This was my first triathlon and second time in open water with my new wetsuit. I'm almost positive the suit was too tight. Between the cold water and my (most likely) too-tight wetsuit, I couldn't put my face in the water and do my normal breathing. I ended up doing the side-stroke the entire time. I was also told to take my wetsuit off while in the water, which I think was easier, but it added a good minute to my swim time.

I'm exchanging my wetsuit and am committed to more OWS time.

Given that I'd already taken my wetsuit off before entering transition, I was pretty slow. Given my slow swim, I did run through transition (slowly), but most of my fellow athletes were not, which I found odd.

Not cue off my fellow relaxed racers and run harder through transition if possible.

I've been training on the flatter Patriot Half Ironman course, so this hilly course resulted in a much slower pace for me during the race.

More hill training.

I'm still not comfortable with my clipless pedals so my dismount was less than smooth. Just happy I didn't fall (again). As I pulled my helmet off, it raked one of my earrings from my ear which I then had to find.

More experience needed with bike dismount. No earrings in races!

My legs felt like lead initially and it was all I could do to keep trotting. Things eased up for the remainder of the run after that first uphill portion. That first uphill made me wonder if I could make it through the run respectably. I ran very conservatively after that.

I would have pushed it a little harder on the run.

Water and a pulled pork sandwich. Yum.


Newbie-ness, poor wetsuit fit, lack of comfort with clipless pedals, lack of OWS comfort.


Tim Richmond, Max Performance and the volunteers did a fantastic job. It was my first tri, so little basis for comparison, but I felt like I was in good hands.