I was in the second wave consisting of 40+ males. I had a good swim. I kept right on course and after some minor tangles at the start was able to find clear water most of the way. One guy near me was going about the same speed and occasionally was swerving into me, but I ditched him at the final buoy. Also at near the final buoy some of the women, about 3 or 4, passed me. The waves were 3 minutes apart.

I enjoyed the swim and was a little out of breath running up the hill to transition but I think I wouldn't change anything. I did a lot of training for the swim. One thing I am interested in is finding out how much the Xcel wetsuit helps me on the swim time. If I do an experiment and find the difference is small or none, it will go. I can swim in cold water without it.

This is where I'm embarrassed. I started to have a great T1 transition; I came into transition and found my bike easily, I put on my bike shoes sans socks, I put on my helmet and glasses, I grabbed my bike and out I ran past the timing matt and then I realized I still had my shorty wetsuit on! Oh no! I couldn't go back over the timing matt. I couldn't lay my bike down because my aero bottle would spill. There was nothing to lean my bike on. Finally someone offered to hold my bike upright while I popped the suit off, over the shoes, and tossed it back into a blank space in the bike rack area. Was it outside help, yes, did it cost me about a half a minute (which is added to the bike because I was past the T1 timing matt), yes, enough said.

Take off my wet suit IN the transition area, DUH!

I really had a fast transition going. I'm using MTB shoes with SPD's and I put on the shoes right at my rack spot just like with the running shoes and then run in the bike shoes with no trouble. SPD's are my way of doing this from now on until another better runnable shoe and pedal system is available at a reasonable price. I really like the SPD's and I use the same shoes with my mountain bike.

I actually ran out of fluid which is unusual for me. I usually forget to drink and try to drink a lot just at the bike finish. I pushed it hard on this ride hoping to crack 20 mph but didn't even make it to 19 mph average.

I am getting faster I just thought I was ready to pass the 20 mph milestone on this relatively easy course. I need to ride more and really lose weight.

I'm actually surprised that this time isn't lower. I probably was just reluctant to start the run. I popped off the bike shoes at the rack and then went right into the running shoes sans socks. But I spent too much time putting two Gatorade flasks in my back pockets and getting my race number and hat on.

Practice more, this should have been around 35 seconds or so.

I started easy and then when I reached the big muddy hill I walked. Yes, I walked up that hill because it was very steep and the people acting like they were running in front of me were not going any faster up the hill than my walk pace and I was saving heartbeats. I really questioned why I do triathlons going up that long slightly uphill road section. It was hard and I needed a break.

Well it turned out that the run through the bog area was easy and I got my heart rate back under control and I started to run faster. On the final 1.1 miles I got even faster or what passes for fast for me. The first mile through the woods was 11:16, the second mile including the unending hill was 10:48, The final 1.1 miles was 10:14 which is a pace of 9:30, a very good pace for me. I finished by sprinting across the finish line as hard as I could run. I've had too many previous events where someone tried or did nip me at the end so I now look around to see how close anyone is and then take off.

I just need to run more and lose weight.

After eating some of the meager Tri the Parks offering I packed up my gear and went down to the lake for my usual cool off and clean up swim. I stayed after that to see where I placed in the age group and when I saw 5th of 7 I left.


I know I need to lose weight. I could increase my training volume but the amount I do is about all I can get right now between family and job.


I would do it again. I'm just not impressed with the way the races are run.