When I say my swim was "average," I'm probably incorrectly comparing it to last year when I actually trained. I should probably be pretty happy considering my whopping 3 weeks (6 sessions) of swim training prior to the race. I will say that this was the best I have ever navigated. I mean, I was dead on the buoys pretty much the whole time.

Train?

No major issues to report. The run out of transition was uphill so it made, for me at least, slow going. I'm not going to complain too much about T1. I mean, I was out faster than several friends who completely blew me away overall time-wise.

However, once I hit the mount line I ran into a guy on a mountain bike who was swerving some. That didn't help my progress any and I had a hard time clipping in. Oh well, c'est la vie.

Get clipped in better.

Good ride for me. I didn't even bother to put race wheels or aerobars on - just rode my road bike as is. I didn't pay any attention to time or distance, just focused on cadence. Except for having to stop because my chain dropped from overshifting, I had a pretty good ride. Of course, I could have gone faster but would have paid even more on the run.

Again, I'd probably train for the race for longer than just 3 weeks.

Well, transition was downhill, but running on anything but flat with cycling cleats is no fun. I felt like I moved really well in this transition.

Nothing.

I was able to keep my turnover up through the first 1/2 mile when the run always feels bad. The course was a bit tough with the pretty substantial hill (at least to me). Actually, most my buddies were commenting on how much the hill hurt. My calves were beginning to cramp up but they didn't do too badly. I may have been able to push the last 1/2 mile a tad more if I knew a little better where the finish was. But all in all I can't complain considering my "training" - ha ha ha.

Train - heard this one before?

Wandered around chatting up friends while scarfing down water and oranges & bananas.


Let me go out on a limb here and say lack of training. ;-)


I would, if I could, give it a 4 1/2 instead of a five. My main complaint was the long walk to transition from the parking area (about 1/2 mile) and the fact the run was on the jogging path instead of the road (which made it hillier and curvier and more crowded). But considering this was the first time the event was held at this location, I think Set Up Events did a great job - as usual. I would definitely recommend this race and plan on doing it again next year. This time, I think I'll train beforehand. ;-)