon recommended a pair... I'll have to try them out. I should also think about getting an updated perscription for my contact lenses. I'm WAY overdue!

This was "okay." I have never practiced transitions, ever. I guess I've never been good enough to care about an extra :30... but I see that if you are a hard-core oly-distance racer, those extra :30 make a huge difference. I thought I had a pretty quick transition while still maintaining a non-panic-frenzy-type mood.

I guess I could just practice a real race transition. It's not really all that applicable to my A race this year (IM) but I certainly could shave a few seconds off here or there... I don't currently get into my shoes on the bike. Hells no--that's disaster waiting to happen. However, I guess if I wanted to have a faster T1, I could learn to do (and practice--a LOT) that.

I didn't really go too "easy" out of T1. (Like, I know for my IM I'll need to let the HR settle etc. etc.) Pretty much 2-3 miles in I decided I was not going to leave anything on the course, so after sucking down an e-Gel, I hit it. I was going to bike hard, and if I suffered on the run because of it, so be it--I wanted to see how far my body can be pushed. And I felt like I was pushing the whole time. I kept trying to catch up with people ahead of me... sometimes it worked, sometimes not. And I got passed a lot too. Hehe. I get the feeling like I was kind of at the back end of the "fast" women, but before the "slower" ones... I didn't pass too many chicks and very few passed me. I think I'm going to have to think through my hydration strategy for IMFL. I really don't like getting out of aero to reach for the bottle. It upsets my groove. Haha--I'm so lame. But really, it was okay for this bike b/c it was so short, and I consiously made an effort to drink, however, I can see myself getting into trouble on a longer race. Alternatively, I guess I just have to break the mental thing in my head that feels like I'm going too easy and losing too much ground if I take the time to sit up and reach for the bottle drink and replace the bottle.

Oh almost forgot--I HATE MY TRI SUIT. It doesn't provide good, uh, protection for the bike. And it's not about thickness--I have a pair of tri shorts that have the thinnest chamios ever, but they somehow are WAY more comfy than this suit was. Then again, I never ride with wet shorts... so that may have been a major factor. In any event, there was major pinching/chafing going on--nothing TOO painful, but enough to be very distracting, and not comfortable at all. Certainly made me very happy the ride was ony 24 miles!

Not his the pothole at mile 20. I hit it dead on going probably about 20 mph. Not fun. Other than that, I'd have just trained more (I really have only been making an effort to get bike miles in for the past 3-4 weeks) so that I could have pushed a faster pace. Also, figure out a more comfy pair of shorts--or maybe I just need more TITS to season up the crotch a bit more...! (Uh, sorry if this is TMI.)

Nothing spectacular here. Came in with two or three other people so I had to make sure I didn't run anyone over! Again, I've never practiced transitions, so I just racked my bike, took the helmet off, race belt on, shoes on & tied, a swig of water and some water to rinse off salt, and on I went.

Practice the transition. Learn to do crazy stuff like ride with feet on the shoes, and "jump off moving bike."

It's funny, I was totally stoked to see how fast my run time was. However, I was dead last in my age group and also behind my overall race rank with this run. I guess there are just a lot of damn fast runners who do triathlons in these parts! The first 1-2 miles off the bike sucked. I haven't done much bricking (I think maybe two), and DAMN, I thought every muscle in my legs (calfs, quads esp.) were going to seize up and make for a VERY painful 10K. However, I started sucking down a second e-Gel. I usually eat half right away, and then nurse the 2nd half. I used this strategy, and it worked great. I took water, at the lake and far-turn-around aid stations (not from the one near the park) on both laps. This worked good too. Anyhoo, after I came back up the gravel path on the 1st lap, the crap was starting to work itself out of my leg muscles, and I was back on track. Now I kind of wish I had worn the Garmin to see how slow I was on the first few miles. On the run, I definitely tried to hunt people down. I'd get someone in my sights and say to myself, "Okay, Mr. 48-year-old-partially-balding-man-in-a-blue-tri-suit, you're mine!" I know it's lame, but it's just a mental game that helps me keep up my pace, and hopefully gain some ground. (Obviously I didn't gain any ground in my AG, as I was dead last for the run--oh well.) Sometimes I get to thinking like I'm Highlander. Remember? When he chopped off heads, he got like a power jolt. I try to pass people to get a power jolt. I hope this doesn't sound dick-ish... I mean I cheer on everyone I pass with a "stay strong" or "hang in there" or whatnot and try to give them that extra push to keep on truckin'. Now this strategy doesn't always work b/c sometimes, esp. when the run is your weakest link, you get passed more than you pass. And those targets just keep getting farther and farther away. When that happens, you just gotta pick a new mental game. Maybe, like, singing back 80's tunes or something! :)

Do more bricks! I could obviously do more run training too, but I'm okay with my running right now... I would still like to work on improving it, but it takes back seat to bike ME.

Walked around, got a big 'ole plate of spaghetti and marinara sauce, and walked around to catch up with Edde, John, Jenn, etc. and then walked out to hang w/ Shannon and wait for Christian to come in! Of course I stretched the butt. I'm very thankful that the butt didn't go into spasms on the race course. (I had been a little worried about that prior to the race.)


Training. The only equipment I'm going to point fingers at are my stupid goggles. Having clear vision would have made the swim faster, I believe.


This was my first North Carolina race and it didn't disappoint. Set-Up, Inc. puts on a quality race, and I'm excited to do some more. It was great to know people (mostly through BT) at the race as well. I got to meet Mike (HookedOnTri) in person which was cool. The weather was absolutely fantastic (I was very worried we were going to have horrible heat and humidity, but it ended up being fantastically mild (by NC standards). All-in-all it was a great time and schedule-allowing, I'll be back again next year to see if I can better that 2nd to last in AG finish!