I was very nervous about this event leading up to the race. I had mysteriously injured my clavicle/shoulder area the week before the race, which prevented me from doing any training leading up to the race. Took ibruprofen before the race. After storm the night before, water turned out to be smooth as glass! Thanks to advice from swim clinic, I counted to 5 after the gun went off to not be caught in the midst of the kicking-punching storm. I occasionally switched to side stroke to sight and give my injured side a break, which worked wonderfully for me. Found myself passing people in the wave ahead of me, which was a real motivator.

Nothing, I was much better prepared for this swim than with my first triathlon and felt I did great! Didn't let my shoulder slow me down!

Since this was my first year as a triathlete, I raced on a hybrid bike with no modifications and wore my running shoes (no toe clips). Happy with T1 time.

Next year I'll switch to bike shoes, but I probably still won't jump on bike or run barefoot, not sure I'll get it down much further.

This is my weakest sport. I don't train nearly often enough. I got passed a lot, which I expected, but I was happy to catch up to some of them and pass them towards the end.

A lot! Most importantly ride more often and get more comfortable with gear shifting. Will switch to bike shoes with clipless pedals, maybe get aero bars. Also need to work on being in aero position more often.

The benefit here was that I didn't have to change shoes

Will switch to bike shoes. The time lost switching shoes in T2 will be gained in increased efficiency on my bike.

Set a 5K PR!! I'm not a runner and just count my soccer games and bootcamp conditioning classes as my "run training". My legs didn't feel as bad as they did after my first tri at this point. However my knee was definitely hurting and I just focused on my form the entire run. The shoulder of the highway had a significant curve down and was uncomfortable to run on. A lot of us were running in the road where it was more flat until motor traffic increased to the point that it was unsafe. As I ran into the park entrance I was hit with so much excitement that I ran hard in, passed a couple people, and was smiling big!

Start running. I need to get my bones used to continuous running.

Walked around, ate food, drank gatorade. Long walk to the car :)


I'm sure everyone says training is a limiting factor...Also my sudden injuries to my shoulder/clavicle and knee. I should probably not participate in other sports the week before the race :)


This was a great race for a newbie like me!