I have been focused on bike and run and therefore, did not swim once in September and logged only 5 swims in August. This was my first Ocean OWS in a looong time.....Needless to say, I'll take the results of this anyday. I was in the first wave, positioned in the front row lined up a tad off the buoy to compensate (via best guess) for the ocean waves/current. The race director said "GO" and off we went. I was surprised with how quickly people tried to surface dive. I just kept bounding and when I finally started swimming, I was clear of the herd. I was able to sight Buoy #1 because it was very large and the only issue I seemed to have was the water I gulped in the first 100 feet....We rounded the first buoy and began to swim parallel to the shore. We had to go by Buoy #2 and #3 and these were smaller and I had a hard time spotting them. The waves were also pushing me back towards shore slightly so that threw me off my flow a bit too. I actually lost count of the Buoys I had passed and overshot the final turn to the beach at Buoy #4 by a tiny bit. I was breathing on my left side (shore side) to prevent drinking more sea water, so I saw that I was off and corrected easily enough. Coming out of the water we had a run up the beach to T1 of about 100 yards or so.

I was 10th OA and within :45 of the immediate 7 faster triathletes and was happy with my result. Again, based on the amount of swimming I've done lately and my complete lack of ocean OWS practice I think it was a solid time.

I tried to minimalize my transitions. I had to remove my full wetsuit, goggles, swim cap. I had to put on my helmet, my cycling shoes (sockless) without even wiping them off (first time trying that), my sunglasses, and strap my Garmin to my wrist. Initially, balance was an issue. I was tipsy. Then the wetsuit removal process caught on both my ankles. Got the shoes on fine, helmet/sunglasses fine, then the Garmin took too long to strap on.

My 2:16 was too long. The contenders were all under 2:00 and most were below 1:30. Next year I will need to practice swimming/T1/biking to get a better handle on it. Practice practice practice. Garmin issue - I will either have it pre-strapped to my bike or I won't have it with me.

This was only my 3rd "real" ride on my new (to me) Cervelo P2SL. I'm still getting accustomed to the position, having done 100% of my previous riding experience on a road bike. I knew that I could be FOP if I could put together a strong ride. Having ridden this course before, I knew the areas where I could go fast while conserving energy and the areas that were going to be important for me to push through vs just spinning through. My plan was to ease into the bike in the first couple miles and let my HR and breathing come down. As I was doing this, I was passed by 4 people. I didn't lost sight of them and eventually reeled them back in by the mid point of the race. For a good stretch, I was chasing one rider who maintained about 300yards on me. I caught him on a downhill stretch and then it was just me until about mile 12, when I was passed by 2 riders back to back. I cruised in knowing that I had ridden a solid ride.

Log more time in the saddle

Argh!!! T2 was going great until I realized I didn't have my race belt. Backtrack 35 yards to collect it and off we go again. All the contenders were under 1:00 here, many under :45 so there's room for improvement. For 2010, now that I have 1 season of training under my belt, I think I will start adding in little things like practicing transitions, running w/bike, mounts and dismounts, etc... The transitions are free time not to be wasted

practice practice practice

I've worked alot on run fitness this summer. Continues to be my achilles heel. Very disappointed with my run performance. Coming out of T2, I was already redlined. I made it about 1/2 mile, and had to stop and walk for :30 to drop my HR a bit and get my breathing under control. Then I ran for another 3/4 mile and had to do the same. I knew starting the run that I was in 2nd place in my AG starting the run, and now started to hear the mental voices start talking. I struggled thru the next mile, had to stop for about :15 and then was able to latch on to a couple of people who had passed me and stayed on their heels to the finish.

I will continue to work on my run fitness. It's frustrating to put time into people on the swim and bike, only to give it back and then some on the run. My goal is to make this weakness a strength. That will be my focus during the winter.

walked around, grabbed a free table massage, drank a bottled water and walked my stuff back to the car


Lack of experience with transitions

Run fitness


Very well organized. Lots of volunteers. Good Portopotty to racer ratio. Friendly atmosphere. Nice quiet race course. Scenic. Fun.

Both my swim and bike performances were FOP. My T1/T2 and run were not. I know what my training focus will be on this winter.