Started a little too hard, anxious with this being my first tri and all. Started at the front of the pack and pretty much paced the IronKids, as I call them (our local Elite-level guys). TOTALLY went against my normal breathing routine for about 75 yds, breathing every 6-8 strokes instead of every 4 as I've been training.

Since I wasn't breathing as I should, I kinda blew up the last 25-40 yds, but managed to get out of the water in pretty much the same position as I started. I was impressed with my swim time.

Not let nerves break me from my rhythm. This was a very good swim for me, even though it was short. Not much more I could ask for.

Swim more than once in the two weeks before the race?

Time is a total estimate, as we weren't using timimg chips or anything.

Ran well from the water exit to my transition area, sat down, dried my feet, put on shirt/helmet/socks/shoes, and I was off.

Got a swig of water, and left my bottle at transition (I would regret this later). We'll call it average since I really don't have anything to compare to.

Oh, Let's not forget ADollar79's words of "encouragement" in T1.

"Go faster."
"Can I get you a hair dryer?"
"You wanna take a nap or race a little more?"

;) <3 ADollar

Train sockless so I won't have to deal with that any more. I lost a LOT of time dealing with socks, even though I used the roll-up trick well. The IronKids had T1 times of about 15 seconds it seemed.

Maybe lose this gut I have, and just run the whole race shirtless or get a tri top...

Bike was pretty good. Passed some people, got passed by others. Nerves affected me a little bit, but I think the course was more difficult than I'm giving credit, because I feel like I could have gone harder, but it was pretty hilly.

Keep up my training schedule. I definitely slacked in my training the last couple weeks, and it showed. My pace was pretty good, but I wasn't feeling as strong as I know I can. Probably should have finished this about a minute or so better than I did.

Oh, and keep my water bottle on the bike. I was starting to get a little dehydrated toward the end of the bike.

T2 was in a different place than T1, just the logistics of the park.

Bike finish was the steepest hill we rode, and it was hurting. Rounded the corner and ADollar grabs me some water as I change my shoes. Good man, no matter what people say about him.

Threw off the helmet, put on my hat, changed shoes, and I was off, very slowly.

Not much.

This was gonna be bad and I knew it. By this time, the sun was getting up there in the sky, and my lack of drinking on the bike might have been taking a little toll.

It took a few hundred yards for to get my running legs under me from the bike. Run some, walk some was the order of the day here. From now on I'm not wearing a hat, I can definitely tell it affected my body's cooling ability, even tough it was wicking material.

Water station was pretty much at the halfway point, so that first half was no fun

Run some, walk some. Run some, walk some. man, I gotta train more.

Had I been in decent run shape, I could have knocked around 7-8 minutes off this time. Seriously.

Train more. My longest training runs have been on the order of 2 miles, just because I hate running. That will be changing this week.

I did finish strong, and the IronKids were nice enough to cheer me on to the finish. ;)

Water water water and a couple bananas, cheering on the people who I was actually faster than, talking things over with the guys, comparing times, etc.


Lack of training the past 2-3 weeks, but not my mind has not exactly been focused, to say the least.


RACING HURTS, but I knew that.

This was an excellent intro race for me. It's a shorter sprint, but it's more of a charity benefit than competitive race even though there are awards and such.

My slacking the past couple weeks definitely showed, but my mind has been in a million different places the past month. One other thing worth mentioning:

I CAUGHT THE BUG.

There will be more racing, there will be more training, there will be better race times.

Oh, BIG UPS to Mark, Tony, ADollar, and Mark (the IronKids) for their support and words of "encouragement." Mark and Tony have really been great ambassadors of the sport. Best of luck to them in their IMs and HIMs this year.