The Swim was awful from the start. My initial thought was to start in the middle so that the fast swimmers could take off and I could maintain my pace which had been a consistent 8:00 min throughout my training and preparation at the pool. After the first wave left, some of the swimmers went out to the start line to tread water until the horn sounded for us to go. I waited until about 30 seconds to start. The horn went and I swear every fast swimmer was behind me and ran me and lots of other swimmers over. It was a freaking mad dash. There was hitting, kicking, pulling, (basically you name it) going on with no care who was in their way.

After about the first 150 meters of me going all out (so that I didn't get completely run over) I was out of gas and had to revert to my backstroke. My plan was ruined. I swallowed so much water and must of had a stomach full of Amoeba and bacteria.

Let me say that if you are a first timer - no matter how well you trained and how good a swimmer you think you are, Start in the back of your wave for your first Tri.

I rounded the buoys maintaining a slow pace because of my complete exhaustion. There were a couple of other stragglers from my group back there with me, but for the most part everyone was on their way to the beach. I heard the horn sound for the next wave, knowing at that point I had been in the water for 5 min. and wasn't half way home. Continuing to pace and occasionally revert to my recovery stroke, I kept moving and eventually got close to the beach. Around that same time the leaders from the group behind mine had caught us and ran over us (again) just as the first group had.

I don't completely blame them though because it's not unreasonable to think that we should have been out of the water already. Finally ashore I saw my Wife, Daughter, sister, brother and Niece and thought "I can do this, the hardest part is over", but felt very discouraged about my performance in the water.

Start in the back, and maintain my steady and consistent pace.

Got out of the water and over to my bike. I toweled off my feet, slid on some socks, and put on my shirt, Helmet, wristband, and headband. My shoes were already clipped in so I would slide my feet in once I got on the bike. I off running with my bike and off to race. After clearing the ride line I got on and couldn't get my feet in the shoes. I stumbled around for a minute trying to get my feet in securely. Finally I did and was off.

Start off with my bike shoes NOT-clipped in.

The ride felt great. Once I got clipped in I rode with what I perceived as some top notch riders. We rode in a small pack passing a lot of riders. We alternated the lead taking turns drafting safely (not too close as we don't want one of those "subjective" penalties). I went to take a drink of my G2 and forgot to unlock my bottle after putting it in my cage so it slipped out of my hand and was gone. I made sure to unlock the other one. Good thing I had 2 huh?

In the transition I would start with my shoes not clipped in and clip in once I got mounted. Also wouldn't lock my water bottle of course. Overall I was very pleased with my performance on the ride and felt as though I made up a lot of ground that I lost during the swim.

Racked my Bike, Helmet off, and slid on my running shoes. The elastic laces are awesome and saved me so much time. I blew by a lot of people who entered the transition in front of me. I grabbed a water bottle on my way to the start and took a few sips. I poured the rest on top of my head and was off to run.

Un-clip my Bike shoes a bit earlier so I could dismount faster. Possibly leave my shoes in the pedals and slide my feel out after loosening the buckles. Overall I was very pleased with the second transition.

The run felt good. I had a pacer behind me. We got to chatting a bit, once we caught our breath, and he was also a first timer. Since I was a few feet ahead of him, I told him that if he was comfortable with this pace we could run together and I'd pull him as long as he'd push me. We run together the entire time. I didn't even see his face until we crossed the finish line and I gave him a pat on the back. As far as pace, we ran an aggressive pace, but not too hard passing a lot of runners (and walkers) along the way. It was a bit satisfying to pass a girl who blew by me on the bike. When she did I thought to myself "she can't keep up that pace, she's going to gas out." So when I passed her on the run, it was a bit fulfilling to know that if you stick with your pace and gameplan, you'll pull through.

***Just to note she did beat my overall though since she started 10 mins behind my wave, so it's not too satisfying. She is still a better tri-athlete than I am...***

Nearing the finish I picked up the pace and my buddy behind me was right with me. We crossed the finish line maybe 2 or 3 seconds apart. It was cool that they also announced "Here come Trevor Stultz from Deland FL" as I run into the tunnel hearing the applause.

Nothing. I gave the run everything I had and was very pleased.

Walked a bit, grabbed a bottle of water and a vitamin water, and looked for my family.


My Extremely poor swim skills and endurance in the water. I think I was 6 minutes slower than my average training time.


Overall very pleased. Would like to see improvements on the pavement for the bike ride (way too many potholes and sewer covers), and see them pull some of the seaweed out of the lake for the swim. Overall I was pleased enough to register for another Tri in 6 weeks and definitely plan on attending next year's Downtown Orlando Triathlon.