This was my first ever triathlon, first ever open water swim, and first time ever swimming in a wetsuit. So, this was a pretty wild experience. I just wanted to SURVIVE!
It was really chilly in the morning and the wetsuit plus water temp made it more comfortable in the water than on the ground. My goggles fogged up quite a bit which made it hard to see the buoys, so I just had to look for splashes and follow that. I'm pretty sure I followed a blind guy pretty far out of the course and had to swim longer than several people.
Since this was my first swim in my wetsuit, I discovered that it rubs on my neck and I developed a pretty painful sore from all the rubbing.

All in all, I was glad to be done, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I even beat people in my wave.

I would have tested out my wetsuit prior to competing in it. I would DEFINITELY put body glide on my neck. I got pretty wicked blister/chaffing.

There were surprisingly wetsuit strippers when we came out of the water which made taking that off really nice.

I would practice putting my stuff on, and leaving my shoes clipped in.

It felt nice to be on the bike. The road was kind of messed up in a few areas so I had to stay alert and be on guard against giant potholes and big cracks in the road. The bike went ok, but I had to take a leak throughout the ride. I had planned to take some GU during the ride, but I left it in my bag.

Take a leak before the rsce.

Because this was only my 4th outdoor ride since getting my bike, I haven't had time to practice riding in the aero position outside. It didn't want to risk doing so today and wrecking. So, I think I will practice that, and ride in that position next race.

I was new to this too. I could have been a lot fasted getting my shoes on and off and getting start3ed on the run. While leave T2, I must have missed the curb because I just about fell smack on my face on the timing mat. :(

Practice. Not almost trip and die.

Since I missed my GU on the bike I decided to take some on the first loop of the run, BIG MISTAKE. I had to deal with some cramping for the first loop and a half. I decided to stop drinking anything and just run. My last two loops were amazing. I kept getting faster and faster and felt great while doing so. If the run portion were longer I could have passed several more people. I was able finish in a full sprint.

NO GU!!!

I still needed to take a leak during the run, so I guess I'll stick with my comment from earlier and say. Go before the race.

I went to the beer garden and had a beer.


Experience / Training


I was really pleased with my race experience. I was able to beat my goals on all three parts of the race and beat my goal time of 3 hours by several minutes. This was the first year for this event and it was very organized and lots of fun.