Considering I was concerned about being cold and wasn't going to wear a wet-suit, I had a very good swim.

I had received a wet-suit the day before the race and made a decision not to try using it during the race. I have always been told to not try anything new during a race :)Train in my wet-suit so I can be prepared to use it on days like this :)

I was first in my age group and second overall in T1 :) No wet-suit and having a spot very near bike out really helped! Second race in a row that I was first in age group in T1:) I can atleast do something really well :)



Nothing

My legs were very tight during the first few miles. I think this is because I was cold.

My bike continues to be my weakness. I plan on focusing on my bike over the winter....trainer here I come!

I set up transition well. I had unratched prior to the descent at the end and unvelcroed within a couple hundred yards of the bike finish.
I was pedaling on top of shoes at end and did a flying dismount.
Nowing the course really helped. I had biked this course a month prior, so I knew I had to prepared prior to the descent.

work more hills and more TITS!!!

Getting my socks on was very difficult. I have never had problems before. For some reason, my socks were wet (may be from my neighbors wetsuit) and I was shaking really bad. I wear Balega socks on the run, and these usually go on very easily. Even with the socks issues, I was 10 of 46 on T2.

Work on putting on my socks!

The first 1.5 miles were brutal. I was very stiff from the bike (see previous comments), and it was all up hill. A total elevation gain of 180 feet in the first 1.5 miles. My previous triathlon experience paid off, I knew if I just ran through it I would feel better after a mile or so. In my triathlon in Minnesota last month, I encountered the same difficult in the first mile...a large hill.

I had a goal of 8 minute miles. I fell just short of this goal, but considering the amount of hills in the run, I was very happy. I ran the last 1.5 miles around 7, was happy:)

Train on more hills!

Walked with my GF and had some pancakes and water! MMMMm, pancakes!