I decided at the last minute to wear the wetsuit and was glad I did. I positioned myself toward the front and off to the left and this seemed to keep me out of most of the starting mayhem. Overall I felt much stronger than my last Oly. Stomach cramps surfaced later which I only just realized may be coming from me swallowing too much air during the swim....nore on that later.

Work on breathing technique to avoid cramps.

Got a helmet strap stuck in the helmet, which cost a few seconds and had difficulty getting the shoe straps tightened.

Learn how to attach shoes to pedals and how to jump on the bike.

I thought the course was just about right with no outrageous hills. The rough parts kinda sucked but only lasted for a mile or too. I was happy with my performance and despite the horrible stomach cramps I was enduring I managed to put up a pace that was 2.5 mph faster than my last Oly.

Learn how to breathe right during the swim. The resulting stomach cramps affected performance and prevented me from hydrating properly.

Probably as fast as I could muster

Learn how to take off shoes while biking and how to jump off bike.

This is where the stomach cramps really hit me. I couldn't seem to get up to the desired speed and shortly into it I was feeling lighted headed since I didn't get enough to drink on the bike. It took over 4 miles for the cramps to subside and by then I couldn't make up the lost time. I did manage to force enough hydration to start feeling better in that department though. Time was 3 minutes slower than my last Oly

Have I mentioned learn how to breathe when I swim

Walked around, drank some water, and ate some food.


Stomach cramps after the swim


Despite the cramping setback I managed to PR. I beat my first Oly time by over nine minutes. Training for my half-IM in 2 weeks has gotten me in much better shape. I was hardly even sore the next day :)