Just a couple of strokes into the swim, I started breathing extremely fast and couldn't control it. I wanted to make forward progress, so I breast-stroked or modified freestyled so I could keep my head above water and breathe. After the first turn, I got it under control and was able to freestyle comfortably. I was so far back by that point, I didn't really have much trouble running into other people, except for some crowding and contact from the fast people from the following wave as we all headed to the finish. Oh, the other issue was that I could feel the excess fabric of my ankle chip strap come loose and start flopping around. I occupied the later part of the swim wondering if I should stop kicking because the last thing I wanted to do was lose my chip at the bottom of the lake...

Make more of an effort to swim around before the wave went off, so I could control any panic much sooner.

I have no idea how I spent such an eternity in T1. It is estimated from my garmin and the other timing splits, but it can't be off by much. I didn't have trouble with anything, per se, and I was about as far as you could get from the bike exit (across wet grass/mud in bike shoes), but really I can see no excuse! I did forget to put my gloves on until just before I went up the hill out of transition, so I had to stop to do that.

Try to run a little faster out of the water and with the bike. Make sure to be methodical but quick in taking things off and putting others on. Practice more, I guess.

For me, I did very well on this bike course. I'd ridden it twice before and practice all the time on hills, so I wasn't intimidated. Of course I still got passed by the fast people from the waves behind me, but I made up 14 AG spots on the bike, mostly passing people on hills. I was also aggressive on the downhills, but took the corners easy. No need to wipe out on my first race. I've had trouble with gear changes in the past, but did well. I did have one dropped chain instance, but I was able to recover dynamically. Yea for that! I drank about 1 gatorade and ate 1 gu.

Not much. I was as well prepared for the course as I could have been and was happy with my bike split. Just keep practicing. :-)

This transition was much better, but still somewhat slow. I headed off without my garmin, and had to go back. I didn't want to sit down, but had some trouble balancing on one foot while I tried to put my shoes on.

practice a little more and not forget my garmin.

Considering I'd just swam and biked and the killer hills, I had a pretty good run. My HR was up there the whole time, but I've done entire marathons with it high, so I wasn't worried. I managed to keep myself from walking and tried to push the flats and downhills to make up for the slow climbs. I got a little confused with where I was relative to the park and was really excited when I re-entered it. It was fairly flat from there and I really pushed to a strong finish. There was a guy in front of me that I pushed to catch, just to see if I could. I hate to look like I'm really dragging as I head to the finish in front of all the people, so that motivates me to go faster. I had at least little sips of water at the stops and 1 Gu right at the beginning. I wanted to be under a 10 min/mile pace, but that was before I knew what the course was like... Given everything, I was pretty happy!

Nothing really. Maybe push a little harder since I did have a little left in the tank at the end.

I got a big proud finish hug from J, which was one of the best parts of the day. Since everyone I know finished before me, there were lots of people to walk around and talk to. We got some pictures (none with Chrissie for me :-( ) and eventually got some food. We sat through AG awards and then cleaned up transition and headed to the Ellicott City Brew-pub place. Mmmm.


Basically inexperience. I was well trained on the S/B/R, but could use some transition practice. More OWS would also be a good thing for me.


I knew the race was difficult going in, and apparently I could be considered nuts for making it my first ever, but really I have no complaints. I had fun despite my swim disaster and am looking forward to Eagleman!