I began well enough - stroke felt ok, bilateral breathing. Despite everyone being in the water at once, the mosh pit wasn't too rough - didn't take any elbows or feet to the face for the first time ever. About 100 yards in, I took some water up the nose and totally lost my breathing rhythm. I tried very unsuccessfully to get it back. Managed to get back to breathing every 2 strokes steadily, but couldn't get back to 3 no matter how much I tried to calm myself. I even broke into a breast stroke 3-4 times because I felt like I couldn't catch my breath. I was a bit disappointed with this, because I had really improved my breathing in swim class. Sighting was ok - got a little off course towards the end, but much better than my last race. Overall time was very surprising! I was worried my breathing issues were going to really slow me down. I was very dizzy and light headed at the end. I couldn't manage more than a Godzilla lumbering wade coming out of the lake, and only a slow unsteady jog up to T1.

Not get sick for the entire week leading up to the race. Sinusitis/rhinitis I think had a large part to do with my breathing issues. I'm not unhappy with the result at all - if you told me I was going to finish in that time, I would have told you I would probably have to swim a perfect leg. Makes me wonder what I might be able to do when I'm healthy! My wetsuit may have had a lot to do with it - was my first racing using one, and it definitely makes up for a lot of my form deficiencies.

Definitely disoriented from the swim coming in. Cap and goggles came off ok, but suit was a bit of an issue - took longer to get it off my heels than when I practiced. As I went to put my foot into the first shoe, I realized I had forgotten to open the straps...took me a little time while straddling the bike to get my shoes unstrapped, feet in, and then strapped while pedaling.

Practice getting the suit off more. Remember to check my shoes to make sure they are ready to go while setting up transition.

I read previous reviews debating on how hilly this course is. From my perspective, its got a lot of hills - much more than I'm used to training on. Unfortunately, I tend to train on a mostly flat river trail. I added in some more hills while training for this, but I wasn't as prepared as I would have liked to be. I wasn't the only one. On the first loop I passed someone walking their bike up the biggest hill. On the plus side, the downhills were fun! I unfortunately didn't have my bike computer with me - I would have liked to see how fast a couple of the downhills were - it was the first time I've ever been going fast enough where the highest gear on my bike offered no resistance. The wind and temps made it a little cold - my feet were numb by the end. My sinus/nose issues also made me miserable - I sucked back a lot of snot, and also had it covering my face. Unfortunately, post-nasal mucus and energy gels make for a poor coupling in the back of your throat. I think the combination of boogers and antibiotics upset my stomach a bit - I found it hard to even stomach water by the end of the ride, and didn't drink as much as I probably should have. Got passed by lots of people :-(

Again, not get sick :-/. My biggest issue was training - I need to change up my routes and get a lot more hills involved. I also should look into getting properly fitted for my bike by someone who knows what they are doing...

I should probably get used to running without socks - it definitely takes extra time getting them on, no matter how you roll them. Otherwise I think it went fine.

Consider going sockless. Not really sure what else to do. My time was quite a bit slower than the times of those I finished near in overall time. I did notice people not totally dismounting and riding their bikes into transition, but I still don't know that would have made a huge difference for me.

I started slow - my running muscles always seem to take about a mile to engage after the bike (no matter how many brick workouts I do). I got passed by one runner in the first mile. Hamstrings screamed at me up the first hill. Took water at the one stop and almost choked on it - dumped the rest on my head. About that time I began to slowly get into rhythm and passed about 4-5 people in the last mile (including the one that blew by me earlier).

Considering how drained how felt from the bike, my run felt pretty good. I'm definitely a better runner than cyclist. Don't think I would change anything. Run time was a little slow for me - almost 2 minutes slower than the last triathlon I did.

Walked down to the food area and got some grub. Did some stretching, broke down my transition area, packed the car and waited for the awards ceremony.


Training of course is always the biggest limitation. While I did a good job of putting in more time on my bike - my major weak area at the moment - I need to get stronger and do more hills. Health definitely had a lot to do with it. My seasonal allergies flared into a major issue about 9 days before, gave me a sinus infection and put me in a major sleep deficit due to bad post-nasal drip and horrible night time cough. Rest was also an issue. While I started to get physically better later in the week thanks to my doctor, I worked late two nights prior to the race and then spent 5.5 hours after work installing a bike on my car (thanks for the wrong fit kit, Thule). A smarter person would have gone to bed instead of finishing the job, but I have a small car and have never found a way to comfortably fit my bike in it - I didn't like the idea of a 2 hour ride with the back wheel in my face. I was a bit disappointed with my overall finish. I was hoping to place in my age group (ended up 5th). I did feel I did the best I could on that particular day and my time wasn't too far off my projection - even if I had been completely healthy, I don't think I could have put up a time good enough to place - some fast people showed up :-)


Both of my other races have been quite a bit larger in terms of number of racers than this one. I was a little thrown off by lack of a course talk/orientation the day before, lack of swim warm-up time and the all-at-once start instead of waves. Given the size of the event, though, the organization was adequate and everything went smoothly. I was concerned about navigating the trail run course, but it was well marked and had plenty of volunteers providing directions. The volunteers on the bike course could have been a little more attentive - at one turn, the person giving directions was sitting in their car on the other side of the road and would occasionally point towards the direction we were supposed to go. My biggest issue was the number or racers who were riding their bikes into the transition area - I thought that was grounds for disqualification. If its not, then I guess I'll start doing it, too. Overall good race - I would do it again.