swam really straight to the first bouy, drifted left a little to the next bouy and the finish, but better than in the past, felt like sighting was MUCH better and easier; had planned to breathe bilaterally in a 2:3 pattern, but needed to breathe every other stroke - probably a sustainable pace for a longer distance, but could not have sustained any faster

continue to try to eliminate left drift completely and improve swim strength and speed

had to holler to swimmer in front of me who was walking slowly to get around her, ran fast to transition, but forgot to take off cap and goggles on the run, had a LOT of trouble getting suit off, but then shoes on well and ran fast to bike mount, forgot to reset cycle computer before race, so was resetting it while running with the bike; ranked 17/45 in AG

clear bike computer before race!!! And mostly I need to be able to get my wetsuit off faster.

I was able to push my pace pretty well the whole time, especially after my breathing came more under control in the beginning; passed a lot of people, including several coming into turns; used 16oz. of water and 1 scoop of Perpetuem - this worked really well, easy to drink a lot on the bike and I liked not messing w/gels; I had to keep reminding myself to keep pushing my pace, especially after so many long slow rides lately, but I don't think I dwindled too much at any point; lots of good passing!

I was very happy with this bike ride. I don't think I would change anything.

I swerved a bit trying to get feet out of shoes but not too bad. The dismount line was further down the road than I though, so I messed with it a bit early. Run with the bike and racking the bike was great. I fumbled a lot with my shoes, but once they were on, I grabbed my stuff and took off at a good pace; ranked 6/45 in AG

Need to get my running shoes on more quickly and keep practicing taking shoes off at the end of my training rides.

I had to walk briefly coming out of transition to get my breathing under control so that I could get my stride/breathing rhythm going; I was working hard, but felt like my training had prepared me to sustain a good effort. It felt easier than my run in the spring, could have kept going if the race were longer, and I had a bit of a sprint to the finish line, carried about 16 oz. of water and took two brief up-hill walk breaks to sipped a couple of times, but good bike hydration was probably sufficient; I was not suffering on this run the way I usually am! - excellent!

I don't know that I would have changed much here. I paced myself pretty well, but since I had some energy at the end, I possibly could have pushed harder somewhere. I will continue to work on longer speed intervals and tempo runs.

I walked a little, drank a full bottle of cold water, sat down to rest for a few minutes and then stretched. Changed clothes, ate a banana and some trail mix and then got a bowl of Brunswick Stew - AWESOME!


I think my weakest area today was my transitions - especially getting the wetsuit off and the running shoes on. My training has been paying off and I was happy with my overall performance, so I will just keep up the training plan.


As usual, Setupevents ran a very well organized, smooth race consistent with their others; however, the Brunswick stew afterward was way above average and the best Setupevents post-race food ever! I would do this race again just for the stew! This is also a beautiful venue and a great place for your first race, and served well as a good measure of progress at the end of the season for me.