It sure felt like more than 400 yards, but then again, I really thought I was in the water for 30 minutes. My stroke (what stroke?) completely fell apart,and I had a lot of trouble breathing. Frequently I would roll to my back to take deep breaths and reset myself, but as soon as I rolled over and looked down into the murky deep, I freaked out and had to roll back again, gasping for air. What's wrong with me? I swim thousands of yards a week (albeit slowly) and I can barely make it through this?

Get in the water next time instead of standing around. Also, spend more time practicing OWS ahead of the event. Time in the water, Mike, time in the water.

Not much to say here... I was dizzy from the swim but I ran to my bike and started getting my shoes on.

Not really anything. In the future I'd like to start practicing with quicker transitions, but I'm not unhappy with the way things are currently.

After the poor swim, I was determined to not suck on the bike and run, so I had already started getting my mindset ready before even touching the bike. I was pretty pleased with my performance, having not raced bikes in several years. I was able to keep up a good pace up the hills, and because of the turns, I stayed in the drops most of the time instead of on my aerobars. With the number of people that I passed, it almost felt like a road race, not a TT. I hit 40 mph on one of the long, twisty descents and that made me feel especially good.

Karma moment: I stopped and gave my under-saddle bag to a guy with a flat and told him to catch up with me after the race. When I finished the run, he had already returned it to my transition area.

I need to do more intervals and climbs, but I'm pretty happy with my performance. My speed has improved dramatically since my first tri, and I'm getting faster and stronger all the time. Now if I could just learn to swim... hmmmm...

They didn't list times for T2, and after seeing that the bike time didn't jive with my computer, I figured out that they lumped in T2 with the bike time. I listed my T2 time as the difference between the official bike time and my personally observed bike time. It went well, all I did was grab my race belt after I racked my bike and switched shoes, and I was off.

I still need to practice quick transitions, but I'm still a beginner and my transition times are improving.

I was a little concerned that I had left it all on the bike, but after the first half-mile, my legs didn't feel heavy at all. I've been doing two bricks a week, and I think that's payed off for me. I'm still new to running, but I was pretty happy with this run leg. My wife, a marathoner, looked at my times and couldn't believe it was me. She says I'm doing pretty well for someone who's only been running for a few months. The hill was tough to keep from walking, but it was fun to come down.

Not much. I didn't drink too much, go out too fast, or anything. Obviously I'll be putting in some more training and speedwork, but I can't complain about my pace today. It was good for me.

Ran past the finish line, grabbed a bottle of water, and walked over to my wife and daughter. Walked around in circles for a little bit and then sat down. I felt great (but spent) and didn't need that much of a warm-down.


Crappy swimming. Lousy warmup, both physical and mental.


I got a real charge out of doing this, my second tri. I've got others on my calendar for this season, so I just need to practice, practice, practice. Wish me luck!