I did much better at the swim this year than my sprint last year. Always want to go faster, but I felt like it went well considering my training and experience.

Watch my HR monitor and push harder! I was really hoping for closer to a 30min time - which I can easily do in the pool. I feel like I was in a pretty good rhythm and I felt strong. My form was probably not so good. I need more OWS practice for sure.

Wet suit strippers were great! The run from the beach to the transition area was kind of long - my heart rate shot up to 180 at that point. Slowly came down to 165 after 4-5 miles of the bike.

Can't think of anything... Maybe try the extreme shoes on bike trick?

The wind was somewhat strong going out and felt easier coming back in.

Practice hills more. Drink LESS! I drank about 40oz of liquid with had 400 calories or so of maltodextrin and gatorade. I should have had probably half of that and more plain water. I had horrible stomach cramps for the first half of the run.

I've got a lot of strength/core endurance work to do before I start caring about shaving off seconds at transition.

Elastic shoelaces would've saved me 10-15 seconds. It's hard to tie shoes when you're that tired!

I had horrible stomach cramps for the first half of the run. I was only able to go at about 70% of my normal race pace. Also, I tripped and fell at a "dip" in the road. It was clearly marked, but I didn't take enough care, haha.

High-fives, pictures, walked to our campsite, ate some barbeque brisket


Nutritional ignorance, swimming form, and plain 'ole lack of strength/training/experience


1 more drink station on the bike would have been nice - I would have traded my gatorade for plain water