Christ I suck in the water. Was pretty nervous waiting to start and pretty much had problems from the get-go. Just finished a swim clinic with Sea Hiker which was great (thanks Tyler and Peter) but didn't have much time to put lessons into practise.
Breathing was off from the start and couldn't settle down and get into any rhythm. Felt tense in the water for the first 200 meters and noticed my heart rate was going crazy. Had a moment or two where I was pretty damned close to actually floundering and hoping nobody would notice. Ok, so first chore of the day was to try and relax a bit and not fight the water so much which I managed to do after a while.
Soon settled down and turned my efforts into putting some of the things I learned at Sea Hiker into my swim. Kick?...seemed ok, next, staying in glide pose for as long as possible, check...then stroke and breathing etc.
Started to get into it around the 500 meter mark and think I actually got faster in the latter stages of the swim as I got more into it. I usually take a quick (or not) breather at the end of most lengths but managed to resist most times this race. People in my heat were great and I had mostly clear sailing as everyone seeded themselves properly, including the awesome 80 year old lady right behind me (both inspiring and demoralizing at the same time), love ya!
Felt like I was faster than normal as I exited the pool and headed for the bikes feeling pretty good, but darker clouds lay ahead my friends...stay tuned!

Need to relax more as I still feel uncomfortable in the water, not sure why. I'll work on that more with my shrink, bartender and Robaxacet, they'll have the answers I need, well, the bartender and Robaxacet will for sure.

Kinda, sorta, maybe, perhaps, might have puked a wee bit at the bike transition (sorry to the guy/girl who racked their bike beside mine) I'll clean it up later, I promise!

Not puke! But I'm improving. Puked while "ON" the bike last year! How does it work again? Pass on the left, puke on the right? No, no...pass on the left, puke on the left, but check wind direction first, that's it!

Here's where everything goes to shit. Notice that I entered 23.2 kms in the bike distance? Yup, that's what I did! Seems I wasn't happy enough doing 20 kms like everyone else, no not me. I had to go right off 16th on the first lap down East Mall back to transition before I realized my mistake. Got a weird look from the guy at the bike dismount area when I swore, turned my bike and did a 180 back up East Mall to do my 2nd lap, CRAP!!!
Here's what transpired. I forgot my water bottle hence I was parched on the course after killing the first lap. At the 16th Ave. turnaround I was looking to grab a cup from the water station but I guess I was going a bit fast, so when I got close both girls got spooked and back away at the last minute with the cups, damn! I was pissed (my fault though) and put my head down for a second and must have missed the signs pointing to go straight or turn right to go back to transition. When I looked up, there was another cyclist just ahead of me going into transition and like a bonehead I just followed like a cow going back to the barn not thinking and...BOOM! Tack on an additional 2.9 kms!

1. Don't forget water bottle.
2. Pay attention.
3. Crap! Ran out of ideas for what I would do differently, but in the meantime, here are a few Bart Simpson Blackboard Quotations to ponder:

I will return the seeing-eye dog.
I saw nothing unusual in the teacher's lounge.
I will not yell "She's Dead" at roll call.
They are laughing at me, not with me.
I do not have diplomatic immunity.
The cafeteria deep fryer is not a toy.
My homework was not stolen by a one-armed man.
Organ transplants are best left to professionals.

Well, by this time I was pretty demoralized about the whole bike fiasco and my heart just wasn't into putting in a solid effort any more.
F.Y.I. I didn't hurl in T2, yea!

Like I said previously, my heart wasn't much into racing after the big bike faux-pas so I just went through the motions on the run. Hell, I even stopped to chat with the volunteer at the 1/2 mark water station, 'nuff said.
Really like the run course though, and was a bit more disappointed as it is my type of course and I think I could have had a pretty good run time, oh well...next year.

More running, less chatting up the volunteers.

None, nadda, zippo, rien.


Puking.
Bad preparation.
Not paying attention.
And about a gazillion other things mixed in with choice swear words.


Loved this race (despite the, you know, bike thing) and will definitely be back next year to redeem myself. I think 2nd in my a/g would have been a possibility had I not screwed up so badly. When does registration open up for 2011? The year can't go by fast enough until I can have another crack at this one.
Side note: Watch out Matt, I'm out to kick your ass in this one next year buddy!