Did a good job of keeping breathing under control and not getting too excited. Was passed by a couple swimmers but didn't let it bother me. Totally botched up my turns - I had planned on sticking to open turns but still found myself too close (horizontally) to the lane rope so I was wiggling under it instead of pushing off the wall and gliding under. Was contentiously trying to correct this at each turn but wasn't working. However, I was very pleased about keeping my breathing under control - I think the Saturday evening practice session in the pool helped with this a lot.

Improve the turns! Just need more practice in setting up the turn and then pushing off at the correct angle.

My first transition ever!! I debated pre-race whether to use socks or not but socks won out due to gravel on the run. They were a little tricky to put on along with bike shoes but everything went much more smoothly than I expected. Was in and out in good spirits.

Work on the bike mount more...almost fell pushing off with new bike shoes. Difficult to get clipped in at first. Remember to arrange nearest pedal downwards to make it easier to step on.

I tried to get my speed up when I could and maintain a comparitively high cadence, but the wind made it difficult to focus. Gear changes went great, I stayed in my big ring most of the time which was my goal. Created a modified aero position to combat the winds. Mental attitude was very positive and I had fun out there.

Stretch calves more in last mile - will help with run transition. Also try to push myself more to figure out how fast I can go on the bike while still maintaining a sub 8min/mile pace on the run.

My second transition ever! Getting off the bike was fine, re-racked it, switched shoes and off I went. Easy-peasy.

Try taking off shoes during bike.

Great run! First mile was dealing with tight calves from the bike. Just tried to keep cadence up and worry about stride length later. Took water at 2mile mark just to wash out mouth. Dumped most of the cup on my head.

Try to increase stride length sooner.

Ate a banana and drank root beer...yum. Did not stretch very much. Hung around until preliminary results were posted, then thought i was out of the top 5 so left. Turns out I was 2nd in my age group after 2 girls were taken out due to their high overall performance. I guess technically I was fourth in the AG. Anyway I skipped the awards which I now regret because maybe I could have met some people? I will stay next time.


Need to improve "body feel" and focus on the bike to take weather conditions in stride. Also need to improve swim speed/conditioning.


Great first race experience! Had a lot of fun!