I was disappointed with my swim performance. I have been practicing swim skill drills and attended a clinic this winter. Seemed to forget some of those mechanics in the water. Might be due to the wetsuit which I didn't practice in. My navigation skills weren't that great either. Goggles stayed clear but I seemed to zigzag and not be able to hold a straight enough line. I swim with alternate head turns to alleviate that but will attribute to first race of the year cobwebs. While I swam faster than last year it was not that much faster.

Relax for the first 300-500 yds. I seem to get very anxious at the start and then after I turn the first buoy I relax. I would practice more with the wetsuit. As the weather warms some open water practice would also be valuable.

Got stuck in the wetsuit AGAIN! Left ankle with chip was the culprit. Tried getting it off with my other foot and calf started to cramp. Finally jammed my thumb down through and it came loose. Just about ripped my thumbnail off! This definitely got me stressed. Geared up for bike pretty quickly and ran to T1 bike exit. Boarded bike and headed up the hill putting gloves on while on bike.

A training/racing friend suggested applying Glide all over ankle lower leg area. I'm going to try that on the next practice with the suit. Also, my helmet gave a me just a little fit problem. I need to make sure that I try that on prior to finishing my setup.

I have spent this winter learning and training on both a spin bike and outdoors with cyclists. As I learn the proper way to ride I do think it will payoff throughout this summer and beyond. I was hoping for a little faster pace results. My knee seemed to hold me back a bit in spots. I used my aero bars more this time than prior races. Still don't like them too well. Would rather be down on the bars instead. I currently use a road bike which the geometry is great for riding in Georgia so I rarely use those aero bars.

Just continue to train and build up my LT and bike stamina. I think a continued focus on the bike will payoff double later. I need to be able to go faster with less energy. Might want to introduce a cadence monitor as well so I can focus throughout the race.

When I got off the bike my back was really stiff. This surprised me since it's never happened before. I had recently completed my first century ride and didn't feel like that. The dismount line was at the bottom of a hill and came up a little quicker than expected. Once off I was at my station and got through quickly.

Aero water bottle impaired racking the bike a little. Might have to spin the bike and rack at the seat to avoid any penalties if that bike comes loose.

This was my best run for an International distance. I think I had enough gas left to break :50 if I was a little more on top of my segment time. Started blistering with two miles to go. The scuttlebutt there is that there was a lot of sand and grass in transition and a lot of people were complaining about blistering. My socks were filled with sand when I finished the race.

Instead of rinsing my feet in T1 w/ a water bottle I think for FL races/beach races I would bring a small pan to rinse in. Saw a few experienced athletes with this. Otherwise, I liked my performance. I know I can squeeze out a sub :50 run at this distance.

Walked back to our fan base :). There were three of us racing and we had about 10 fans which made the overall experience a lot fun. My back started to really stiffen which continues to surprise me. I stretched a bit. Had three bottles of water and collected my gear. I probably should've taken a lite swim to loosen up.


Prerace: Eat and drink much more!
Swim: relax and remember training
T1: Wetsuit removal
Bike: Knee pain and still need continued stamina/strength training.



This was a PR for me at this distance!! I enrolled with a personal coach/coaching program in my city this winter. It has been very beneficial to my performance and understanding of my body and it's limits. His direction; specifically spin classes and lots of long bricks along with cycling instruction were instrumental in this race performance. I have lots of work left to do but I'm headed in the right direction. My run was much stronger than ever due to this increase in training.