When I pushed off to start, my HRM strap almost slipped down to my stomach; luckily I'm a clyde, so there was something to catch it. I knew this was going to happen but my mind was elsewhere, so from then on I put one hand on it when I kicked off. I was just starting to settle into my swim during the second length when I caught my first swimmer, touched his toes and he let me by. The I caught another, and another. They both let me by. I knew I was swimming harder than I normal but I was holding together pretty well. Towards the end. I passed one guy in the lane, as there was a gap and no one coming towards us. Come to find out, when talking to him later, there was a lady in front of him doing the backstroke. Because of this, there was a huge clog behind her and we were all on top of each other. Exited the pool well and ran out the door. Felt very strong on the swim. Could have gone faster but was held up. Still feel good about being 2/14 in the Clyde division and 94/260 overall men's.

Get a tri top. But the thing that held me up was the lady doing the backstroke. Nothing I could do about that.

Pretty long run from swim to transition. Mats/carpet over rocks was good though. Concentrated on my breathing on the way which made the actual T1 much easier. While getting my gear on I noticed a guy on my rack had his helmet on backwards, so I asked him if that was what he meant to do and he said no and switched it. Already, I was doing better than him! A little trouble getting the bike off the rack because of my bag but ran well to the mount line. Mounting area was very small. Only enough room for two bikes wide. Clipped first shoe in well but almost ran over a cone while throwing my other leg over the bike. Once I dodged the cone, I was good and headed out towards the course. 5/14 and 146/260 in T1.

Nothing really. I was calm and went trough my checklist in my head while gearing up. I think the breathing really helped with this; a little O2 in the noggin really helps. Maybe not almost running over a cone would have helped.

I was passed by several racers but I passed more than passed me. Granted a few of the people I passed were overweight and on mountain bikes with bells on the handlebars but most were on road/tri bikes. Really pushed it much harder on the bike than I thought I should have. I kept telling myself to slow down or I'd have nothing for the run but I could make myself do it. My HR was up but not super high so I kept pushing. I'm very happy with bike leg and an avg of over 20 mph is a huge surprise.

Definitely need some hill work. I thought I was drinking a good amount of water but, as you will read in the run, I wasn't. As it turned out, I only drank about half a bottle during the bike leg.

Remembered to stretch hips and calves/hamstrings while coming into T2. Clipped out well just before dismount line and ran to rack. Did very well up until I was putting on my second running shoe. The insole kept sliding down towards the toe. I took it off twice and had to hold the insole with my finger to make it stay. I was just going to say screw it and go but I though I'd better get this right so I wouldn't regret it later. Finally got it and grabbed my race belt/number and was off to run exit. Saw my girlfriend at the race exit and I felt on top of the world. 11/14 and 212/260 in T2 thanks to my insole.

The only thing that went wrong was my insole fighting me. I have to wear an extra insole under the one that came with the shoe because of my PF issues but it has never done this before.

Felt strong leaving T2 but as soon as I got out onto the sidewalk course my right calf started cramping. I stopped for a few seconds and stretched it on the curb before starting again. It was still mad at me for not drinking enough on the bike so I started running with my toes pointing as far upward as I could to keep the calf stretched. I was also yelling at it in my head to HTFU and before I knew it, it had gone away. I was fully expecting to have to walk some of the run so I kept the pace very slow (and I didn't want to push the calf too far). I got in behind some nice pace booty and followed it until she up'd her pace at the turn around. Soon after I realized how slow I was running and started picking up the pace a little. The finish line sort of snuck up on me and I tried to push it a little more. As I came into the finish chute, there was a guy in my age group just ahead of me so I ran him down and passed him.

Hydrate better on the bike. I tried to force down some HEED on the run but does anyone really drink that stuff... it's terrible. I managed a gulp but stuck to water the rest of the way. At just shy of 9 min/mile, that was a super slow run for me. But after pushing so hard on he bike and my calf cramping, I felt I needed to stay there to finish. I was happy I didn't have to walk any though.

Walked around, drank water and soda, ate cookies. Got a massage to help my aching groin muscles. Packed up my stuff and stuck around for some awards. Ate Chipotle and had some more soda. I think I saw wurkit win a swim cap. Watched that same 84 year old lady that seems to run every local race cross the line to the normal standing ovation. I don't know who she is but she is great. There was also a 81 year old man with a long beard that finished... awesome. If those two are single, someone should set them up.


Mostly things that I had no control over. I was surprised at how 'easy' the race was and how well I did. I knew I'd finish and wouldn't be DFL (even though those were my base goals) but I thought I'd struggle more than I did.


Being my first tri and only the second I've been to, I can't really rate it too much. There were tons of volunteers and police helping out. Not much to do between when I finished and when awards started (about 8:45 to 10:30) but get a message and sit around. There were only 2 vendor tents but I'm not sure how normal that is. Offer something besides HEED to drink and Hammer Gels... yuk.