First, this was the first race I've done with a wave start. I'll admit I was a little nervous being in wave 1 with 39 and under folks. I positioned myself to the far left and quickly made friends with those around me....we had a pack not to drown each other. That seemed to work pretty well - the contact was pretty minimal. I just couldn't get my breathing and body position going on this swim. It didn't feel comfortable towards the middle - not sure what happened. I was skipping some breaths and I could feel like I was trying to 1/2 site 1/2 swim normal...my head position was way too high. I got a little panicky in the middle and had a thought of breast stroke....I've never had that thought before, race or training. I just kept telling myself there is no way in hell you will break freestyle...you'll pass out first...swim damnit swim! Towards the end I calmed down a bit and started to stretch and relax....It was a short swim, so I'm surprised so much can happen in that distance..haha... o'well... I guess there were a couple that screamed for help in the middle... Thank God they weren't near me...that would've freaked me out!

Warm up a little more - don't anticipate the distance is short and it'll be no problem. RESPECT THE WATER!!! And of course more laps!

T1 went much better this race. I was methodical as always but didn't get myself all excited. I did realize that I didn't turn my Garmin 305 on beforehand....so I did it then and of course forgot to start it for the bike.. o'well. I used it for instantaneous HR during the ride.

Think about not having so much electronic support...maybe leave the garmin??

I got clipped in without too much trouble....big change over last time. I felt pretty good on the bike and really enjoyed the wind cool my wet body off!! The ride had some small hills and inclines and many more corners than I'm used to. I didn't really slow on the corners I just let the bike lean and go go go. I was very shocked that some riders were using both lanes to corner (crossing the center) and should have been penalized per USAT rules. I held my line and didn't violate the rules. I passed quite a few people, but was also passed by some amazing cyclists!!! Some were flying! There were about 4 of use in a pretty good back and forth battle, that was fun!! I pushed the ride pretty hard but not too too hard knowing that my run is my weakest event. One of the guys I was battling with passed me and said "come'on push it - we're all most there" I said "I know, but I don't run well!!!!" So I mentally told myself I was okay with being passed in the last 1/4 mile. I did take time to drink this time. I took in about 18 oz or so which was really good for me. At one point I vurped some and thought...okay, that must mean I've had enough water....don't wanna puke on the bike. Most the ride was a HR of 170ish.

Train, Train, Train and get more core strength!

No real issues in T2, just stayed calm and took whatever time I needed!

Having a skin tight tri-shirt would be good so I don't have to fuss with the race belt and shirt tail. Plus in T1 I had a bit of trouble getting the shirt on...So maybe next time a Tri-Shirt so I don't have to fuss with that!

This was an amazing run for me. As I ran up the grassy transition to the street my calves were killing me. I got to the road and really wondered what was going on. I guess the bike was a little more intense than I'd anticipated. I couldn't feel my legs/feet very well but everytime I looked down at the Garmin I saw 9:xx pace. I was very confused by this and figured the Garmin was screwed up. I was in quite a bit of pain and looked at my garmin to see how much further...I was at 0.46 miles and thought...OH MY GOD, not sure about this. Another serious bout with the head demons and I'm happy to say I killed them all!!! I continued to pound away and kept seeing 9:xx pace when I looked. The small hills were killing me...I haven't trained any small hills/inclines so I really thought my time would suffer. About 1/2 way I tried to drink....that's impossible while running....so I wasted it down the front of my shirt....o'well it's only about 35 minutes I said. When I hit mile 2 I thought okay - you're gunna make it and somehow today you are running a 9:xx pace. So the last mile I was determined not to let that slip away so I pushed on. I rounded the corner and saw the finish line....thank God. A guy in front of me turned around to see where I was......HMMMMM he wants to race!!! He took off and I ran as fast as I possible could to catch the guy....didn't catch him, but I was booking for the last little while. I crossed the line and saw 1 hour 15 on the clock and was ecstatic!! I crossed the line, removed my timing chip and stopped my watch at 30:40....hmmmm had I hit 30 at the finish line????? Well, I hit 30:08 for the 3.1!!! I felt like I was on cloud nine!!! A very good result for me today. I haven't forgotten about the swim troubles, but with more practice I can cure that too. I just thank God for giving me the strength to put in a good personal effort!

Lose 30 more pounds, train on hills and just progressively get better...just like I've been doing the last 6 months!

I chatted with strangers some more, ate banana, 2 waters, grapes and about 15 minutes later some spaghetti!!! This was a very nice event - volunteers and race coordinators did a wonderful job!


Nothing, my training produced the desired result... I will continue to train hard and get faster and stronger - It's all a journey!!


This race felt small and warm - I loved it. Much better than my first. The people in the neighborhoods were awesome - they cheered, sprayed water and clapped!! The water stations set-up on this course were very very plentiful. I left there with a smile and will be back next year to see if I can beat my 1:15:42!!!!!!!!

I have also had so so much cyber support from my mentor group that has helped greatly in driving my mental toughness and NO QUIT attitude!!

Time to go to a party and get drunk!!!