I was surprised to learn I was so slow on this swim. I felt strong and had thought I had rocked the hell outta it.... I reckon not, but I'm pleased with the effort.

Push harder, get my swim fitness further along.

No flying mounts this time. Put my shoes on in transition.
It was cold as hell and was about an 1/8th mile run to transition from the pool area... took my time and was deliberate. Took the extra time to put on a windbreaker..... was still a n00b and left through the wrong exit even after making a point several times to make note of which one I was to go out, lol! Thankfully, that was my one and only n00b mistake of the day, so it's progress :)

*Finally* get the right exit down, but other than that, perhaps just move a little quicker... but with the temps I'm kinda Ok with the really slow time here.

Got onto the bike well once I left transition, put full-finger gloves on while I rode. It was hailing for the first 3-4 miles. The hills were brutal. I used every last gear I had and could have used several more.... if I do this race again, I *WILL* have an 11-28 cassette as I could have really used it. I rocked on the few flats the course had, and I smoked the downhills... the uphills and my still developing bike fitness is what killed me, though.

Ride harder on the uphills, train more, use a better cassette for those kinds of hills.

Slow and cold... took time to be kinda deliberate with my movements.
Took off the wind breaker, glasses and gloves; was a little slow moving removing the bike shoes and my heels got a little caught up slipping on the run shoes... not bad, but enough to cost a couple of seconds. Left transition through the correct exit on the first try, lol!

Not much of anything, perhaps try to move a little faster.
At some point I'll start practicing the flying mounts/dismounts and I can start saving some time there.

Came out of transition and settled in behind someone ahead of me for the first half mile until my legs started to feel normal, then I started to open it up a little. A kid for one of the relay teams blew past me on the way to his 15:00 5k time, lol.... other than that, I was only passed twice, and the 2nd time was with about 1/4 mile left. I picked it up a bit at that point to stick with the guy and we both made the turn to the finish together which then turned into an all-out 1-v-1 deathmatch sprint to the finish over the last 150-200 yards, lol! It was a heckuva finish even though he nudged me out by like half a second.... a lot of fun and a bunch of high fives at the finish line. I was exhausted and felt great!

More run training, more intervals.... gotta get my speed back.
Still, I finished 3 full minutes faster than my first race just two weeks earlier... so, I gotta love that!

Lotta walking around, drank a LOT of water and had a banana.
Went and put on the warmer clothes I left in the locker ASAP, including my new compression socks, which are the greatest things ever made... my calves feel great today!


The infancy stages of my conditioning and fitness levels is holding me back... Gotta get faster on the swim, gotta get better with hills on the bike as well as accustomed to being in the saddle longer, and I need to continue to regain my speed on the run.. won't be happy with that until I get back under 20:00, at a minimum.


This was a phenomenally organized event! I was really quite impressed all around with everything about it. I will DEFINITELY be doing a lot more HFP races.