started all the way over to the left as bouys were on my right, i sight to the right, all the other swim caps would be on my right and i tend to pull right. got this tip from craig and it worked wonders. really had clear sighting and had a clear lane the majority of the way. tried to draft, but could not find the right person. either too slow or too fast, so really just found a clear lane and rolled with it.

here's the thing on the swim. i really felt i was swimming well. passing people in the wave before me, had some other florescent green caps behind me...then the yellow caps, aka, wave behind me, began to pass me and i realized i wasn't swimming that well. lessons learned = i need to learn how to swim faster. positive about the swim = felt really comfortable the entire way. didn't panic, didn't get too nervous, really just swam my swim...unfortunatly, that's not very fast.

swim faster. ows did not scare me as i had a couple practice runs b/4, wetsuit felt great as i practiced in it before, i just need to get faster.

ahhh, t1. well, i had a blister on my achilles that i bandaged up pre swim. that fell off. so i took time in t1 to put another bandaid on. that took time. getting my wetsuit off took time. basically, t1 sucked, but not sure what more i could do. wetsuit was a must and didn't want to have the blister hurt on bike...so, i sacraficed some time. plus it was a lllloooonnnnggg transition. but it was for everyone else too, so that's not a good excuse! :)

not wear shoes I haven't worn since the fall the day before a race therefore causing blisters. argh.

the bike was very cool...for 22.12 miles. loved the looping course, loved riding into the capital building, loved seeing craig, jenny and todd on the bike, loved it. felt awesome. was averaging 19mph according to garmin. was very happy...until...got an effing flat tire 2+ miles from the bike finish. i don't know how to change a flat, you see. hmmm. BUT good news, i look up and i see a dude about 25 feet in front of me messing with his bike off the side of the road. i think SURELY he knows how to change a flat...JACKPOT...so i run up to him and say "you wouldn't be interested in helping me change my flat, would you?!" and the saint that he is says "sure, my race is over anyway" (apparently he was trying to get a loose cage off of his down tube and was having a rough go at it) so, he tries to help but neither of us can get my back wheel off. apparently the p2c back wheel doesn't just come off, it has to be pulled back and then off. i don't know this because again, i don't know how to change a flat, he doesn't know this because he doesn't have a p2c and doesn't want to break my bike. i can't blame him. i tell him to forget it and go on. he gets his cage off, and goes...i have his cage. i was supposed to put it by his stuff, but i didn't get to it in time. he was #1667, his name is john carmichael, he lives in dallas, and i still have his cage. so if any of you guys know him, tell him to get in touch with me and i'll give it back. he was wonderful for trying to help me..really wonderful! anyway, b/c i'm stuck there with my bike i make the decision that the only way back is to hoof it. so, off go my shoes, up goes the silver fox over my shoulder, and i carry my effing bike 2+ miles to transition. yep, i was that guy. about 1/2 mile from transition, two girls on the side of the road offered me flip flops. wasn't that cute?! i didn't take them because at that point i was already so close, but i thought it was incredibly thoughtful.

learn how to change a flat tire.

i sauntered through t2 to my rack, racked the bike and changed shoes. took it easy b/c there was no real reason to hurry, in my opinion.

nada. was fine.

run was hot. very hot. mentally, i was beaten down by my bike fiasco. physically, i'm not strong in the run to begin with, so this didn't help. oh well. i ran aid station to aid station, and walked the stations. walked 2 other times during b/c i just needed to, basically. overall though, ran through most of it. highlite was seeing my neice and two nephews twice on the run, got kisses both times AND a cup of water from kyle on round 2. was very cute and made me very happy in a not so happy situation!!

not sure there was much i could do differently. i'm just not a strong runner. i need to continue to run to get better, i guess. who knows?!

found the family, friends and craig and hung out and comisserated on how hot it was.


inability to swim fast. flat tire. inability to run fast. everyone was dealing with the same weather conditions, so that's not an excuse. my own self, really.


race itself was great. 2nd biggest one i've ever been a part of and it's very cool. well organized. great course. very scenic with the capital building and going through the downtown of austin. i really liked it. would have been more enjoyable if i had a better race, but the race itself, course itself, was great.