I've been working hard on my swim this year and was hoping this would be a break-through race for me. But it wasn't to be. I got off to a decent start and felt pretty good when I rounded the first buoy. I also made it to the second buoy in pretty good shape too. But when the course turned north, things quickly fell apart. For some reason, I stopped breathing on my left side and breathed exclusively on my right side. I also didn't bother to look up and navigate for several hundred yards. Big mistake. When I finally lifted my head and looked around me, I discovered I had wandered way off course. The nearest swimmers were about 75 yards to my left -- Ugh. From that point on, I tried my best to aim left and get back on track. But I continued to drift to the right. I got more and more frustrated and eventually lost my stroke rhythm. I finally had to aim almost directly perpendicular to the course just to get back on track before the final left-turn buoy. Somehow I made it to the boat launch ramp and crawled out the water. I estimate I swam an extra 150 yards or more.

Well, I guess I took the phrase "Swim your own race" a little too literally. I definitely need to work on my navigation skills. At the very least, I should have just followed the stream of bubbles. I'm assuming that going to right-side only breathing messed me up big time. But I still should have been able to lift my head and adjust my direction a little better.

I'm just happy I made it through T1 without getting lost.

It took me a few miles to loosen up my legs and get my breathing settled down. Actually, the biggest challenge was avoiding all those orange cones in the road. For some reason somebody decided to place cones about every 200 yards in the MIDDLE of the lane we were riding in (I'm guessing to mark the run course?). Fortunately, it was only for the first 2 1/2 miles or so. But it was a real hazard. It seems like we already have enough to worry about out on the road...

Anyway, I eventually loosened up and felt pretty good by about mile 6 or so. I struggled a bit on the steep hill at mile 11 (I still need to lose about 10 lbs.)

I probably should have pushed the first 5 miles a little harder. I was still thinking about the swim and wasn't focused enough.

This was the most disappointing part of the race for me. I was never able to find my legs. I was more than 2 minutes slower than last year when I did my first triathlon in this same race.

I think I probably need to put in more training mileage. My run has been deteriorating lately.

Stretched and walked around the parking lot and expo area several times.


Well, I turned 50 on May 4th. Maybe my age is catching up with me?


On the bright side, I improved my overall time from last year by about 2 minutes. But I was hoping for something more. I guess should just be happy that I'm competing. :-)