Wave start from boat ramp, all males 39 and under. This was my first wave start, so it was pretty fun. Thought a pack was in front of me before the first buoy, but couldn't locate anyone to draft off. Thought they were really fast and I ended up with a lonely swim... nobody even drafted on me! Turns out that I was the third swimmer out of the water. I think the course may have been measured long, as I would normally swim this length quite a bit faster in both open water and pool.

Sighting was good, so would have lifted my head to sight less. I sighted every 4 strokes but could have gone longer between peeks. Was a little worried about water temp (and air temp was chilly) but once I got started it felt just fine.

I put my shoes on at the racks because I don't have tri shoes. I run up to the mouting line and just step over, then begin to ride. Not too fancy.

I would have pulled my towel out a little and left a small patch where I could sit to put on my shoes. I got some sand etc. stuck to my rear.

I was a little leery of staying far to the right as instructed by the USAT ref. This would have left very little room between me and the traffic passing on my right. I kind of hovered in the center of the lane. Tried to take it pretty easy on the bike. My first triathlon was Olympic (this was my third) and I went too hard on the bike, which seemed to cause my run to be slower than expected. This time around it worked out better.

I was unsure about the turnaround, and the volunteer there was texting on his phone. He looked up at the last minute and said "turn around here!" I ended up locking up the rear when I simultaneously slammed on the brakes and began to turn, and the rear end stepped out. Lucky I didn't go down.

Dismouted smoothly and ran with my shoes on. Racked the bike quickly but chose to wear socks for the run as I got some small blisters on my 2nd tri without socks, and that was only 3.1 miles. Had socks pre-rolled and positioned in my running shoes, but it still took me probably 20 seconds to get them and the shoes on. Put on my visor and race belt on the fly as I exited transition.

As I mentioned, I really enjoyed the shaded path. Well, as much as you can enjoy something when you feel like keeling over. Grabbed a water cup at every aid station and drank a slosh of water; most of the contents of each cup ended up splashing all over me, which was great!

I must have missed the mile markers for 4, 5, and 6. After 1500m swimming, 25 miles biking, and 3 miles running I was really tired and would have liked to been able to hit the lap button on my watch to verify my pace. Everything ended up fine though.

Walked for a long time after the race. Just kind of kept moving, drinking water and a bottle of Powerbar Ironman drink that they handed me at the finish. Eventually I went down and took a little swim which was nice!


Nothing but more/better training. The race went well for me with no major mistakes, hydration and nutrition were good. I brought 1 bottle of gatorade on the bike (and drank nearly the whole bottle), and drank only water on the run. I took 1 gel 15 min before the swim, and ate 3 or 4 gu "chomps" on the bike.


The event was delayed, but that was due to fog on the river. We wouldn't have been able to see the buoys.

There were plenty of volunteers to direct traffic, especially at the congested areas. Great announcer at the end of the race who called out your name and home city. Great crowd and finish line location where everyone hanging out could look down on the finishing chute. Really nice finisher's medals, and a nice plaque for finishing 1st in AG.

The food was good afterwards, and there was plenty to drink. They gave a nice tee shirt as well; not the kind that has 5 minutes of thought put into the logo. Overall a nicely-run race in a good location, with a somewhat but not too challenging course.