SO this was the exact opposite of my first tri. Great start, bad finish.

I thought I warmed up ok. I knew my wave was going off first so I sat up front on the stairs at the start. I knew there was the choke point at 150m and really could not figure out how to avoid it. My plan was to start outside up front and hope to make it to 150m in good shape.

Kinda cool being in the first wave with all the announcements and Anthem yaddy yadada.

GUN. I go and have a pocket. Nobody within 5 feet of me. Face in the water and I'm cruising. SWEET. Great first 100m. Then it closed...very fast. Started getting touched on the feet and hitting the guy in front. I did have enough mind to spot the turn buoy and see it was crowded so I went wide. Good Move!

Last 200m. F'in people on my feet. It was to the point that my chip was coming off. Maybe I should have been flattered that they were drafting me. HAHAHAHAH! Right. Can you draft when you are this slow??

I didn't stand till I touched bottom. Good!

I don't know. I started exactly how I planned which was great!. I'm seriously thinking about just waiting for 25 seconds after the gun goes off in the next race. Let everyone go then cruise. I'll make that time up!

~55m run to T entrance. then 50M to my isle. Threw my shirt on, shoes on and was gone.

Note. I knew it may not be wetsuit legal but what I didn't realize was that people still where there tri tops when its not. I wore nothing up top. Was one of the few. Although I had no problems getting my top on in T next time though I will wear my top in the swim to save a few seconds.

Wear top for the swim.

I picked up my bike 5 days ago and have been sick since. I rode 15 miles yesterday to try my best to get use to it. Its also my first tri bike and first time on aero bars. That said....

DAMN, RIDING ON AERO BARS IS NOT EASY!

The biggest lesson was relax the shoulders. When I did I felt good. Else I hurt and had to come out.

One promising theme...the only people I passed in both my tri's were those with flat's. Why is this promising, hey it wasn't me!

As much as this ride hurt (read sucked) I think did have an understanding of why these bikes are advantageous.



Ride more before the race. Ride more after the race. Ride more...

Good crowd at dismount line. I came in in a pocket so lots of people cheering for me.

I think I did OK. My seat was higher than the rack so I had to manipulate the bike on the rack.

Took my shoes off, grabbed a gel, put my shoes on and ran out putting my belt on.

I spent a few seconds tying my shoes. Don't like Yanks so need to find another system.

Man I was slow again. But this time there were spurts when I would pick up the pace, But then I would slow up again. Never walked which is always a personal goal.

As I reflect back on the day, maybe my best time was the last mile. A guy in my AG passed me at mile 1 but I was able to keep him at 35-45 seconds max. At mile three he was at 30 seconds and I told myself to go get him. I did! Man that felt good to reel his a$$ in. I passed him w/ ~.3 to go, told him he was looking strong and didn't see him again until I was cheering for him at the finish.

I left some out there on the run. What else can I say.

You might have read my RR from my first tri at Lone Star about a woman helping me with my bike stickers in the body marking line prior to T opening. ok...So today I finish up and am standing there all exhausted and there she was again. It was one of those awkward moments like what do you do. Well I'm never one to let an awkward moment go by so I gave her the biggest, sweatiest, smelliest hug I could. She had a big ol' smile so I was good to go...no slap upside the head!


this would be an excuse. i have none other than i need to train harder.