The swim went well. I decided to start on the inside but behind the front row a little bit. It started off pretty physical and I got hit several times and well as hitting others. About halfway out, it cleared up and I was able to get into a good rhythm to go around the turn buoy and for the way back in.

For whatever reason, I kept pulling to the left a little bit when I swim in open water. I'm able to correct myself quickly, but I wish I were able to swim a little straighter.

T1 went well. I had some trouble getting my socks on over wet feet.

dry off my feet on my towel before trying to get my socks on.

The bike course did not go as well as I hoped it would. It was a very hilly course, and there was a portion that was going through road construction. Thankfully, most of the uphill portion was on the way out, and the way back was mostly downhill. I tried to attack the hills early on and maintain a fast pace through the whole 12+ miles, but the hills were more steep than I thought they would be, so I had to adjust that plan. I eased up on the rest of the hills on the way out and tried to attack the hills on the way back. That plan worked out much better, but I was still hoping for a faster bike split.

Work on more hills in training, if only there were more of them near me.

T2 went very well. I got off the bike quickly, ran back to my transition spot, found it quickly and started on my run.

nothing

The run went well for the most part. I was able to run most of it, only walking the uphill sections of the 2nd mile. This was my PR for a 5k, but I still think I could have done better. My calf cramped some during the first mile but felt better on the return trip. I brought a bottle of gatorade with my rather than relying on the course for my liquid consumption. This was a good decision for me and something that I will do in future races.

run faster. At the end of the race, I felt like I had more in me to go faster throughout the whole run portion.

After the race, I walked around the picnic area, drank lots of water, and ate a cinnamon roll. I hung around until my time was posted, then I packed up my transition area and headed home. Stopped for some starbucks as a post-race reward for myself.


This wasn't my A race, so I didn't train specifically for this race. I didn't taper at all and I didn't train for the terrain at all.


I wasn't a big fan of the bike course on this race. I wish they didn't have the course go through road construction. Also, they could have spaced the drink station on the run a little better. With it being at the turn around, you only passed it once, whereas if they put it at the mile marker, then you pass it twice making it more effective.