This was my first race and I was not used to swimming in a crowd. I tended to slide right as I swam and needed to sight often. I went much faster than I expected to but didn't realize how fast I was going. I usually breath every 3rd stroke, but took a breath mostly every other stroke. I was wondering why I was getting so tired until I finished 3 minutes faster than the fastest i expected to go.

I would go out slower and try to stay away from the crowds. I got caught up in the heat of the moment and I think this hurt me some in the bike and run.

My T1 was better than I expected. I was planning on wearing gloves but decided not to take the time to put them on. I rushed putting on my socks and tore one of them. This was not a problem for the bike, but I paid the penalty in heel blisters in the run.

Take a few more seconds to take a drink and put on socks.

I pushed hard early even though I tried to pace myself. I got into a reasonable rhythym after about 5 miles, but it was tough because the course was all up and down. I noticed a lot of people that were coasting on the downhills that I thought was a bad idea. I tried to push more on the downhills to take advantage of gravity. I slowed down some in the second half, wanting to conserve energy for the run. I drank plenty and had a gel to prepare for the run. Major problem: I should have checked my gears and brought oil. My front derailler was not shifting properly and needed oil. This was a big problem on some of the larger hills until I figured out that if I stayed on a small rear sprocket the front would shift OK. If I was on the large rears the front would not shift. I drank a bunch in the last mile or so as I wasn't planning on drinking during the run.

Make sure gears are shifting smoothly before the ride. Take it easier in the first part of the bike and chase harder in the second half.

I was surprised how fast I did this transition. Having elastic laces made putting on the running shoes really fast. The one thing I forgot was to put my number on.

Since it wasn't too hot, I didn't drink except one small gulp. This didn't affect me at all. My legs were dead after the bike and I set my goal to not push hard at all until the 3 mile point. If I felt better at 3 miles, I would start to go faster. This was a good decision. My legs still felt terrible after two miles and got slightly better during the 3rd mile. I think I was between 8:15 and 8:30 for the 1st two miles and picked up the pace and had negative splits the rest of the way. My hamstring injury didn't have much affect until after the race. I hurt my left hamstring about 8 weeks ago and this race was the fastest I had gone since that time.

My plan was OK and I really wouldn't change much. I think once I get my hamstring healty I can probably drop 30 seconds per mile or more.

I walked around and finished by beverages. I did some light stretching after about 15 minutes.