The water was warm enough, however, I made the mistake of wearing a wetsuit for the first time. I know that you are SUPPOSED to practice with it, but the rental didn't arrive until Wednesday night, and there just wasn't any time for me to. That said, it's a good thing that one of the benefits of the suit is to provide buoyancy, because I felt like I was drowning the whole time. The material bunched up a bit behind my knees, which screwed my kicks up HORRIBLY, and the way the material pulls across the chest and neck is very reminiscent of being choked, and would take some getting use to. I hated it with a passion, and had to mentally war with myself not to yank the damn thing off in the middle of the lake.

I alternated my swim strokes from freestyle to backhand more then I would have liked. And swallowed more water then was probably healthy.

Practice with suit beforehand, and try and make sure that the next time I rent one, it's shorts instead of long-legs. Although, that could just be an issue with fit. Not sure.

I forgot my race belt so I had to use safety pins. I stabbed myself in the thumb with them. Twice. I was there for MUCH longer then I had any right or reason to be.

On the positive side, my wetsuit came off pretty easy, with just a bit of sticking to my feet.

Remember my race belt.

I was drained going into the bike from the swim course. And honestly wasn't sure I'd be able to finish at that point.

I felt very out of place on my little mountain bike, as it seemed like almost everyone else had racing bikes, many outfitted with carbon wheels and aero bars. I got passed. A LOT. In fact, I only actually passed two people myself, and spent most of the race alone along the course. I also stopped to lend someone my travel pump.

That said, I kept my cadence steady (no on-board computer, so I'm not sure of the actual numbers), and shifted minimally (but well) throughout the event. I was breathing hard through most of it though, and had to mentally push my self to keep going a bit.

Swallow less water on the swim? I'd really like a road bike, too. And biking shoes. With pedals.

Ahh, the benefit of biking in your running shoes. I took the time to guzzle the water that I neglected to drink during the bike. This was very quick, I've got no complaints.

The run felt like a little slice of torture until about the 2.5 mile mark, at which point I got a wind (I won't call it my second, because I don't remember getting my first), and suddenly the world was a happy place once more. This might partially have been because the finish line was nearly in sight. I felt like I never really recovered from the swim, and my legs were jellyfied for most of the run. As such, I mixed up running with walking throughout. I've never had a run pace so slow, in any of the events I've done.

Hard to say. I felt like I pushed myself as much as I could here, I just had very little left in me. I've done lots of brick training, and even a mock duathlon for prep, and I've never felt so exhausted during a run before.

Walked around the transition zone.


Not being well for starters. Everything else just piled onto that.