This race was insane. The wind was so bad that there was visible chop on the water... in a lake. The temperature was so cold that they cancelled the swim waves starting with the wave after mine. Later on in the race as i ran towards the finish line, I noticed a boat upside down in the water by the reservoir retaining wall. Come to find out it was the rescue boat which had sunk.

more swim practice prior to event. Try to get in at least one open water swim prior next year.

I got to T2 and realized my wifes bike was still there. She had gone off 3 minutes sooner in the wave before me. She had almost quit the race but the rescue boat sank before she got to it, so she had to continue.

Now I know not to wait for Rachelle, but I was afraid the ambulance I saw drive onto the beach may have been for her.

I was drained with effort and worry after the swim, and wasn't in a good place mentally when i got on the bike. As soon as the roads turned up, my mood turned down and I was fighting the bike from the minute I got going. It didn't go well, I was terribly slow, and I wish I'd ridden more to train for it.

More training prior to race on actual road bike as opposed to trainer

This was a pretty decent T2 considering how bad of a race I had

Little did I know that in comparison to my usual efforts and results, my run was the best portion of this race. I did a 45 minute 5k and was please considering how little I had been able to run prior to that point.

Next year I'll be able to run the whole 5k with a much better result.

Stood around at awards


lack of training, weather, race conditions, worry about wife


Probably need to push it back at least a week, maybe 2 to get a better chance at warmer water and weather.