They bussed everyone from transition over to the swim start so we were all crammed into these trolly buses like cattle. The smell of used neoprene in tight quarters is not on the top of my list of pleasant things to think about before a race!
This was a crazy fast swim. Downstream in a 2+ knot current was a lot of fun! Nothing too exciting...it was over too quickly. There were about 30 guys in my wave so it wasn't bad as far as being crowded either. Actually got a good draft off some guys for a couple minutes each. I think I was 4th out of the water in my wave and we all finished together. I know I'll probably never have this fast a swim again.

Nothing

The transition area was about a 150-175 yard run from the swim exit so this is what took so long. There was a good run along a dock then another 125-140 yards on pavement up to transition. They had done a great job of sweeping the pavement clean though so there were no issues in bare feet.
Got my suit stuck on my heels a bit but then quickly got my glasses and helmet on.
From there it was another 50+ yard run to the mount line.

Not much except get my wetsuit off quicker.

All the turns made it pretty difficult to hold any kind of speed. And since it was a wave start race by the time you got into the second and third loop you were trying to get through the corners with a lot of other, sometimes pretty inexperienced, riders. It was all good though as I didn't hear of anyone crashing out.
By the third loop I could feel being sick the last 36 hours catching up with me. My legs just didn't have much in them. All in all a pretty interesting bike with all the turns and crowds.

Nothing really other than not be sick.

Pretty decent transition for the distances we had to go. 50+ yards from dismount to rack then another 50 or so to the exit. Nothing too exciting.

Nothing

Started out pretty slow because my legs weren't too great after the bike and I was feeling being sick. After about 3/4 mile though I felt a little better. Then I saw a guy in my AG up ahead of me and figured I could catch him. He was the only one in my AG that I'd seen around me so I thought I was right up close to the front of the group.
Caught the guy at about 1 1/4 miles and thought I could hold him off from there. Got up the little goat hill and then headed back toward the finish. Should have had a way better pace than this by this point of the run but was still not feeling too great. Just worn out. The last 1/2 mile or so of the run goes around a little lake which is kind of nice. The finish was crowded with spectators and was pretty noisy so it was kind of fun.

Not much. Just suck it up.

Hung out for a few minutes talking to some friends who'd done the race. Then wandered over to transition to clean up my stuff.


Being sick the day before the race. And being only 2 weeks post Ironman probably had an effect too.


Very good race organization for the inaugural race. It was well attended by both participants and spectators. Of course, Coeur D'Alene is kind of a triathlon town so that's not surprising. The race was well organized, with lots of helpful volunteers.
I had thought I was second in my AG but when the awards were announced I had actually won the "Over 40 Fat Man's Division." The guy listed ahead of me had accidently started a wave too soon so his listed time was 10 minutes too fast. Nice surprise. All that really means though is there weren't very many over-40 Clydesdales doing the race...and the ones who did must have had an off day if I beat them!