Despite the slow time compared to other swimmers, I am really happy with this swim. I met 2 of my goals (almost): I swam freestyle the whole time and almost came in under 30 minutes. The swim start was better than it's been before, but I still don't like having so many bodies around me. Not sure there's anything I can do about it, though. Could not see the first couple buoys at all, so just followed the purple caps and, voila, there was the first turn buoy. I took the inside line to the 2nd turn buoy and traffic thinned out a little bit, then took an inside line again after the turn buoy. Then the next wave started passing me, but I didn't really come into any contact with anyone. Used my strategy again from the practice swim of coming up next to a breastroker and heading in her direction for a few strokes instead of sighting (since they're looking where they're going, right?). Other than the fact that I could not find any feet whatsoever to draft off of, I'm really happy with this swim. It went perfectly for me.

1. Find some feet to draft off of. 2. Pick it up a bit on the back stretch once traffic has thinned out. Use the wave behind me as motivation to go a little faster.

I know why this is so slow. I walked most of the way to get my bike and then to the bike exit. Plus, I sat down on my cooler while I put my socks on (gasp!), and actually slid right off it the first time, so had to get up and sit down again. I could do this faster (and have before many times), but just wasn't in any hurry.

Just be quicker and not putz around so long.

This was slower than I was expecting, but other than just picking up my pace overall, can't think of anywhere specific I could have improved. Mt. Albert hill seemed to go by faster than usual, which was nice, but the hill up to the middle school actually seemed longer than before. The bike is where I began to feel not so great digestively. I only drank one of my bottles of G2, which wasn't good. I felt like I had to pee the whole time, which was really uncomfortable, plus my tri shorts I now absolutely cannot stand. They are so uncomfortable.

Get tri shorts with a little more padding. Do a better job of "taking care of business" before racing. Drink both bottles of G2 (which I normally do in training, but I felt overhydrated, so stopped drinking). Not ride onto the lawn at the corner of Mt. Albert and Cantor Lane because I was distracted by the traffic cop. ;)

I am extremely pleased with this time. Bike rack was crowded when I got back, so I just racked by the handlebars to save time, then made a decision to not switch my socks for the run.

Nothing. Very fast T2 for me.

I'm actually quite satisfied with this time. Since I discovered in April that I have a torn meniscus in my right knee again (first time in 2004), I stopped running. I've been walk/jogging Centennial a couple times a week for the past couple months to just get used to the course and find places I can shave a little time. This time was only a minute and a half slower than the fastest training time I've posted this year, so I was quite pleased with this.

Get new knees so I can run. Not stop to pee in the woods (I was still feeling GI distress and this helped a little) and not stop to get a kiss from Adam Driscoll, but in reality, I wouldn't trade that for the world.

I was really sore after the race (those damn tri shorts have to go!), so I didn't do any warm-down. Spent a lot of time at the club tent again. Tried to walk around to keep the blood flowing. Ate a little, but really wasn't feeling good. Felt like I wanted to puke so badly, but just couldn't.


Bad knees and too much weight. Did not manage my nutrition as I normally have.


This race is so well-run and well-organized, you just can't overstate it. Every athlete is treated like a superstar at this race. I mean, it's huge, so transition is crowded, but what are you going to do? The schwag we got from Aflac was cool: stuffed duck, small sports towel, Hawaiian leis, sponges, etc. They're a great race sponsor.