In my last race I learned I should start at the front but I was hesitant in a longer race (my first oly) as I didn't want to go out too quickly so I hung back a bit. I ended up having to pass people...but I was able to draft a tiny bit so maybe that cancelled out. I'd still start at the front next time.

The 2 loop course was interesting because of the merge with other groups following. I started in group 2 at 7:15 and as I got in for my second loop I saw group 5 (7:30) in the water. As I started stroking I heard "10! 9! 8! 7!..." so I got out just in front of the group...I'm glad I wasn't about 10 seconds slower to get caught up in that pack. I'm sure the fast "pink caps" wish I had been 15 seconds slower so they wouldn't have to go around me :)

When I finished the second loop I thought everyone had to go towards the second loop and missed my "turn" to go to T1 so I lost a few seconds there, no big deal considering it was a long jog to T1 anyway.

Start at the front and improve sighting a bit.

For the whole race, including T1 I was conservative because I hadn't done an oly before. With a relatively long jog to T1 I'm not sure if I lost more time on the jog or at T1 itself.

In this case I could have hustled a bit more in T1 as I'd be better off catching my breath on the beginning of the bike if needed.

Was a really smooth, nice course. The weather was just about perfect. Winds from the north made it tough one way but equally easy the other.

I took it way too easy on the southbound segments where we had a tailwind...I could have easily gone an extra 2-3 mph faster on those segments.

I've had blister problems lately so I had to make sure my feet were dry and my socks were on. I also stopped to ask about restrooms which slowed me down a bit.

Eventually I can worry about the T1/T2 times but I have more improvements to make on the bike/run first.

I held back the first 4.5 miles and pushed it a bit thereafter, with a kick at the end. A fast 10K for me at this point in my training is maybe 51 minutes so 55 is OK at the end of an oly.

I usually don't run with any watch but for this distance it would have been nice to know my pace for each mile so I could adjust a bit.

OUL put on a great race and I look forward to next year.