Crowded in the beginning. 1st 5-8 minutes it was difficult to get around slower swimmers. Crowd forced me to shorten my stroke a bit and pick my head up more than I would have liked. After the first turn I had more room and really lengthened my stroke and took advantage of a few drafting opportunities. I have done several open water swims, but this was the first time I really took advantage of drafting. The second half of the swim I felt very strong.

Work my way closer to the front for the start. Do a better job of sighthing without picking up my head so much.

This was my first real transition from Swim to bike. I half jogged up the ramp, dried off, ate some gel, threw on socks and shoes and walked my bike to end of the transition area. As this was my first tri - I was more worried about making sure I had everything I needed then moving quickly

Moved faster in and out of the transition area. Most people - even those with wet suits were out in under 2 minutes so 3 minutes is pretty slow.

I had a flat tire on the 3rd mile. I could not get the tire off the rim. After about 15 minutes an SUV from a local bike store stopped to help (save) me. I don't think I would have ever gotten it fixed. All said and done I think a lost at least 20 minutes on the flat. Most of the finishers in my age group came in between 1:15 and 1:20, had I not had the flat I think I might have been in the thick of things at the end of the bike.

1. Better tires - 4 flats in less than 100 miles - getting some bontrager hard-cases - hope it works.

2. Practice fixing flats - hopefully I can comfortable fixing one in the road in 5-10 minutes

Not sure how to gauge this one - top guys were through in 30 seconds but my T2 was not near the worst of the pack.

I may need to get some real biking shoes/clips - I wore an old pair of leather athletic shoes that were on the narrow side so they fit into the pedal baskets. My feet and toes had fallen asleep on the ride.

Sun was brutal although the temperature was not extreme (mid-70s) But after getting off the bike, the sun and uphill were sucking the life out of me. It felt like I was moving really slow so I was surprised that I still managed 9 minute miles for the whole thing.

Maybe next time I should try to push the pace a little bit at the beginning of the run and lengthen my stride. After the first 2 miles I felt like I started getting some wind back. I might have gotten my wind back even if I pushed harder in the beginning.

Very moderate stretching


Inability to change my own bike tire, not positioning myself well at the swim start, not speeding through the transitions


This was my first one so I don't have anything to benchmark against, but its a beautiful area. The river wasn't too mucky. Lots of friendly helpful volunteers. I will most likely do this one again.