Event was chip timed so you had to stand on a mat which started your time. A few people before me dove in when their time started and their goggles flew off, which made my decision pretty easy not to dive in since I've never practiced this before.
The snake swim was hard to get used to. It was hard to relax in the water since you didn't want to get caught and have to stop. They did not give us time to practice in the pool ahead of time so I wasn't entirely sure where my mark was to begin my flip turn. Also doing flip turns while going under the rope was difficult. I did it one time then decided against it rest of the race.

practice diving into the pool ahead of time, practice flip turns while changing lanes under the rope

Mentor GaryRM warned me about trying to put on a dri fit shirt when you body is wet and he was right. I had to look like an idiot jumping up and down trying to grab my shirt that was rolled up in the back. I have to cut down on things I put on in T1.

Going to buy a race belt and if I ever do races like this again I'm going shirtless

This is the second race that halfway through I felt tinges in my legs from cramping. Once I had 6-8 oz of water they went away.

Learning flying bike mount and dismount

I didn't have a chance to walk/run/drive the run portion ahead of time so it was difficult to judge where I was on the course until i got to the turn around. I know during the race I was tired but immediately after the race I felt I could have ran harder. That could also be my skewed memory.

I had absolutely no motivation going into this race.


This race was shorter than a normal sprint distance yet the entry fee was $55. Thinking the fee was high I was expecting a nice shirt but it was a normal cotton which was disappointing. The entry fee did include daycare (which I didn't need) and a free pizza buffet which was where the awards ceremony was held. I would rather have a cheaper fee and not have to pay for entrants daycare or pizza buffet. The snake swim was also a big dissatisfier.