Took one gel about 15 min prior to swim start. No timing was done for the transition, so I took my T1 time from my last race and added in ~1 minute to account for the hike up the boat ramp and the removal of the wetsuit, which got stuck around my ankles. I took this time off of my swim time. After out of the water I did manage to trot up the hill to transition where a lot of people were walking.

Being the first race with the wetsuit and only the 3rd time I've swam in it, I think it went pretty well. Sighting was great to the 1st bouy (swimming into the sun), then between 1 and 2 I turned inside for a bit. Then between bouy #2 and the boat ramp, I turned outward a bit and then had to steer back onto course. Pretty happy with the swim overall, finally felt like I got into a decent rhythm toward the end. Splash N Dash at TTL on Friday was definitely helpful.

Again, no timing for transitions, so I estimated from previous T1 times and added in wetsuit removal times. I also dried off a bit with a 2nd towel since it was a bit cooler today and I didn't want to get too cool on the bike.

Not much, just need more practice getting the wetsuit off of my feet. I believe the 'timers' were recording times at your exit from transition.

Very hilly course along Castle Hot Springs Road. The entire road was closed to traffic, so that was nice. Right out of transition, there was a 1 mile uphill climb and the entire course was like this. Much more technical than any other course I've ridden. In Nathans and Tempe Intl, I never even used my front shifter, but I used everything my bike had on this. There were 4 u-turns to make on the course. The road was pretty rough in spots, so that was a little uncomfortable. Passed a handful of people here and there, mostly on the downhill spots where I wasn't afraid to push it a bit. Passed one guy that apparently wore his helmet backward for the race.

Need to do more training away from flat lands.

Pretty average T2. Again, no transition split, so I just called this 2:06 (Nathan's was 2:02) so my bike avg speed would be 17 mph. :) Took one gel out of the back of my bike seat pack to down on the run. I've never taken gels with me, but I think it may have helped me, although my run split might not reflect this.

Nothing really.

Same as the bike, the run started out with a 1 mile uphill climb. No aid station was available until the turn around point, but the road probably wouldn't allow for one anyway. I kept a pretty steady pace and only slowed down for a few seconds at the turnaround/aid station. Kept going back and forth with one lady who'd outpace me on a run and get ahead and then walk for a while and then I'd pass her. Did this several times. Finally after the uphill climb out of the turnaround point, I passed her and stayed ahead of her til the finish line. Also passed another guy on the down hill leg to the finish line, so that was nice to still be passing. My pace was slower than I would have liked, but after 17 miles of that bike course, it guess it could have been much worse.

This was a pretty rough run, so same as the bike, I need to get in some varied running paths, as hard as that is in Chandler.

At the finish line they handed you your finishers' medal and a bottle of water. Then I headed over to the food stand and loaded up! Hung around for some awards and then had to get out of there.


Hilly course was certainly a factor. However, my goal for this race was to be under 2 hrs and I made it by about 4 minutes. I also need to start working on getting my running pace up.


Very good race overall! Great post race food and stuff in the bag. Nice shirt and 6 cowbells for the kids to cheer with in the future.

Race photos: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2041157&id=1125210883&l=c2589...