This was tough for me and I was more tired than I expected when I came out of the lake. I knew I could swim the distance, it just wasn't pretty!

I need to do more practice with distance in the open water. I need to focus on my stroke and on my comfort in the water and near others. Confidence is the key for me.

The run to the tranisition area found me pretty much stuck in my wetsuit. I wore a two piece DeSoto and it was hard to remove. I practiced several times before the race, but didn't consider my watch or the timing chip on my ankle and the wetsuit became stuck on both of those.

Since this is the only wetsuit I currently own, I need to practice more and get that down or do a race where I don't need one.

I went as hard as I could on my road bike and my goal was to finish in an hour. I am not a strong biker (or swimmer, or runner!) and my biking mainly consisted of 15 milers in the area. I was used to the type of roads we were on so that was fine. I was a bit annoyed when the aerobike machines would roar past and leave me in their dust....!

I would do more long distance training rides with more hills. I need to work on understanding my gear shifts better and get better at drinking while biking. I might try to do a gel or something similar during this portion of the race.

I had my running shoes already so just needed to rack my bike and put on my hat and race belt.

Move faster - practice with a few more bricks where I am biking as hard as I can before running.

My transition from the bike to the run was a little tough- my legs felt very heavy. I did end up walking a bit on the initial hill and also at the halfway water station. Despite that, I am normally a 10:30 pace runner and did much better than I expected.

I would push myself and not walk at all. I would have taken in a gel or more fluid on the bike so I wouldn't need it on the run. I need to practice getting faster in training.

I beat my hoped for time of 2 hours by almost 16 minutes. I was very happy with that but do see where I can improve upon my performance. I know I am never going to win one of these, but I am pleased with my overall first race as a triathlete.


I wish the transition area was more secure. I don't have the best equipment, but someone could have easily walked in and taken whatever they wanted.