My goggles were kicked in the malay, and my right goggle filled with water. I continued to swim because I didn't want to stop - After about 100 yds I could tell there was no way I was going to finish like this. I stopped to fix it, but must not have secured it well because within 2 or 3 strokes it was full of water. Stopped again and got it sealed. It took me about 200 additional Meters to relax and get in a groove. The rest of the swim went fine. At the end several of us were coming in at the same time and as we closed in on the boat dock I kept hitting bodies and legs. Out of the water we had about a 300 yd run to the transition, I spent too much time getting shoes on - My feet and hands were numb - I'm wondering if flip-flops wouldn't have been better. Or just take the shoe laces completely out of those transition shoes.

I would have started out away from traffic - I wanted to be right up front where the action was and I think if I had pulled even slightly off to one side it would have gone smoother. I dropped 3 minutes from my St George Tri, and other than the goggle issue I'm not exactly sure why.

The transition included the 300 yd run from the swim to the transition. It was so cold that I decided to wear full finger gloves on the bike - I usually go gloveless. I must have spent 1/2 my T1 time getting into those silly things. I wore socks on the bike because it was pretty cold which meant that all my practice of mounting with shoes clipped in will have to be tried another day (didn't want to run across the wet grass in socks).

I think I would figure out something better to wear on my feet, on the run from the water to T1.

While improved on my St George time by over 1mph average I'm frustrated that I'm not better on the bike - I'm gonna put more bike time in before my 1st 1/2 Ironman in August. I think part of me gets nervous of not leaving enough for the run. Overall the ride was fun and the scenery was beautiful. I had to pee soooo bad (2nd time this has happened on the bike). I need to figure out how people go "on-the-fly". The pure physics of it astounds me. I chose to hold it until the end of the race. At times I felt I should be putting down more liquids but my bladder was screaming at me for some relief.

Maybe push it harder and just let the chips fall -

I struggled getting my gloves off, as I did getting them on. I really wanted to be under a minute on T2 - Next time. I forgot to put on my HR monitor, I started back for it then decided to bag it and left without it.

I left my area in such a mess after T1 that I was digging under stuff to get to my run stuff. I guess I need to work on just keeping my area cleaner without sacrificing time.

St George was an 8:08 mm. I really wanted to be under 8:00. I pushed myself hard through the run. In the last 100 M I turned it up to a dead sprint - trying to catch the guy in front of me. As I pulled up alongside he realized he was being passed and he turned on the burners. The last 25 M was an all out foot race. We crossed at the same time - it wasn't until later that I saw he took me by 2/100 of second. Suck. We gave each other high five's and waddled away from the finish line together. It was a fun finish.

For me I had a great run. I would have liked to empty the bladder as that kept coming back to haunt me. Also I did feel like I could've pushed it harder when I had the tail-wind. I just didn't want to run out of gas so I held back slightly.

I felt good after the race. I did some stretching and hung out with my wife who was there whooping and hollering each time I came into transition.


I took 3 days complete rest before the race - not sure if that was so smart. Just trying different things.