Got into the swim start area and tried to relax and tread my way to the back of the pack. This was my first Triathlon and just my second time in my wetsuit, so I didn't know what to expect. The horn went off and it was chaos! Luckily I am very comfortable in the water, so the thrashing, shoving and forearms to the head didn't phase me much. I got frustrated though because I kept swimming into people and having to stop. Once the pack thinned out, I was able to get some clean water and actually start swimming. I was comfortable with the open water and I think I could have gone faster. At Philadelphia, I might get a little braver and make my way to the middle or front area of the start. Surpringly, this was my strongest and most enjoyable leg.

Start closer to the front and race out to get some clear water and THEN settle into a groove.

Had a little trouble getting out the wetsuit, but I guess that will come with practice. Should have run a little more to the transition area. I didn't think I did too bad, but my T1 rank of 132/169 tells me I need to work on this.

Run to bike area and strip wetsuit faster.

This is where my race started to turn to shit. For some reason, I started developing a nagging stomach cramp that never let me get comfortable on the bike. Also, because of this I didn't drink nearly enough of my gatorade of which I normally finish 28oz in 1-1/2 hours. I'm not sure if I gulped too much lake water or if that last HammerGel did me in. Maybe I ingested too many carbs before I started? This hadn't happened before. Anyway, I thought I was going to be prepared for the bike as the roads I trained on are quite hilly. I was very suprised how fast most of the guys were hammering on the straights and moderately hilly sections. I couldn't keep up. To top off, my damn front derailluer decided to go out of adjustment and developed an irritating rub. However, I did well on the steep hills as I routinely passed 6-8 people each time. Age group rank- 131/169.

Train more and get faster on flat sections. Get a better derailluer.

Ended the bike by dismounting and leaving my shoes on. I then thought better of this because of the grassy hill and relatively long walk/run to the rack. So I wasted time in T2 taking off my shoes after I was off the bike. I of course then had to struggle with carrying the damn shoes and walking bike. Almost lost bike once. Not pretty.

As I said above, I need to leave shoes on the bike and run barefooted to rack. Once I racked the bike, no problems. Probably lost a a few seconds without speed laces, but I didn't want try something new a week before the race. rank 79/169.

Although I really thought I would do well on this leg as I have run for a long time and routinely train on hills. My typical 10k brick time is about 50 mins, so you can see by my 1:01:21 time how well this went. That nagging stomach cramp decided to develop into a full blown gut buster. I was slogging through the trail section because I couldn't breath properly. By the time I hit the neighborhood section, it hurt so bad I had to walk. After COMPLETELY STOPPING and doing several bends at the waist it subsided enough for me to continue my death march. I was really disappointed now, because I knew I wasn't performing like I knew I could in the leg I'm most familiar with. Damn! At least I got it together enought to run through to the finish line.

Figure out what gave me stomach cramps and never do it again! I have my suspicions it was the Gel which was compounded with lack of water/sports drink later in the race.

Milled about the finishers reveling in their accomplishment. Ate and drank.


abdominal muscle cramps


Despite my lackluster bike and hideous run, I'm TRYING to not be too hard on myself since this was my first ever Triathlon. I learned a lot of valuable lessons I'm going to take to Philadelphia and future races. I really enjoyed the excitement and atmosphere of the event and love watching people push themselves beyond what they thought was possible. During my run, I traded positions with a gentleman who was nearly twice my age. Truly inspring.