Ugh. After our open water swim on Thursday, I was really looking forward to the swim. It had felt great swimming in a wetsuit, and I was anticipating the adrenaline to really carry me. I wasn't expecting the chop. Was it bad? I've nothing to compare it to, but others told me it was pretty bad. I couldn't swim more than 5 or 6 strokes before swallowing a mouthful, so I resorted to a mix of breast-, side-, and back-strokes. Others (wife included) seemed to be having similar difficulties, so our wave seemed to remain pretty bunched up. I would guess I didn't swim more than 100 yards of the course freestyle because of the chop. Strangely, my time didn't seem to suffer. I hoped to finish between 10 and 12 minutes, and my watch showed me coming out of the water around 11 minutes. Either the course was shorter than 400, or I'm a lot better breaststroker than I thought. Yeah, that's it.

Practice in rough water!

100 yard uphill run from the lake to transition. I ran about 2/3 of it.
Logistically, no problems in T1. Everything was right where I left it, and it felt smooth. My mountain bike shoes aren't the quickest to put on, but it gave me a minute to catch my breath. Took a shot from an Enervitene Cheer Pack, and hit the road.

Nothing. It wasn't a fast transition, but I don't feel like anything really went wrong. The shoes are slow - I'll blame them.

After previewing the course the week prior to the race, I knew it had a few good-sized hills, so I was a little unsure how the ride would go. As it turns out, it went great. I felt strong the whole way, especially up the hills. I felt like I was passing a lot more people than were passing me on the hills, and my legs never felt tired. Most of my training rides have included pulling my two sons around in the Burley. Without that 80 extra pounds back there, I felt like I had a rocket up my @$$. :)
Ate an Enervit Cola goo at the 7 mile mark. Mmmm...tasty!

Get a tri bike. :)

No real memories of T2. I was feeling kind of detached at that point. Took another shot of Enervitene Cheer Pack, and had a big pull of water. Too much water, actually - it felt heavy in my stomach.

Less water.

My plan was to take it easy until the halfway point, then re-evaluate and see how fast I thought I could finish. I was focusing on smooth, easy running, and keeping my cadence up. There seemed to be a largish pack of us that were all about the same speed, so that helped. I grapped just a sip of water at the turnaround, and started back. I was feeling good - just a minor side stitch - so I picked up the pace a bit. The return run went by really quickly, and before I knew it I was back in the park. My legs still felt good, and it felt like I was passing more than being passed. With about 200 yards to go, I kicked it up again and finished strong. A couple of fist-pumps as I crossed the line, and I can officially call myself a triathlete!

In hindsight, I probably could've gone out a little quicker, but I'm happy that I stuck to my plan.

Walked around the finish area. Ate a banana and 2 liters of water.


Four months of training finally came to fruition! I'm so proud of the effort my wife and I have put into this, and hope that our young sons will someday come to appreciate the value of hard work and dedication, and the personal rewards that come with it.