I have been swimming quite a bit this winter so felt confident going in. Had decent first few hundred yards and was probably in top 1/3 of group. Wanted to just settle in and then pick it up. After rounding 1st buoy, I had a sharp cramp on my right side near my back. Never happened before race or practice. Couldn't extend right arm fully and well, that tends to hurt your form:) It was pretty bad and told myself just keep going a few more minutes and see if it works itself out, if not, might have to call it the day. Eventually it did pass, but I lost a lot of time. I picked it up the last 500 yards and found nice cadence into the finish.

This was really disapointing. I am pretty well balanced on the S/B/R, meaning not great at any but also not bad either. However swimming has usually been my top even of late. Should have really been around 24-25:00 tops. That said, I did feel great coming out of water not having pushed it at all.

Not bad time considering all the "little" details I could have improved on looking back. I was really nervous about wet suit coming off as I have never practiced and all other races had wet suit strippers waiting. Luckily it really came right off with help of half a stick of body glide:)

Had tough time getting my feet into shoes while on the bike and should have waited until up to speed vs heading out of Transition area. Otherwise, not bad T1.

I have been riding quite a bit and felt good coming in. The bridge got to my head though as I never train hills. I wanted to have a good run and in my mind held back a bit throughout the course. Thought it was odd I wasn't being passed by many in my ag, but looking at my swim time, the good people were already ahead of me.

*** Penalty aquired!!!"""
I have never had a penalty in any race and this is my first. I left early after race so can only assume it was on the bike since I have no details yet. I never draft and passed carefully. This is going to bother me for a while cause I would have otherwise been ranked 25th in ag which was my goal.

Need to find out what penalty was for, that blows. For the bike, I simply need to push it. I had plenty in the tank and should have used it. Definately could have shaved 3-4 minutes and been fine.

Suprised time was pretty decent. I ran down the right rack, but could not find my spot. What seemed like 30 seconds looking dumbfounded actually was about 10 seconds, but it was aweful feeling, like you have nightmares about. Finally found my spot it was about 10 feet from where I was standing. Quick work after that and off I went.

Well, wake up and find your spot Joe.

My last race was a HIM in November and I completely bonked after a killer bike time. This was staying with me and probably why my bike was slow this race. Anyway, the consequence was feeling pretty good on the run! Fresh legs are a rare feeling, but they felt good. I have also been doing a lot of bricks this winter which helped. By no means am I fast, but I was shooting for 49-50:00 as a goal on the run. Each mile got better and on the second loop I pushed it and likely had negative splits. Found one person in my age group and we leaped frogged for a while then he backed off so I kept going. Really wanted to at least hit 2:30:00 but that will be next year. Weather was so nice I skipped most of the water stations and kept going. Happy with run time and fact I felt really good and held form. That tun course was so packed you had to keep your elbows in or they would be knocked off by the oncoming traffic!

Not much here... This was a great run for me and no question a result of slower swim and bike earlier.

Just got my medal and grabbed a water bottle. Ate a little Pollo Tropical they had catered and went to Transition to pack up. I knew there was no top ranking for me so didn't bother to look at posted times. Wish I would have stayed and seen what the penalty was all about. Cost me 5 spots in my AG and although not really big deal, it really bothers me not knowing what I did and being a real clean rider.


What is really odd is that swim is my better sport, then Bike and then the run. In this race I did better overall on he run, then bike, then swim. Very strange. I did work on run a bit this winter, but not enough to say it is a strengh. I think I just took it too easy early on.


Lots of fun and will be back next year. Nice early season race to keep you motivated over the winter. I have a lot to improve on, but can't complain too much at this point. There were a lot of good athletes at this event and impressive AG field to say the least.