Bad deal - I forgot my goggles! Luckily they had some for sale on-site, but had lots of trouble with them leaking as I have a hard-to-fit face. Huge bummer. I wear contacts, so water in the eyes is not an option. Swam most of the way with my right eye closed due to water in that goggle. No wetsuit, but water temp was fine. Got jostled quite a bit, but nothing too bad. Had a real hard time navigating on the way in as it is right into the rising sun. Considering all that, the swim went great!

Remember my goggles! Also, pick a horizon line for spotting on the way in like a tree. Have read now that there is a good V to look for. Probably get in the front of my wave as I tend to be a faster swimmer.

Really took my time as planned.

Can speed this up with practice.

Used a road bike. Did not have aero bars and this route, being fairly flat, can really benefit from them.

Use a more specific Tri bike with aero bars and push a bit harder on the "back stretch".

Took my time again as planned

Ran a good sub-7 min first mile then my right calf cramped up and I ran the rest of the way in pain. OUCH! This was an injury from about 6 weeks earlier that had kept my running mileage way down, so was just hoping to get through the run without it cropping up, but it did.

Have more time to let it fully heal.

Walked around, drank lots and ate their good snacks and tried to stretch my calf. It hurt, but was manageable.


First outdoor Tri in many years, so took the Transitions very easy. No aerobars on bike. Injured calf limited both my running fitness and race performance.


This was my first outdoor tri in many years so was pretty nervous, but had easy goals of finishing and just having fun. Took the Transitions easy. Loved the race and will do it again next year!