I was pretty relaxed before the gun went off. Stayed in the back of the wave at the start. My breathing was off right from the beginning and it shot my heart rate up. Still trying to figure out why. Quickly went into "just get through this" mode.

I'm going to spend more time in my wetsuit and find somewhere to do some more OWS's.

Dizzy and nausous so everything was in slow motion. I focused on getting my heart rate under control and making sure I had everything. Fumbled with the Garmin for a minute and gave up on it. Hearing my wife yelling for me was a big boost!

Figure how to get the wetsuit over my ankles smoothly.

Just happy to be out of the water and on the bike, I started off thinking I would try to start off slow and hope I felt better. The few hill training rides I did really helped both mentally and physically as I made my way through the bike leg. Stomach was still bothering me so I didn't drink as much as I should have. I didn't eat anything.

Almost everything! More hill work, drive the course before the race, drink more. I need to get more comfortable on the downhills so I don't need to use the brakes as much as I did.

Get used to running in the bike shoes.

Never got over the nausea. Not drinking much or eating anything hit pretty hard on the run portion. I was surprised my run time wasn't worse than it was.

Drink/eat more on the bike.

Kept walking and drinking. Got out of the sun.


Need more ows experience!


Although it looks like a lot of bad news as I write this a day after the race, I learned a lot! While I really struggled with the swim and first transition, I was able to work through it and keep going. I also need to work on drinking and eating. I know this will really limit me as I try to push the pace and do longer races. Looking forward to next time!

I'm always amazed at the shapes and ages of people who pass me during the race. What an inspiration to keep pushing myself to train harder!