I still haven't gotten OWS down. I've taken lessons and can swim freestyle confidently in the pool for at least 2000 meters. But race adrenaline and the shock of the water get the best of me. You walked down a set of stairs and could dive or ease in. I waited for the rest of my wave to leave and got in slowly- I put my face in and tried to relax- but soon found myself gasping for air and flipped onto my back. I did the backstroke the whole way with only a few tries at freestyle. Fortunately I was able to stay close to the buoy line and didn't get in many people's way. I stopped at one platform to burp repeatedly but that was my only break. My breathing was very fast although I did my best to relax and slow it down. We were the first wave so many waves caught me.

OWS practice! Of course. It's really not much of an option here. I did go in the lake and swim around a while after the race- I felt moderately comfortable and I know I'll get there someday.

I passed at least 10 women between the swim exit and the exit of T1! So I moved solidly into MOP. That was a huge boost and really let me put my swim behind me. Most of the women in T1 didn't seem to be in it to win it but still. I didn't wear a wetsuit and have no interest in doing a flying mount- doing a moderatetly quick transition and jogging to the mount line (and passing a ton of men on the way) was fine for me.
They don't list the transitions separately- I'm not sure if they're with the swim or bike or run- I suspect the bike?

nothing!

My stomach wasn't feeling well due to post-nasal drip and the heat. I had 2 water bottles with a mixture of water and sports drink (usually I would drink most of that in a sprint) but it was a little warm and I couldn't drink much. I had a gel and a packet of gumdrops in my pockets so I could see what seemed good on the bike. I was hungry and ate a few of the gumdrops but my stomach was rebelling. I wound up throwing up just a little. I forgot my HRM and just tried to push it but not kill it. My throat hurt too so I drank tiny amounts just to keep it moist.
For all of that it was a fun course- I passed at least 10 women and none passed me. I've been working on going faster down hills and did a pretty good job of not wussing out. Later I checked my bike computer and my max speed was 49.9 kph. Well, 50 will come in time!

If I'd had cold drinks it would have been better. But I'm in another country and rely on public transport and taxis to get me and my bike to the race, and I had to check in at least 90 minutes before the start, and it was in the middle of nowhere so ice wasn't an option. Did what I could with what I had.

Good heavens it was not and humid. Again, no HRM but it didn't matter too much- every time I tried to push it a little I'd almost throw up so I had pretty clear feedback of how hard to push. I walked up part of the hills just to keep my effort down. I passed 1 woman and 3 or 4 passed me- I tried to keep up and I'd pick it up for about 30 seconds before my stomach would rebel. Took a cup of water at each station and swallowed a sip but that was all my stomach would take. I got 2 sponges at each station- 1 for my hat and one for my sports bra.
My last tri I sped up way too early for the finish and pretty much hyperventilated so I held off until I knew I was close to the finish. One woman came up near me but I sped up and lost her- beat her by less than 10 seconds.
My time looks pretty weak but only 4 women went under 30 minutes. It was just incredibly hot and humid.

Not have a cold! But seriously my best 5k, in perfect weather, was over 26 minutes so I can't blame it on that.

Walked around. I couldn't even drink water but they had watermelon which was just what I needed. Later I started to drink water and kept moving.


Having a cold- although even if I'd have hit my realistic goals for the swim and run, I would've only moved up to 6th or 7th place. As it is I broke the top 20% for my first time so that's cool.


Everything is very well-organized, except for the registration and getting your timing chip, and returning the chip. There were extremely long lines for all of that, and in the mid-day sun too. Part of this can be blamed on my non-fluent Chinese, but even the Taiwanese people there had trouble figuring out where to go and what line to be in. Having a few more volunteers devoted to it, and maybe in a bigger area with bigger signs (even bilingual signs!) would make it better for everyone.