First time an OWS did not give me a sense of panic during the swim. Some jostling around in the first 200m or so, then again at the exit. Only felt someone touch my feet a couple times if that....but kept running into those ahead...and to the side. In final 200M after the turn, really felt like I could stretch my strokes out and got into a comfortable pace.

Wear my tri top in the swim....more on that later in T1.

I had not worn this tri kit before and did not wear the tri top for the swim....try to put a tight fitting top on when you are wet.....not pretty. It was probably entertaining to the spectators looking on. Seems there were too many things I was trying to do, or remember to do, so did not feel smooth at all. Could not get the Garmin started like I planned.....tried deciphering the menus without having reading glasses..gave up. Going out of transition, I thought I was past the mount/dismount line and got on my bike...oops, no....get off! The line is up here! There was an orange line on the pavement...but no sign, so I really could not tell where it was....Hoping I was not DQ'ed for that. Once past the line, the mounting was good.

Practice the sequence of what I need to do in this transition including getting the Garmin started in Multisport mode.

Broke into the top 10 in something for my age group! Woo Hoo! Fastest bike split for me in a race to date.

Thinking I hammered it too much on the bike and it affected the run.....

I got confused as I was trying to get my Garmin set so I could at least use it for the run and started running to the Bike exit rather than the Run exit, so lost some time there. Can not remember too much about this transition so I guess it was ok.

Not sure.

This was the first time in a race that I stopped to walk...and I walked a lot in this one. Just not a good run today. Stomach issues, right knee pain, it was all playing games with my head. Felt I was not mentally prepared/toughened to push myself to maximum effort. I did 'sprint' the last 1/3 mile or so just to prove to myself I can finish strong. Wanted to have done that for more of the run.

Need to think through race planning/strategy better...especially for the Oly in late September. Do more bricks. Plan to focus on the run during the off-season by training for a half-marathon since that is my weakest of the 3 events now.

Given a water bottle and as I was drinking it, someone put an ice cold dripping wet towel over my shoulder by surprise. Felt good after the initial shock subsided. Walked to find the food line. Got a Diet Coke, cheese pizza, half banana, and a fig newton to eat. Sat down on the curb and tried to get my head together. I was in a bit of a daze for awhile. Did not stay long after transition opened. I wanted to get out of the heat. John caught up with me as I was walking my bike out of transition. Good to meet a fellow BT MG'er!


Heat/humidity, poor race planning, training consistency.


Very well organized race except for a nitpick of the mount/dismount line not being clear...maybe that was just me. Post race activities looked good. Looking forward to doing this again in 2011...with a better run.