The first 10 minutes of this swim sucked....I was getting hit and kicked, more than any other tri swim I've done. Had a very hard time getting comfortable in the water....couldn't get my breathing settled down, swallowed water...didn't matter how fast or slow I was going, I just felt a touch claustrophobic. Thankfully that feeling went away after 10 minutes or so and the rest of the swim was actually pretty good. Finally got into a rhythem. I was pleasantly surprised to see my time was as good as it was given the beginning. Actually happy with the swim.....lets just not talk about the first 10 minutes, ok?
Oh, and I was very happy with sighting and swimming straight. There were only a couple of times in the swim where I looked up and had to alter course. That's been an issue in the past.

I need more open water swimming experience (and maybe some UFC fighting experience) and in general need to become a stronger swimmer. Until now I've just done enough to get by.....we'll see how that motivation plays out.

Happy with the transition because it went smoothly. But there is plenty of opportunity to be quicker and save time. It's been three years since my last tri and I never practice transition except rehersing them in my mind.

Practice transitions.

Due to the rain, I was trying to exercise due caution during the first couple of miles. After that, however, I just road my normal race and didn't consider the issue unless I was cornering. I was aggressive on the downhills (and slow on the uphills). Never checked my speed or time during the ride, I just tried to push myself throughout. I heard others after the race talking about the wind but I only noticed it a couple off times. Finally checked my time coming into the park and was disappointed with what I saw. I was hoping to be 2-3 minutes faster.

Not sure....certainly I need to improve my climbing ability.

I'd been playing leap frog with another rider in my AG the whole ride. I passed him a final time in the park as we entered transition. I was happy with that, especially since I beat him out of transition and never saw him again. Generally happy with the transition but just like T1, I have opportunities to improve. I was relatively efficient, just slow.
Oh, I also had to pee...bad. So I hit the port-o-john on the way out. That will show up on my run time.

Practice.

Disappointed in the run. No other way to say it.
First mile included 1 minute in the port-o-john. For whatever reason, I just didn't have it in me to push hard on the first half of the run. My threshold for suffering was way too low and I'm not happy with not being able to push harder. I did manage a negative split, by a significant margin, which I was happy with (thanks for the help Terri).

Push myself a little harder in training.

I didn't see Chrissie Wellington giving out finisher medals!! Kinda bummed about that. I don't know if she wasn't there when I was or if I was just oblivious.....probably the later. I was a little wobbely right at the finish and one of the volunteers held on to me as I left the chute.
Stopped by the Mid Maryland Tri Club tent....what a great group. I need to get one of their racing singlets.


My current level of fitness is not what it needs to be to perform at the level I want. I knew that going it. But it was close enough that I'm disappointed I could force myself to suffer a little more to break 3 hours.
But the positives from this race outnumber the negative so I've got to stop dwelling on it.
All in all, I'm happy with the race. Great experience.


It sounds cliche, but the volunteers were AWESOME!!
There were so many of them and they all did a great job. Thanks!!!
Race is very well organized and lots of fun.