The main reason I did this event was to try to improve my horrid swim of a week earlier (gotta get back on the horse). In that event I couldn't catch my breath for the 375m duration. It was incredibly deflating because I can do 1.5k in the pool without any issue. Some wonderful BT forum members pointed out I'd likely gone out too fast. I didn't think I had (but now see I likely did). The goal was to fix all that in this race. Breathing improved immensely, stroke timing also improved. I didn't worry about keeping up with anyone and did my own pace from the very beginning, not slow but likely a little slower than I was capable of (750m looks a lot farther in open water than I imagine it being in a pool and I was intimidated). The improvement over the previous week was very encouraging, and good decisions were made.

Navigation was good, but could have been a little better on the return leg - was getting tired.

Not something I was stressing about for this race. Seeing steady improvement. Suit hung up on one ankle only, but rather badly.

I need to dry my feet and legs - biking and particularly running in wet socks is an issue for me. I'm not all that concerned about T1 time so I put on socks for comfort.

I don't sweat the ride, it's the only thing I can do decently. Had a goal of 30 k/h on the bike and managed 29.6 so I can be fairly happy with that. Passed a few. Got passed by a guy with an M-dot tat but it took him until 25k to manage it so I'll view that as a small victory for my fat ass. Stayed in the drops a lot more in this race. Due to weight loss this is getting more comfortable. I passed more than was passed by, including some I thought looked like decent riders. Looking forward to seeing how I placed.

Still so tempted to get a tri bike. Should consider using my heart rate monitor, and paying more attention to my breathing.

Fine with no major issues. Nearly knocked over the rack of bikes by leaning too hard installing socks.

Consider dry socks.

Tried using a hat for the first time and it worked great, much less sweat in the eyes and less of a head sunburn concern - when yer bald that matters. I had never run 7.5 km before, certainly not in a race, and definitely never after a bike. So I just wanted to finish without walking. I walked a few paces to take on fluids but that wasn't because I had to, so to me it doesn't count. Pace was VERY slow, but for this race I was entirely ok with that. That was my best race decision of the day.

I need to increase leg strength and increase my stride length. Pushing off with more force should help. Had a real glute problem coming off the bike that I've never had before. Wondering if it was related to being in the drops so much, just don't know. I need to really elevate my run training, it's my worst event by an immense margin.

Light stretching, glute hurt quite a bit. Legs were very tight.


Severely insufficient run training. Swim and bike were fine but lack of running ability is glaring. Losing another 40 lbs would definitely help with that. Even those small hills were hard to appreciate.


This race was three times the length of the only try-a-tri I've ever done. It was a little foolish but a good test for me. If I keep at it an Oly late this season just took a massive step closer to reality.