Was in the 4th wave of 4. We started in the water, and I positioned myself in the front toward the left/outside. I ended up just beyond where I could touch, so I was treading water for a couple of minutes, but it was fine. It was a little crazy for the first 100 yards or so, but I went out strong and maintained my position, and it thinned out soon enough. I started encountering swimmers from the prior wave around the first buoy (further into the swim than it sounds) so from that point on I had to sight more to avoid other swimmers. Sighting was easy - two buoys, hang a right at the second one. I thought I was among the first of my wave out of the water, and according to the results I was first in my wave.

Not much. I felt really good about the swim.

After exiting the water there was a slight jog around the side of the transition area prior to the mats. Once in T1 it was pretty straightforward - not having a wetsuit to struggle out of simplifies things! I ended up putting on one shoe, then my sunglasses and helmet, then the other shoe. I have no idea why. Ran out and mounted after the line. Oh, and I had forgotten to start my watch at the start of the swim, so I started it on the way out of T1.

Get some tri shoes, learn some fancy mounts. But really, it was probably my best T1 yet.

I hadn't ridden this course before but I could tell it would be conducive to a fast bike split. On the way out of T1 I was behind a few people and didn't really get up to speed until turning onto the main road. Then I pretty much hit it harder on the bike than I ever had before. I was passing lots of people, not a position I am used to. After the initial uphill section, I may have dialed it back half a notch or so but kept the pressure on. The only fuel (or liquid, actually) I took for the whole race was Powerade on the bike - I probably took in about 10 ounces or so. I spent most of the ride in the drops - I haven't spent that long in the drops since I got my new bike in April. This was my fastest bike ride, ever.

Get some aerobars.

Although I've practiced getting my shoes unfastened and my feet out while on the bike, it just didn't occur to me to do it today. Probably just as well, because there was some pretty rocky gravel under those mats leading to T2. As it was, my run into T2 felt pretty hobbley. As I was putting on my first running shoe, I could feel my calf cramping up, but flexing it worked to loosen it up again and it was fine. Got my shoes on, helmet off, grabbed my number belt and visor and I was off.

I'm always just a little bit fumbley in transition. I guess I should work on doing fast transitions during bricks.

Unlike my previous 2 triathlons, my run here was not close to my open PR - about 3 minutes longer. But I pushed it so hard on the bike, and I'm sure I made more time on the bike than I lost on the run. I have hardly done any trail running this summer so it was a bit of a challenge avoiding the rocks and ruts - I find it mentally taxing and I didn't have much left mentally at that point. I was pushing hard the whole way. It seemed to go on forever, and I was so glad when I was done!

I don't know. I feel like I should have given more, but I think that's about what I had.

I did nothing, lol. Usually I walk it off for a few minutes, but all I did was drink my water and eat some bananas with peanut butter (loved the peanut butter option post-race, btw!).


I'm really happy with this race. If anything, I've never really run hard after biking this hard, so that was an unknown and something I should work on. Also, transitions can always be improved. Considering this was my third race, I'm pretty happy with where I am.


This was my third triathlon and I really enjoyed this race. The bike course was very conducive for a good split (for me, at least) - rolling but not too hilly. I was leery of it being on a major divided highway, but they had it covered with cones and police at every intersection. The run course was a bit challenging due to being on trails, but on the plus side it was largely shaded. Post race food and drink was satisfying. It seemed well-organized and a good size - not overwhelmingly large but not too small either.