Bad swim for me. I knew that I am not a straight swimmer, but didn;t realize just how bad I was until this race. Other races were there are buoys every hundred yards or so give me a chance to adjust my line often so I never get too off course. There weren't any buoys (at least where I was), so I would pick my head up to site and just try to find where all of the other swimmers were and try to swim in that direction. I wish I had an overhead view of my swim, because I know I zig-zagged all over the course. At one point, I was only about 5' from a dock that ran parallel to shore right up against the shoreline which put me about 30-40 yards off course. The terrible navigation not only had me swimming extra distance, but also kept me out of the center of the river where the current was the strongest, so I didn't get to take full advantage.

I really need to practice even swim stroke. I am pulling to the right way too much. I must correct this for future races.

Used wetsuit strippers which was awesome! T1 time includes a couple hundred yard run from swim exit to transition.

Nothing

Pretty good bike for me. I wanted to average 20 MPH, but wasn't sure if that was reasonable since I didn't know just how hilly this course was compared to what I train on. Turns out, not too hilly at all. There were some long grinders, but nothing steep where you "had" to get out of the saddle if you didn't want to. I did get out of the saddle a couple of times to pass some riders on the hills or to relieve some pressure from my bum, etc.

The wet roads made for some dangerous conditions on some winding downhills. I hate to break on a downhill, but I started to feel a little uneasy and had to tap on them a couple of times so I wouldn't crash from the wet roads. It rained for the whole bike, pretty much including about a 5-10 minute stretch where it downright poured. I feel like I could add another 1/2 MPH or more if it wasn't for the rainy conditions.

A number of 90 degree and one 180 degree turn had us down to below 10 mph so as to not slide. But hey, everyone had the same conditions, so all is fair.

I think I left a little out there on the bike, but I wanted to make sure I left plenty in the tank for the run.

I was extremely careful not to violate any of the drafting rules, but I feel like I was the one of the only ones!! I got passed by groups of 5-15 riders that were all lined up in a peleton. Not cool! Only saw one of those groups get penalized.

Maybe go a little harder on the bike and trust my training to know I had enough left for the run.

Everything good here, except I racked my bike the wrong way and I then had to flip it around and rerack. I left a bag over my socks and shoes to keep them dry., which was a great idea! (Thanks to Joy!) Socks on, shoes on, visor on, watch on as I ran out. Long run out of transition.

Not rack my bike the wrong way. This only cost me about 10 seconds though, so not that big of deal.

Felt fantastic off the bike. Ran the first 4 miles at a 7:40 pace which I thought was going too fast, but it felt so good, I just went with it. After mile 4, my pace came back to around 8:00/miles which is what I had planned on running. I felt really good until about mile 10 or so, when my hip and left big toe started hurting a little. About mile 11, I started (for the first time the whole day) to get tired. I ate 2 gels (one at mile 5 and one at mile 11) to try to get through the remaining last 2 miles or so at a respectful pace. My last mile was probably close to a 8:30-8:45 mile, but I had stopped looking at my watch at that point so I'm not 100% sure.

The course was great for spectators since a middle portion of each loop was up and down the same street. So, I got to see my son, my parents, Joy's parents, Joy's Aunt and Uncle, and my sister-in-law's boyfriend. multiple times during the run portion of the race. It was great seeing them out there and gave me something to look forward to as I was coming up on each of the mile markers where they were located.

My goal was to run a 1:45, and I ran a 1:43:46, so I was pretty happy about that.

Nothing

Walked, stretched, drank some water and ate some bagels.


Training. This is the end of my second year of triathlon with only have that many years training in running, biking or swimming as well. I feel like faster days are ahead of me for sure.



Awesome course! Packet pick up I think could have been a little faster. The expo was lack luster with no "good deals". Plenty of volunteers and crowd support was great!