They lined us up and when a spot became available, we would cross the timing lines, jump in the water and be off. I did well, my arms felt pretty tired and I felt really slow.

Warm up a bit more and try to keep a stronger pace from the beginning

It was so cold that I decided to wear my nike t-shirt and my long sleeve synthetic over it. However, being the beginner that I am, I didn't realize how difficult putting on a shirt while soaked was. It was worth it on the bike though. The transition area was well set up and my heat's rack was right next to the bike exit/entrance and run exit. I didn't have to run far and passed the first guy out of the water for my heat right after the mount line.

I would practice starting with the shoes clipped in more so I could do that in the race. I also would get a cycling windbreaker to wear instead of a long sleeve shirt, way too tough to get on.

I took out the Bianchi pretty fast and was nervous that I was over doing it as I passed a couple people right away. But felt fine after ten minutes, so I kept it up. I was pretty nervous around the 90 degree turns and lost time slowing down significantly for them. The hill on to the mesa was tough and steep, but I only had to drop down to my lowest gear at the top after passing a couple women on Mountain bikes. The road to the South on the far edge of the course was rough, but manageable, even though my hands went tingly from the vibrations in a couple spots. The volunteers on the course were awesome. The local high school cheerleaders where there with their pom-poms cheering everybody on every turn.

Not have had knee problems, haha. I would have gone faster around the turns. Other than that, I did hydration and nutrition well and timed them well, so it was great overall.

I undid my shoes about 1/4 mile out and jumped out of them off my bike at the dismount line, evidently to the surprise of some spectators. Overall a good transition. Drank some water, threw my empty gu packet out... Oh, but I did almost forget to take my helmet off. Oh and I forgot where I was supposed to go out of transition to the run. Thankfully the volunteers were super helpful.

Nothing. Except maybe get some Yankz for my running shoes.

Since this was my first triathlon, this was my first real experience with the numb/heavy legs off the bike. I couldn't really feel my legs for awhile, which was a blessing in disguise, due to my IT band and knee cap tracking problems. The hill was tough, but do-able and it was great to run back down. OH! And a mom and young child decided that walking right across the finish line was a good idea directly in front of me. I almost ran the kid over and had to do this weird stumble across the line to avoid said child. So note to spectators, walk around the finish line, not directly across it, you never know when a runner is going to be sprinting around the corner to cross the finish.

Push harder during the run downhill and hope people would be smarter about casually walking across the actual finish line. That could have gone much worse for both me and the kid.

Walked around with my roomie and got some food and water. Continued to walk, then sat and stretched out my legs after checking on the Bianchi.


Knee injury and not being able to run for the last three weeks. Or bike in high gears for that matter


It would have been nice if the finish line had been roped off better and if a roped off chute had been present as well. This would have helped avoid problems like mine with small children. Other than that, good race. Fun and the volunteers were wonderful! I had such a blast and I know I'm hooked now!