Getting to the first buoy didn't seem to take that long, but from there to the next seemed to take forever; took several minutes before I could even spot it since we were swimming into the rising sun. I focused on the flailing arms and legs in front of me, water droplets and wetsuits shimmering, and at a couple of notches in the trees to stay more or less on the proper line. Even from there to the end seemed long. And I pretty much followed my swimming plan, with no really long breast stroking breaks. In the end, with my Garmin reading almost 1200 yards, I'm guessing this course came in somewhere between 1000-1100 (discounting the 100 or so yards from the beach into transition).

Nothing really, beyond pick a race that does a more accurate job marking their course distances, but that impacted everybody the same as me and my swim placing was about where I'd expect it to be.

Absolutely shocked that this was 54th of 129 contestants. I mean, I was not moving fast here and both heels got stuck on the wetsuit. I was real close to the bike exit, but still...stunned.

Need to workout the wetsuit removal a little better, how to get it off the heels faster. But pretty decent overall.

Pretty happy with the ride; rode with a good a cadence and my best ever AP/NP in an effort that seemed relatively comfortable, pretty much right at the edge of comfort. Sustained it pretty well too. Passed a couple, got passed by a couple. Nice sustained pace.

Nothing; good ride.

59th here too, not as surprising as T1 but I did struggle with shoes here. Ran out putting on the race belt and hat, so made up a few seconds with that.

Not much.

Despite my not liking this course, I was making reasonably decent time until I seriously twisted an ankle (hope that's all it is) on one of those roots or rocks. I actually hit all fours as a result, came up with a bloody scraped knee in addition to the ankle issue. Guess I'm lucky I didn't do anything to my hands or wrists. This happened at around the two-mile point. I walked for a good bit after the incident, then did some shuffling/jogging interspersed with walking for the remainder of the race, so I'm guessing the last 1.3 miles took 15-16 minutes. Quite a bummer since I'm concerned it might result in a season-ender...Hoping for some good recovery over the next three weeks.

Not pick an event with an off-road run course. I know people love running on trails, but I've never been comfortable with anything more than a gravel road. I knew there was off road paths to this run, but didn't realize it would be to this extent. Probably would've done it anyway, but going forward? Nope...will be pavement only for me.

Sat under the medical tent while TSW and a paramedic cleaned my knee and put some frozen compresses on my ankle.


A slow swim (on which I remain convinced the issue was a mis-measurement) and an injury-plagued run.


Despite the overall organization, something seemed off about this race and not up to Piranha's normal standards. I know the owner is retiring and he's sold the company and the races, so maybe that had an effect, but it just seemed like they were phoning it in today.