Great swim today. I felt really strong, I sighted very well, and drafted the best I've ever had. My strategy was to find a faster swimmer up ahead and catch them and let them take me with them. It worked very well. The swim time actually includes a 1:04 run out of the water, up the dock, and into transition where the timing mat was, so my in water time is actually 22:05, which is really fast for me.

Nothing, this was one of my finer swims.

Not a bad transition, however my wetsuit got stuck on my right heel and it took some extra time to get it off. No big deal, but could have saved a few seconds.

Nothing.

First I must say I improved about 5 minutes from last year's bike, so the tri bike and the proper fit plays a huge role in biking! Second, I ran out of hydration 40 minutes into the bike and didn't get anything until mile 23 at an aid station. I should have had another water bottle on my bike. Third, I get passed by a ton of people on hills. I need to get out and get stronger on the hills. I am pleased though that I can stick with some fast riders on the flats, but they save so much time when it comes to inclines where as I tend to fall way behind. Lastly, the proper bike fit has been awesome because when it comes time to run, I feel great!

I love the Garmin...so much data! I have the Garmin set up to automatically split every 5 miles. Obviously miles 10-15 were the most fun averaging over 24mph!

Lap Data
Lap Time Distance Pace/Speed
1 16m 08s 5.00 miles 18.60 mph
2 15m 17s 5.00 miles 19.63 mph
3 12m 24s 5.00 miles 24.19 mph
4 14m 40s 5.00 miles 20.45 mph
5 16m 24s 5.00 miles 18.29 mph
6 05m 46s 1.81 miles 18.86 mph

Practice hills! Other than that I improved from 18.7mph last year to 20.5 this year, so I can't be too dissappointed.

Quick transition. Nothing major to report here. Other than the fact that now that I have a Garmin it takes a few extra seconds to transfer it from my bike to wrist, but I enjoy it so I won't leave transition without it!

This is where I put the hammer down!! I felt great on the run. Very pleased with the effort. High cadence, kept my form nice and upright, and was able to push myself. The run turned out to be only 4.82 miles, so unfortunately the pace on the website is based of that. Realistically I ran about a 7:19 pace, which I'll still take. Last year I ran an 8:23 pace, so once again, drastic improvement! My training for the Baltimore Marathon must be paying off!

Based on my splits I picked it up about halfway through, and then tried to hammer it home that last mile! I felt good during the strong finish!

Lap Data
Lap Time Distance Pace/Speed AHR MHR
1 07m 23s 1.00 miles 07m 23s /mile
2 07m 32s 1.00 miles 07m 32s /mile
3 07m 10s 1.00 miles 07m 10s /mile
4 07m 20s 1.00 miles 07m 20s /mile
5 05m 48s 0.82 miles 07m 05s /mile

Keep on improving!

The hills on the bike course took a toll on me. I need to work on bike strength!


No packet pick up on Friday was a bummer, it added additional stress on race morning to get everything ready in transition. The bike aid station was at mile 23, WHY?? That needs to be changed. The post race food was bad. A sandwich about 3 inches long, fruit snacks, and a coke. Not that much enjoyable.