I wanted to do a CANNONBALL when I jumped in! The timer lady said it wasn't illegal, but begged me not to because she'd be soaked so I gave her a break. I was surprised by how choppy the pool was because it's been so long since I swam in a large group. After the first length I had already caught up with the lady in front of me. I was surprised that I was moving that fast (probably not, but she was moving slower than me). I tried to pass her and very first thing I got kicked in the head! That made me a little gun shy about the whole thing and it turns out there were like 5 people backed up in front of her. I finally got to the last person when the guy that started behind me passed me and made a run at the lady in front. I encouraged him because I figured once he passed her he would truck it and I could trail him. He passed her, then I did and he kept plodding along at the same pace. At that point I just settled in and followed him the rest of the way, but I could have gone faster.

All of the treading watter and waiting actually made me more tired than I would have been flat out. I haven't practiced breast or side stroke so I wasn't used to it. I had seeded myself at 12 minutes, finished in 9 but could have done it in 8 with an open lane. Oh well, survival was the goal of the day.

Seed myself higher. I would have anyway, but I haven't practiced a 400 non-stop and didn't want to be the guy that gets in the way. I think it was a small thing, so the time doesn't bug me.

I didn't practice transitions, so I expected it to be bad-ish. I brought band-aids to prevent the chaffing of the nipples, but left them in the bag. Then when I remembered them I had trouble opening them with the wet hands. Finally got em on and went to throw on the socks. Wet feet are hard to put socks on. I had to sit down and I didn't have an extra towel and blah blah blah, but I got em on. Got the gear on and grabbed my heavy ass bike off the rack. Went running and forgot my race belt, but had it on my bike. So I got that on and away we go!

Practice. Have a spare towel for the feet, have the band-aids open and out.

Got on the bike and got out on the main road. First hill and I realized I was IN TROUBLE. I've done all three separately, but I've never done the bike off the swim. Plus, I hate hills. I was trying to remember my cadence music, but couldn't get "Daisy, daisy, give me your answer do..." out of my head. On some of the hills I was trying to go to my smallest front ring and my derailleur wouldn't push that far. Which I didn't know because I haven't even touched that one on my rides. I hadn't taken a gel and that might have made my life a little easier, I'm not sure.

I tried to remember that I had a 5k after so I wouldn't bonk on the run, but didn't have any prior experience to gauge my effort by. But I survived and that was the goal.

Tried to just get up the hills and really book on the downhills. Also tried to pass (the few I did pass) on the downs to minimize the effort it took.

Road bike! Bike shoes! Clipless pedals! Christmas is coming...

Much quicker than T1 since I had all my gear on anyway. All I had to do was strip off the helmet and turn my race belt around. But I forgot my GUM, AGGGGHHHH! I need gum!

REMEMBER THE GUM!

Oh my God, this HURTS! I didn't have any GU coming into T2, so I grabbed one as I racked my bike. But apparently that's not the best idea because I got a cramp in my belly, not my side. I got between buildings and had to start walking. My shins were killing me for the first time since I got new shoes and my inner right quad felt really tight. davidb came back out pacing a friend of his and stopped to walk/jog with me for a minute. I really appreciated his advice and encouragement even though I didn't say it at the time. People were passing me going the other way and kept saying "just another..." to the turnaround. I finally got ther and guess what? NO CUPS! So I got down on the ground and started drinking from the spigot. Glad I was able to get back up! I was like "screw this, I'm goin HOME". And the only way home was through the finish line. So I started jogging. And jogging. Next thing I knew I had jogged about a 3/4 of a mile and took a break. Had to start jogging 5 seconds later to cross a bad intersection and kept going. Some guy passed me saying "come on, just a 1/2 mile to go!" How did he know that? Anyway, I started up again and just kept slogging in. 24 minutes to the "half-way" point and 20 minutes back. NEGATIVE SPLIT! I'm just sayin...

Do some bricks to prepare for the change. Get some GU in me before I'm off the bike. Just more general conditioning.

Walked (wobbeled) around for a few minutes looking for results. Didn't really warm-down per se. But I did take a 3 hour nap when I got home.


Lack of conditioning. Unfamiliar with the demands of the sport. Naive in general.


I can't judge this race because it's my first. But the race started like a half hour late and if I was hardcore and eating at specific times and warming up at specific times it would have caused me problems. But I had a great time, so I've got nothing bad to say.