Purposelly started out nice and slow. Nothing prepares you for the first time pounding you get in the first 200m or so. Navigated fine but rhythem was WAY off from being swum over, under, and being kicked in the face. After 200m or so, found a decent rhythem and smoothed out a little. Finished at the same pace I started, slow and easy.

Stay outside more on the start and worry less about swimming over people. On the way back, I could have pushed the swim much harder but being my 1st race, I didn't know what to expect so I took it slow and steady. Next time I will open up the swim on they way back. Could easily shave a minute off of this time.

Overall not bad. Lost a lot of speed on the bike because my speedplay cleats were clogged with mud. Took a good mile to get left foot clipped in. Missed my rack going into T1. Thanks to BT.com I had my T1 area layed out perfectly and it was fast.

Count the rack position to make sure I go down the right one. Learn to get into the bike shoes while clipped on...or get the coffee house speedplay covers and then just take them off at the mount line.

Did better on the bike than I thought I would. Avg 21+. I lost a lot of speed in the first mile due to the fact that I only had one shoe clipped in. After the mud dried and I got clipped in, got up to speed quickly. My pace was comfortable, probably too much so, but again, didn't know what to expect. Rarely got passed by guys on road bikes (which I was on) but did have some tri bikes fly by me. Note to self...I "need" a disc wheel cause they sound SO cool when they fly by you.

I saw first hand the advantage of being on the aerobars on a road bike. Flew by some guys in the drops while I was aero going down a long hill.

At no part of the ride was I "tired" and kept a comfortable pace the enitre ride.




Probably push a little harder on the bike leg but a fine line between pushing too hard and not enough. That will come with experience.

Came to complete stop to get off. Wobbly legs mad for wobbly run with bike. Missed rack...again. Shoes/socks on OK. Jogged too slow out T2.

Pay more f**king attention to where my rack is. Learn to get out of bike shoes while on bike.

Hated the gravel course. Did well 1st mile (6:33) but mile two for some reason my legs slowed way down (7:30) but I didn't realize I slowed down. Sped up for the final mile (7:00) but hard to build speed on the gravel. Even though I was disappoined in my run time, I was happy to say I passed a ton of people on the run and was not passed myself. W/O the brain fart on mile 2, I could have easily gotten the run down to 21 flat. The final 200 yards I had enough energy to full out sprint (and probably piss a few guys off that I passed).

Get a garmin so I am more aware of pace on the run. Hard to gauge speed the first mile when legs are numb and then harder to tell when you actually get the feeling back. Would start my final push earlier.

Gave wife and kid hugs! Grabbed a banana, coffee, and two beers (breakfast of champions). Smiled a lot. Very proud of myself for doing my first tri. Asked wife which tri we gonna do in July and August! Learned so much doing the first race.

This was a two day race with Saturday being the open/AG (which I did), and Sunday being the novice/relay. Even though it was my first race, I wanted to do with the AGers so I could learn. I just looked at the novice results from Sunday...I would finished 8th overall! But then again, I wouldn't have learned from all the AGers...but it sure makes me feel pretty good for my first race!


Zero tri race experience. Need more sprinting saddle time. Need more OWS experience.


Race was very well run. 6:30am start time kind of sucks. Didn't like the gravel/trail run but that is just a personal preference. I have nothing to compare it to tri-wise but compared to most running races I do, this was a very well run race.