This was not a chip timed race. I estimate that I took about 12 minutes. The person before me did not show up, so there was a 40 second gap between me and the next swimmer, which helped me. Despite tons of instructions during the day of the race, there were still people who chose to pass in the middle of the lane, basically blocking the people coming in the other directions. This was a real leisurely race, but I would have liked to see people DQed for this. Yeah, it sucks you get stuck behind people slower than you, but you don't have to wait any longer than 25 meters. I got banged out of my lane by some guy trying to get around a girl going the other direction in the lane. Not very fun.

I am a horrible swimmer, and I think I did OK here. The one thing I should have done was practiced flip turns. I always felt that flip turns really give unfair momentum and rest time when turning around in what is supposed to be an endurance race, so I assumed they would not be allowed here (especially when so many people were in the pool at once). However, I was caught off guard.

I forgot to zip my tri suit all the way up to my neck, and probably created a bit of drag. Oops.

Practice my flip turns.

Took my time here, as I was not sure what to expect when I jumped onto the bike. Actually had to sit down to put on my shoes. Fumbled a bit with the helmet. All in all, not good.

Nothing. I'm slow, and an extra minute in transition isn't going to change that.

Well, didn't know what to expect here. When doing a 15 minute bike ride on Saturday morning, my front derailuer got hosed - I got stuck on the small ring and couldn't get it up. I fiddled with it for 10 minutes before realizing that I couldn't fix it without someone telling me what to do, so I took it to my (soon to be ex-) favorite bike shop. I explained the situation - I have a flat course, I can't shift up, I know Saturdays are busy, so if you can spend 5 minutes, I'd appreciate it. Lots of attitude from the owner of the shop. Really rude to me. I try to keep calm, since I'm asking a favor. Long story short, they wanted me to leave the bike, they'd get to it if they could. I said that I understand that, but please understand my situation. If you can't get to it, please be honest with me. I'd hold no grudges, but it would enable me to get it fixed elsewhere. The owner huffed and walked away. Finally, I got the attention of another person working in the back and he took the bike. I asked that he call me ASAP if he couldn't get to it.

In the evening on Saturday, I had not heard from anyone, so I went to the shop to get my bike. Wish I had called earlier, but I just felt it was good karma to give them a chance to fix it. They said it was done and charged me $25 and gave me my bike back. After fighting to get it in my truck, I elected to leave it there overnight since it was getting late and I still had a lot of other work to do at home. Big mistake.

In the morning, I realized it was geared up really high. I removed it from the rack at the race site and tried to down shift, and it did not feel right. Nasty sounds and stiffness when I tried to shift. I racked the bike and decided I'd deal with it the best I could. I ended up only having access to 3 gears on the middle ring (not sure what the bike shop did to the rear derailuer, as it was working properly before). My bike computer also was no longer working, so I was in trouble here. I really wanted to do an 18.5mph pace, but I had to wing it.

My time is a pure guess, without my computer.

I'm not sure what I should have done differently, but this obviously didn't work. No matter how late, test your bike when you get it back from the shop. Also, if I'm in a situation where I need the help of a local vendor again and they are so rude, I'll walk out. It was stress before the race I didn't need, and it turned out to be stress for a valid purpose.

I hope my ankle problems heal soon so I can feel more comfortable using cycling shoes. I did this race again on platform pedals on my running shoes.

I am always welcomed back to transition by someone who had shown up at the empty rack and throw their bike over my stuff. Oh well. It is a race, and I guess people don't always pay attention. I put my bike elsewhere, grabbed extra gels, and jogged to the water table. Grabbed 2 glasses to carry with me. I did very well here, blowing past everyone I came into T2 with. Not having to change shoes improves your time :)

Nothing

I missed my goal of a 9.5 minute mile pace, but that may have been over ambitious. Considering that I have terrible ankle problems, bowed knees, and am flatfoot, I don't think I did too bad :)

Run faster! It was a short bike and a short swim, so I had more energy than I usually do when I hit the run. Could have used it more effectively.

walked slowly, drank some water and ate a bagel.


I'm slow and not in the best shape this summer. But overall, I'm not unhappy with my performance. My goal was 7 minutes faster, but without having individual segment times, it's hard to say what went wrong


This was a fun little race meant for the community. It's a nice change of pace from some of the larger races.