The water was choppier than I remembered from last year. I also had a lot of trouble pulling to the right (current?) and got off course a couple of times, adding a little extra distance. Overall, I felt strong and steady throughout.

Better sighting

I had a little trouble getting my helmet on in the transition - one of my straps came lose and my wet ponytail didn't want to come through the back very easily. Probably cost me 20 sec at most.

nothing

We had a crosswind coming in from the ocean pretty much the whole way. I was cranking as hard as I could maintain, and was getting waxed left and right by a lot of very strong riders. Still, this was more than 1mph faster than last year. While there is a lot of room for improvement, I'm pretty happy.

More time in the saddle and lose some weight!

This was an excellent transition for me....much faster than last year.

nothing

I had back pain getting within the first mile....not quite cramps but enough to make it hard to keep my form. Then my asthma kicked up at about mile 3. I had to start doing short walk/run intervals to breath well. That lasted until about mile 5. Then I felt my breathing ease up some, my run getting stronger, and I ran the last mile pretty strong. I still lost a lot of time here.

I was still recovering from a chest cold and had just enough congestion in my chest to trigger the asthma - I probably need to keep my inhaler with me on the run, though I've never needed it before.

Walking and stretching


Asthma/health problems combined with weight. I need to lose a good 20 lbs.


This is my favorite race of the year. Even though I didn't do as well on the run as I would have liked, I still beat my time from last year by about 4:30, and until the run, I was more than 10 minutes ahead of my time from last year. I'm pleased with my overall progress, and looking forward to a great season, particularly as my weight comes down.