I signed up for the heated swim seed, which was for participants that thought they could complete the course in 14:00. There were approximately 55 men and 8 women. Needless to say I started towards the back. There was very little contact and I was able to sight fairly well. This was the first race where I used bilateral breathing and I thought it went very well. My fastest time per 100 yards yet.

Nothing.

Transition was good. It's a long way from the beach to transition, but I was able to run the entire way (even after the fast swim) and actually passed a guy (doesn't happen often).

Nothing.

This course always freaks me out a bit. Its not really all that hilly, but more hilly than I'm used to. I think a lot of my issues are mental. This year I felt pretty good. About half the course was newly chip sealed, so that part sucked. But when you got on the old asphalt it felt amazing. My legs were very rested for this race (vacation, low training etc.) and it seemed to help.

Be more aggressive towards the end. I always seem to want and "save some for the run". I need to accept the run always sucks no matter what ;)

Transition was fine.

Probably would be nice to practice this transition more. The socks often cause a problem.

This run felt much better last year! I have run less miles this year and it shows.

run more.

Walked around. Ate way to many cookies.


Training levels.


Even though this is a middle distance between sprint and olympic, this race always seems harder than the olympics. Need to train on more hills.