The swim was much better than last year. I got a little freaked out when I was about halfway through the swim. I turned onto my back to catch my breath and some guy right next to me starts crying out for help. I wasn't sure if I should try to help him or keep going. But then a jet ski came by and got him. However, I then got pummelled by a huge wave and swallowed a bunch of salt water. I decided to just bear down and swim as fast as I could. I got around the final bouy and could see people about 50 yards in front of me able to stand up. I knew I was home free.

Nothing really. Getting some warmups in ahead of time really reduced the SHOCK of the cold water. I also took a very aggressive line at the start and minimized the swim distance.

Put on shoes first, then ran to the bike exit. Overall an AWESOME T1 for me... my best ever. My feet were completely numb from the ocean swim. For some reason, I decided not to put on socks. That was a big mistake. Saved me some time, but started me on a blister that ended up getting bad at the end of the race.

Put on socks!

GREAT RIDE! Really gunned it. Had to slow down several times for slower riders staying too far left or groups of 2 or 3 riders going side-by-side to talk to eachother. But that didn't have too much of a negative impact on my time. Keep my speed at 15-17 MPH while going south (into the wind) and at 22-25 MPH while going north.

Wear socks.

Feet were still numb from the ocean swim. I figured that since I couldn't feel them, why bother putting on socks (dumb). Also, my socks were now wet from sitting in the dew-covered grass. I had just replaced my shoe laces with Yankz a couple days ago, and I had a little trouble getting my numb feet into the shoe. I really forced them in and I think there was a small rock or a piece of folded-over material because the blister at the end of the run was MASSIVE.

Wear Socks!!!!

Pace was good and felt very strong at the finish. That bodes well for the Olympic distance triathlon I'm doing next month. The blister on the bottom of my foot turned into an open wound about the size of a dime. As I write this, it is 5 days after the race and I still can't run or bike. Another day or two and it should be healed up enough to resume training.

Wear Socks!!!! Other than that, very happy with the pace of my run and how I felt at the end of the race.

Drank water, ate a banana. Posed for a couple pictures. Sat on the boardwalk and watched the awards ceremony. What a great day! Weather was perfect!


Overall, I'm happy with my time. I took 19 minutes off last year's result, so I don't know that I could have done much better.


I will do this race every year! It's an awesome way to kick off the triathlon season and the summer! The ocean swim is a b*tch, but once you survive that, it's a very fast and fun race. I highly recommend this race to everyone.