This was an in water start. I seeded myself about two rows back from the start. Nothing prepared me for my first big swim start. The first 50 yards were chaos. Normal for a big tri I guess, but it was crazy. My goggles actually got kicked off my head. I turned to grab them and thought a seal crowd was trying to run me over. I quickly put them back on and got going again. I was getting kicked, elbowed, pulled, etc. I tried to sprint my way out of it with my head up to navigate, and about 50 yards later I was clear but gassed. At that point a pretty quick swimmer went by me and I settled onto his hip and let him take me home. The last 500 yards were smoking fast. Time is quicker than normal partially because the timing mat was right at the exit of the water.

Probably train to start at the front and sprint like a maniac for a while, then recover and finish. Overall I was ecstatic with this swim time.

No separate time for T1 and T2 were given. Overall my transition time was high. One reason was the run from out of the water to transition was very long. But wetsuit strippers rock, that part was quick. I used this race to practice my HIM transition plan, so I also put on bike shorts and socks, things I probably wouldn't bother with for a sprint.

I thought this was a great bike. This course starts with a few short hills, and then one long climb, and then a fast downhill before the turn around and reverse those hills. I was passed twice during the ride, and I seemed to be passing people the whole way. After about 5 miles I started playing cat and mouse with someone from my age group - it really helped to push harder. He typically went by me on the steeper uphills and I kept him in my reach, and then on the crest or a flatter hill I would pass him. Sadly, he passed me for the last time at the end in a no passing zone. I refuse to break the rules, so I wouldn't go outside the cones and keep up. I gave this bike a huge effort for me and didn't leave much time out there. The only let up was when a big group was stuck together and a car was trying to pass; I had to wait a while for some free air. GPS marked the bike at 15.4 miles.

Not much, keep training hills.

See T1. I felt fairly quick through this transition without much wasted time.

Not much.

This course is an out and back, with a gentle up hill the whole first half and then down the same hill for the last half. The first mile my pace was pretty slow as my legs recovered from the bike, and then I sped up to finish the hill and ran pretty hard the final 1.5 miles after the turnaround. I'm always amazed how slow the people passing me are running! My Garmin had the run at 2.85 miles. The bottom line is the run is just not my strength. I'll keep training hard for it, but there's no doubt my genetic gifts are not in the run area.

Keep training the run as the limiter.

I was extremely pleased with this event. As not an A race, I still beat my top goal time. My swim was off the chart from my expectations, and the bike and run were about as good as I had possibly hoped for.