This was the last leg. Fortunately, I was a bit ahead of the crowd, so I didn't have much traffic to contend with in the pool. I passed one guy who was doing breast stroke, and I got passed by another guy, but then I passed him again later. I felt pretty slow in the water. It was a really different experience to be so out of breath at the start of the swim, so I just tried to get a rhythm and stick with it. I didn't feel like I could sprint or make much of a surge here.

If I were going to do more races where the swim was at the end, I would practice going from the bike to the swim more. Beyond that, I just need to keep working on my efficiency and speed in the water.

I got out of my running shoes and into my bike shoes pretty quickly. I fumbled with my bike helmet a bit and wasted time on that.

Practice a bit more with my aerohelmet before my next race. It has been a while since I have worn it, and I didn't get it over my ears very well.

I was pretty conservative in the u-turns since there was still some sand left on the roads from all the snow over the winter and my racing tires have NO traction. My strategy was to just shift down a bit, make the turn, and then stand up and really go for it to get back up to speed. I stayed aero on all of the straight-aways and passed several people.

I could get a little more brave on the turns. I also need to practice some accelerations and sprints before my next race.

I got my shoes off on the bike, so I was fast getting to my transition spot and racking my bike. I kept my watch on throughout the bike, so I had to take it off to remove my jacket and long-sleeved shirt and then put it back on. This took way too long! Then I ran into the pool area with my long pants and socks on by accident. I pulled them off before I crossed the mat and jumped into the pool.

Wear less clothes if possible, but it was cold this morning! I also need to practice more with my Garmin because I really want to race with it, but I don't want it to slow me down.

My Garmin showed a slightly shorter course, so I think my pace was more like 7:25/mile. I'm a really happy with that. I felt like I was pushing the whole way, but I had a little kick left for the mat into T1. My HR was in the high 160's. I'm not sure if I could have pushed harder or not. I will need to play with this a bit in my next 5K.

Start incorporating a little speed work as injury recovery allows.

I just walked a little. I got a cup of water and two small pieces of whole wheat bread from the snack table and then I visited with my Master's swim group since they were there having practice. Then I swam about 800 yds with them until Charles came back from his volunteer position.


I felt like this was the best race I could run today. I did a three hour brick the day before (30min bike/2:30 run), so I'm sure if I had tapered, I would have had a greater capacity. I felt good, though. It is possible that I could have pushed harder in the run if I had a little more confidence that I wouldn't over-do it, and I need to keep working hard on my swim.


This was a great race! It was a fun way to start the season. It is extremely well organized and well run. One small glitch was the super long lines for body marking in the morning. I avoided this by getting someone to mark me with a marker that I keep in my bag. Also, the bike course has so many tight turns that it limits your speed a bit. But overall, I loved it and look forward to doing it again.