The swim is my weak link. I didn't want to get pummeled at the start, so I positioned myself at the rear right of the pack. There was still some jostling and I felt a little uncomfortable for the first 200 yards or so. I finally got into a groove by the first turn and cruised through the middle part of the course without much contact with anybody -- probably because I was navigating too far to the right. I noticed the weather changed suddenly near the last turn -- pouring rain! I was surprised I had a kick left in me during the last stretch. I kept paddling until I could feel my hands touch the concrete boat ramp and passed a couple of other competitors.

I was a little too conservative. Next time I won't be so concerned about playing bumper cars at the start -- no big deal. I also need to do a better job of spotting the buoys while navigating. I found myself drifting far to the right and swam a lot further than I needed to. I kept wondering why I didn't see many other swimmers around me! Next time, I'll follow the bubbles and see if I can draft off some other swimmers...

I felt good coming out of the water and started to sprint to my transition area. It was raining at first, but when it turned into hail, I slowed down and sort of ice-skated the rest of the way. ;-) No problem getting out of my wetsuit. Put on helmet/sunglasses, and ran out of the transition area. My shoes were already clipped on my pedals, and I had planned to do a flying mount. But the road surface was slippery, so I decided to just stop and do a conversative mount. No problem slipping into my shoes while on my bike (the hail helped).

Pack some ice skates next time?

When I hopped on my bike, it felt like I was riding directly into a freezer -- brrrrr! My feet and legs immediately went numb. I just tried to stay focused on pedal cadence and shifting. I defrosted a bit on the uphills, and shivered on the downhills. The road was slick, especially in the turns, so I lost some time there, but it was probably best to be conservative. I'd ridden this course a couple of times during training in about 52 minutes, and was I was hoping I'd turn in a little quicker time (~50 minutes) for the race. But with the wet conditions and cold, I guess it's no surprise that I ended up with another 52-minute split. I actually looked forward to (and enjoyed) the quick steep climb at Mile 11 -- great body heat generator!

With the cold conditions, I probably should have put on some dry clothing during T1. I could have been more aggressive during the first 5 miles.

Oh man, this was a strange transition! I was in my bare feet for the bike dismount, standing on my shoes clipped to the pedals. When I hopped off my bike, I could not feel my feet hit the ground -- they were totally numb! I sort of ran/stumbled to my transition area. I had planned to put on socks/running shoes while standing up, but my feet were so numb that I couldn't balance myself. I finally just planted my butt on the the ground and tugged my soaked socks onto my feet and somehow slipped on my shoes.. My fingers were so cold, it took me several tries to tighten my laces.

I should have put my shoes and socks in a waterproof bag. They got completely soaked from the rain downpour and hail. I actually brought a couple of bags, but I didn't bother using them because I didn't think it was going to rain. Stupid me...

Overall, I was happy with my run. I could not feel my feet for the first 2 miles -- they were still completely numb from the bike ride. The sun came out as I approaching the uphill just before the turnaround, and I finally felt some blood flowing! Despite the numbness, I still managed to stay near my 8-min-mile goal pace.

I should have tried to pick up my pace at the end. I guess I was just happy to reach the finish without any signs of frostbite. A guy in my age group division passed me with 200 yards to go -- argh! Next time, I'll put the hammer down for the last mile.

Wandered around the Expo area for a while, ate a bagel, grabbed a beer, sat in the sun, listened to music. I wouldn't exactly call it a warm down. It felt like it was the end of a ski day at Lake Tahoe.


Hmmm... the weather, maybe?


I actually had great time for my first triathlon (despite the cold, and rain, and hail, and blah, blah, blah)...! Overall, it was a total blast. I'm hooked and ready to go at again.