I had a much better swim this time around on this course considering the conditions. The water is murky which makes it difficult to see if I'm going straight or not and it also makes it hard to see the bouys. My goal was to swim farther using freestyle before panic sets in and I was very successful in this regard. I found it hard to navigate so I slowed down to look. My bouy cornering was as good as can be expected.

Next time I will trust in my swim training and aim in the right direction, take about 20 strokes and then look for course corrections. I also have to do something to calm my nerves. My beginning HR was 161! That's high and I wasn't doing anything.

The most difficult part of the first transition is getting all of the debris (dirt, twigs, leaves, sand, grass) off my wet feet. Also, my gear was set up behind my bike so it made the transition a little awkward. I'd get something on, like my shoes and I turned around to grab my bike but I hadn't grabbed my helmet, sweatband or glasses yet. This took me a few extra seconds I'm sure. I opted to forego my socks, riding gloves and sunglasses. It turned out I did not need them afterall. All in all it was a pretty good transition.

Rack my bike earlier. There were 9 bikes per rack and I had to squeeze in which didn't leave me any space to set up. Also, have a few extra hand towels handy so I can wipe the debris off my feet.

I did my best to maintain a 20-21 mph on the speedometer but there was a section where there was a slight hill and a cross-wind that forced me to use a lower gear to maintain my cadance. Hydration on the bike was a bit difficult because I couldn't deliver my leg power to the bike without going all over the road when I had only one hand on the handles. My legs started to give out around 7 miles so I really had to work to maintain my cadance and speed. I did imporve from the last time I did this course. My last time was 33:09 on my mountain bike. This time my time was 27:39. That a 5'30" improvement!!

The two things I can do to improve my bike ride are working on hydration while on the bike by getting a water bottle for my aerobars or something else like a camel back. The other thing is more saddle time. Nothing can replace saddle time.

My second transition was pretty good. I had trouble trying to get my socks on my damp feet so I decided to forego my socks. I dropped my helmet and racked my bike and was out of there.

Hand towels would have been great at this point but my gamble of running sockless paid off.

At the beginning of the run I felt like my legs were not moving very much. I had two or three runners pass me in the first mile before my legs finally warmed up to where I felt I could run effectively. My breathing also seemed pretty rapid. Two in, two out. I tried several times to force three breaths in, three out. This worked pretty good but I tended to fall back to my 2-in, 2-out routine.

I still need more of a running base before I should worry about speed. Additional bricks during trainning will also help me with the transition from biking to running. Also, after my legs came to me I should have pushed harder. I still had more lung capacity to use and should have used it.

streaching.


Endurance. In swimming I need to be more confident of my navigation skills. In biking I need more time in the saddle to build my legs. In running I need to practice bricks and put in the miles, building my aerobic base. Without that I'm just a dreamer.


I like this race because the course is pretty simple and fast. The only downsides are the LONG run between the swim course to the transition area and the lack of course workers on the water stations on the run.