I took off and felt fairly confident, but got passed by 3 people on my 3rd lap.

I really don't know what my problem w/ the swim was. I just felt out of sync. Maybe I was too concerned w/ going fast instead of going smooth. I even incorporated a zipper drill and some fingertip drags to get me to focus on my form, but in the end my time was only 15 seconds slower than the last race I did here in May.

Maybe do some more warmup laps before the swim? Obviously, I still need to work on my technique, so maybe I'll continue with what I'm already doing.

Number belt on, socks and shoes on, glasses and helmet on. Get out and get on the bike.

Transition felt kind of slow and I think I could have moved a bit more quickly if I had been more organized. Looking at everyone else's T1 times, I was in the right ball park. Realistically, I think I should be able to do the transition in about a minute flat.

Practice both of my transitions as part of my training routine.

I felt really good on the bike from the get go. Worked hard and made it a point to take in a fair amount of my Gatorade\water to be hydrated for the run, but also made sure I quit drinking w/ about 2 miles to go so I wouldn't cramp up on the run.

Performance wise, not much; I might have been able to push a bit harder, but that might have sacrificed too much of my run time.

I gotta get a road bike - Anybody got a Felt S32 that needs a good home? :)

Racked the bike and ripped my helmet off w/ a quickness, but had some trouble tying my shoes. Here's me to myself "...bunny goes around the hill and through the hole...no double knot it you idiot. How's that go again? Are those really my fingers? Why the hell can't I tie my own shoes? There we go, okay legs do your thing!!"

Gotta get some yankz or find some other ways to secure my shoes to my feet.

First mile of the run was tough until two ladies caught me. They looked like they were pretty comfortable and I decided to tag along which probably turned out to be my best decision of the race. I didn't feel ready to pick up the pace, but did it anyway.

As we passed the aid station at 1.5 miles a girl w/ a garden hose sprayed us down and my stride almost immediately lengthened.

We all 3 ran side by side for the next 1/2 mile when one of the girls dropped off. The other girl and I continued on and we seemed to continually pick up the pace every couple minutes until I was breathing pretty hard. When I figured we had about a 1/2 mile left, I turned it up a notch and begin my final push. Realized I was by myself and kept on pushing hard. Saw a blurry figure that was yelling just like my wife (hey, that is my wife) and picked up the pace more until I crossed the finish line.

Nothing. I definitely need to learn to push myself on the run though. My body was ready to pick up the pace long before my brain was.

The 2nd lady I ran with finished not too long after I did and I thanked her for pushing me. I would have run alot slower if she and the other girl hadn't pushed/pulled me along.

Grabbed an orange, a banana and a gatorade and walked back to Rachelle (wife) to cheer on Ryan and Jon.


-Swim technique
-Less than perfect mental organization for my transitions
-My own mental hesitation to push harder sooner.


I love this race. It's got very friendly atmosphere for first timers and beginners like myself and yet still seems to attract some very fast people too.