Who would have thought that navigating in a pool swim would be an issue...but it was. The lanes were set up really wide, and some of them didn't have the "black stripe" to follow. I know this is completely my own issue here, not being able to swim straight in a pool. I was scared of getting in faster swimmers' way so I tried to stay very much to the right side of the lane. I fought a few times with the lane ropes and then also did the zig-zag.

Let me put one thing out here...the "transition area" at this race is very very loosely defined. There is no fence. There are no bike in/out or run out or mount/dismount lines. It is basically a parking lot between the pool and the course road. Anyone can (and does!) walk through at any time.

That being said, I racked my bike closest to the pool exit, struggled with putting on my shoes, and then just mounted RIGHT THERE at the rack and biked out. Seemed the fastest way to go.

Practice putting on shoes. Over and over.

AGAIN REMEMBER IT IS SIX LOOPS. My race friend had the unfortunate luck to not know this, didn't do enough, and was thus DQ'd. For my race, things went fine, used the corners to slingshot around and tried to stay as aero as I could on drops the whole way. Trying to count loops was annoying and made it hard to focus. About 2/3 way through the bike I felt my pre-race donut trying to rearrange itself in my stomach, not too pleasant! But I just tried to sip a little water and keep things calm. Thank goodness it stayed down because it was delicious enough the first time.

Use tape to keep track of loops. Overall I was happy with my effort though.

Again, free-for-all transition. I cruised right up to my rack and was in/out fairly well.

Very straightforward run since we'd already "previewed" the course six times on the bike. Aid stations were every mile with water and ice. I felt my run effort was a little on the "below average" side but I finished up with a nice kick so hard to say.

Use a watch, see below.

Walking, drinking, stretching.


I tried racing without a watch today. In hindsight this was not the race to do that since they do not time splits...only total time which was below my pre-race goal. However it was really fun to be out there with no watch and I enjoyed the experience. I think racing watchless is a good cue to get out there and have fun. I certainly won't do it for all my races in the future, but I am glad I tried it out.


Post-race food was INCREDIBLE. Fried chicken, sandwiches, salad, pizza, drinks, au gratin potatoes and corn. It was worth having the later start time so you didn't have to wait around so long after racing to eat.

I know I may have been slightly negative about the transition set up and the lack of an interesting course, but this event is really designed to bring new local athletes into the sport and not exactly for experienced athletes to really race. So just keep that in mind if you're thinking about racing Wood River next year - extremely beginner-friendly course, great race atmosphere and food, but not exactly a good test for veterans unless you just want a low-key race to blow off some steam. And just remember - bike 6 loops, run 2.