I felt great about this swim. I seeded myself slightly higher than last year (based on last year's results). I passed about 8 or 10 people and (I think) got passed only once. Not as much congestion this time--so I felt like I was appropriately seeded.

Based on how I felt about the swim, and what other races have commented, I suspect the chip time for this is off. This time is over a minute slower than last year, and I certainly felt better about the swim this time. No big deal...

I think I could swim this faster, but I am nervous about coming out of the water exhausted going into my weakest event.

All went fine. I ripped my race number off the pin while putting my shirt on, so it took a couple extra seconds to fix that.

I don't have speed laces in my new shoes yet.
Get a race belt

The bike is my weakest link. I think I've gotten better, but quite honestly, I am undertrained.

I thought this year's course was harder than last year's. The hills were particularly cruel. I made it up them, but by the end of the course I was pretty wiped out.

It started raining about halfway through my ride... This made me a bit more reserved on the downhills and made visibilty tough.

I had fun on the bike --- which is a new and kind of nice feeling.

Train more. Get a better bike.

No problems.

I had a hard time getting started and finding my pace. I felt exhausted (due to my struggles (undertraining) on the bike). The run is usually my strongest area, so I knew I could go faster, I just felt super-slow.

It started raining again.

Finally, right before the turnaround, I got into my groove. I started passing people and got excited about finishing strong.

I was picking runners ahead of me, targeting them to pass. I got passed by a couple of people.

There was a guy who was about 15 feet ahead of me. I had been behind him for about a mile. Finally, on the second to last turn before the sprint to finish, I made my move. I was going to pass him.

I made the turn and turned up the pace... and wiped out on the wet sidewalk. To quote myself, "aaaawwwwwww craaaaaaaaaaap!" I landed on my knee and elbow, and rolled once. The guy behind me dodged my carcass and asked if I was OK. I jumped up, quickly scanned to see how many people might have seen, and barely missed a step getting going again.

I could tell I was bleeding, but determined to finish at race pace... I almost caught up with the guy I was chasing, but didn't quite make it.

I did finish with a smile on my face... laughing at myself for falling and enjoying the rain and the enthusiasm of the crowd at the finish.

Start off stonger and find my legs sooner.

And seriously, who falls on the run?

I got cold pretty quickly, being wet and in the rain.

I assessed my damage. My knee was pretty bloody and looked pretty gross. My elbow and heel of my hand were scratched up but not bleeding.

I chatted with a couple guys I knew from the Y, said hi to a couple BTers, and grabbed a bagel.

I was eager to put on some dry clothes and clean up my knee, so I headed back to my car, cleaned up and headed home.


Lack of training. Serious lack of cycling training. Falling down.


THis is a great race with lots and lots of great volunteers. Thanks to all the MU students who got up early to cheer us... literally along the entire course.

IN 2007 this was my first triathlon, and I am a Miami alum, so I will probably make this a yearly race. Great job all around.

Finally... this is weird. So far this year I have run a 15K and done one tri. Both are races I did in 2007. For the 15k, my 2008 time was just about 90 seconds longer than 07. For this tri, my 2008 time was about 70 seconds slower than in 07. At least I have consistency going for me.