I was fairly happy with my swim and probably went a little off-course but not by much. I probably could have tried a little harder but was content to keep my pace. Finished right around midpack of my age group which is probably my best open water swim result so far. I think I had another 30-seconds there if I could keep my form, especially when reaching with my right hand but again, this is one of my better open water swim performances!. At the start, I realized that it was shallow enough to go about 20-25 meters just jogging as I was faster than the people swimming so I did that before committing to the swim. I didn't have much contact on the swim, just near the turn buoys but I also failed in finding someone to draft.

A little more open water practice to get better at sighting and probably try a little harder to get in someone's draft.

2011 Swim Time: 13:48
2012 Swim Time: 11:34
Delta: improved by 2:14 on the swim from last year!

My T1 wasn't crisp on this race. I think the rough surface just takes out that energy to really run to transition as I'm going 'ow-ow-ow' as I run. Struggled a bit with my number and got going.

2011 T1: 1:36
2012 T1: 1:15
Delta: improved by 21 seconds

Run faster after swimming and I think I had another 5-10 seconds potential.

This is where I was a bit disappointed - I bought a little bit of speed by using a rear disk (Zipp 900 tubular on 21mm Vittoria tires) this year but that didn't make up for my lack of bike fitness and ended up over a minute slower than last year. I just couldn't get my HR up as my legs just felt dead - which seems to be a recurring theme for me in the bike these past months.

Train more on the bike. I've gone to a weekly schedule 2 group rides and a trainer session once in a while (sometimes not even very hard) and it is reflecting on my cycling times.

2011 Bike: 49:45
2012 Bike: 50:57
Delta: Slower by 1:12 (sucks) at 5 bpm higher HR average!

I struggled with my shoes and I even forgot to unbuckle my helmet strap as I was running. I also ended up with a pebble in my shoe but managed to deal with it without too much blistering.

Be conscious about how I'll execute in T1. I took too long putting on my shoes and probably wasted a good 10 seconds.

2011 T2: 50 sec
2012 T2: 50 sec
Delta: Zero

I took off at a good pace, but legs felt dead after the bike so I wasn't going as fast as I had originally planned (just under 7:00 was the original plan and ended up at 7:05). It was humid but overcast so wasn't quite as hot as last year. Was able to keep a good cadence (180 spm) which was right on target but didn't really open up the stride.

Try to push a little bit faster at start. Probable had potential to break 21 minutes on this run today if I had some competition to chase.

2011 Run: 21:43
2012 Run: 21:22
Delta: Faster by 21 seconds

Not much - just walked around and got pizza. There wasn't a massage person today :(


Harder training on the bike and more speed training on the run (been doing longer and easier runs getting ready for a Fall Marathon - NYC!)

This race had a lot of fast people in it - especially for a small triathlon. I improved by close to 2 minutes from previous year but ended up dropping 4 positions on the overall, along with 1 spot in the AG. I was a good 4+ minutes slower than 3rd place in my AG so I'd have to improve across the board to compete for the podium next year. I think I can drop another minute on the swim and probably 20-30 sec on the run, but biggest improvement may be on the bike and improve by 3 minutes. Overall target will be 1:21:30 next year.

2011 Total Time: 1:27:44
2012 Total Time: 1:26:00
Delta: Faster by 1:44


Organized and well-run so I can't complain. I think a little bit better marking of cracks on the bike course would've been good.