I started out to the left of the field treading water which was pretty easy in a wetsuit. I made sure that I had some room between myself and the guys in front of me. Before the start, I looked to my right and saw the majority of the field still wading in or on the beach and was thankful that I wasn't going to be in that mess. It was still crowded until the first turn with arms and feet everywhere. I sighted well for the most part but swerved a bit on the back stretch with the sun. I still need to figure out this whole drafting swim, but overall this was a really good swim for me.

Find someone to draft off of.

This transition was really not good. I put on the Garmin wrist strap to simulate what I was planning to do at Macon, but that took forever. The rest of it was okay. The setup was based on last name, so I had a long run to the bike exit including have to switch aisles because someone had decided to sit in the middle of the aisle to take off his wetsuit. Was 17th in AG and 188 OA in T1.

Going to borrow my better half's Garmin at Macon so that I can have one on the bike already and then put the other on during the run. Learn the flying mount so that I can run faster through transition.

I really liked the course and it made sure you had to pound it on the first leg out since that was the easiest portion. I saw Greg getting on his bike as I was running out of transition and knew that it was going to be on. We leap frogged the entire way and even passed a couple of cars that were behind some slower riders. Saw Jonathan making the right turn off of the long straight section and pushed harder to catch him.

Nothing really. I was a great ride and my fastest split yet.

This transition went okay, not great, just okay. I hadn't practiced my flying dismount at all this year, so I decided to bag on that idea during the bike leg as I didn't want bust it at the line. I saw Greg running by me through transition and knew it was going to be a rumble. Was 14th in AG and 100 OA in T2.

Practice my flying dismount prior to a race and get a different last name so that I don't have to run as far in my bike shoes.

Started out the run about 10 feet behind Greg. Sat in that spot for a while to assess how I was feeling. There were times that I definitely felt like slowing down and was glad that I had Greg in front of me to keep pushing. I passed him on the last big hill before the turn around, hit mile 2 and then turned it on.

Just need to train harder to improve my time.

Walked around the finish area and talked with the NAMC group.


Need more training!


It was a good race overall. I was happy with my performance as it was a sprint PR for me, but there are still some areas for improvement. I did qualify for Age Group Nationals from this race, so that's a good thing to complete on the first race of the year.