I positioned myself a bit more aggressively than I have in the past, in the middle of the pack instead of back and to the side.This was the largest mass start I've been in and there was lots of contact, but I stayed calm and confident. I just focused on finding a comfortable pace and stuck with it. Couldn't find any feet to draft off of, especially with the cloudy water. You really couldn't see anyone until you were on them. By the second loop the pack had thinned and I just kept swimming and sighted about every 5th stroke. Swam up to the boat ramp exit until my hands touched the bottom, then stood up and ran up the hill to transition while removing the top of my wetsuit, cap and goggles.

Pushed harder on the swim. After looking at my time, I realized my pace was too comfortable. I definitely could have pushed harder.

Transition went pretty smoothly. I had forgotten to turn my garmin on before the race start, so as soon as I got to transition I turned it on, and it was tracking by the time I mounted the bike. I struggled a bit getting my new tri shoes on. I haven't practiced putting them on in a hurry yet. I can't run in my tri shoes, so I walked as quick as I could to the mount line and off I went

Remember to turn my garmin on before the start. Learn to get into my shoes on the bike.

The first section of the bike course is on a downhill, winding, narrow rough road with 6 speed bumps. I took this pretty slow, since my bike handling skills aren't that great, and I'm not sure how fast I can safely take a speed bump. Once through that I got up to speed and found a comfortably hard pace. The out section on Mill Creek Road is about an 8 mile long false flat with a few hills. I knew from pre-riding the course that this part was going to be hard, so I shifted to the small chain ring to keep from mashing. A few people passed me, and towards the top before the turn around I passed a few. After the turn around, I shifted to my hardest gear and tried to make up some lost time. This part was fun and fast, but I was slowed down a bit by a strong headwind. Coming back up the hill into transition, I once again had to ride over the 6 speed bumps, but I was going so slow since it was uphill this time that I didn't need to slow down for them.

Train more on the bike. Push harder.

The dismount area was on the opposite side of the transition area from my rack, so I had a pretty good walk back to my rack. There wasn't a spot for my bike on the rack, so I just leaned it against the fence. Everything else went pretty smoothly, except I was messing with my garmin to get it switched over to Run.

Learn to get out of my shoes on the bike. Maybe, not bring the garmin. It seemed to be more of a distraction than helpful.

This was the worst run I've ever had in a race, or even in training for that matter. I felt pretty good setting out on the run, but the dirt trail quickly trashed my achilles. I have ongoing problems with tight achilles, and they get strained pretty easily. Both achilles felt like tight knots and both my feet went numb. I simply couldn't run through it, and found myself walking just before the 1 mile marker. I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to do it, but I decided if I had to I would walk the whole thing. I would be dead last, but I would finish. Even though walking hurt too, just not as much. Thankfully, I did not have to walk the entire distance. I ran until I couldn't bear it any longer, and then I would walk awhile. I also poured water over my head at every aid station to try to stay cool. I continued that way until the last mile and then ran the rest of the way to the finish line. I have never been so happy to be done with a race!

Be more vigilant about stretching and rolling my calves. Run more in the heat to acclimate to the temperature. Train more on dirt trails

Walked back to transition, and packed everything back in the car. Ate great barbeque chicken at the post race meal.


Achilles, no taper, still have a lot of training to do.


Challenging, but fun course. Very well organized, and great post race meal.