I was so happy. After worrying for days about this OW swim, I had no trouble at all. I'm glad that I got my wetsuit trial last week, though-I think I've been to Sasamat Lake 4 of the past 7 days; no hard training, just getting used to the feel of the wetsuit, the feel of the water, etc. I think it helped a lot.
I was not fast, but not DNF either. I was careful not to start too fast because I wasn't sure how comfortable I was going to be, and I didn't want to mess up my breathing. I don't know my time yet, but I think my pace was okay, and I wasn't zig-zagging all over the place. I sighted every 21 to 30 strokes, and that worked fairly well.

Nothing. I feel really good about sucking it up and getting out there, since my first OW swim left me considering the duathlon.

The course was fairly hilly, but I actually found myself enjoying most of it. I passed a few people on the uphills, and a few passed me on the flats. I think I finished in about the same position as I started (sitting on the bike, feet in the pedals . . .). I have definitely gotten faster since Panorama, and although this was 40 km while Panorama was 30, today felt like less.
I drank most of my water and managed to eat all of the protein bar, which I have had trouble doing in training.

Push harder on the flats, and work on cornering. I wasn't super comfortable with cornering at high speed; I slowed down a fair bit each time, after checking that no one was close behind me. Luckily no one was.

I felt so good once I started running. I LOVE running, and knowing that the last leg is my strongest is a real mental boost. My second lap was good; about 20 min, faster than I thought I would be when I saw the clock after the first lap.

Go a bit harder in the first half. I think my split was almost 5 minutes (negative).

Oops. I knew I forgot something. Uhh . . . I guess I walked around a little.


Beautiful course, and most of the volunteers were wonderful. A few intersections could have been better marshalled.