I went out hard with the 40 and up male wave, which was the third wave to start. I started to the inside and had clear water to the first buoy 100 meters out. However it turns out that this was a fast crowd and I had to get into the mass to get around the buoy and then spent the next 150 meters getting clobbered and swum over. It was the worst I have ever experienced. One guy left-hooked me in the eye and knocked my right goggle off. Luckily I had put my goggle strap under my cap and was able to easily stop for a few seconds and reseat the goggle. I was wearing contacts so I was especially sensitive to getting any water in the goggles. I was swimming really hard so I was stunned when I got passed by the first pink capped women when I was just maybe about 350 meters into the swim. The waves were 3 minutes apart and all I can say is that some of the women are amazingly fast. By the time I came out of the water about 8 to 10 had passed me. The water exit led to a steep uphill path that was muddy and slick. The run to T1 was probably on the order of 200 meters. I ended up finishing 3rd of 13 in my age group, my best performance of the day.

I would probably start to the outside and start easy to let the crazy ones get going and then try to avoid the slower guys by swimming wide around them. It's just not worth getting beat up to swim with the pack.

The transition area was on grass, mud, and gravel with a rocky run to a short, steep, paved drive that joined the road where the mounting line was located. I decided to run this barefoot and put my socks on when I got on the pavement to try not to get muddy. I had left one cage on the bike and I put a water bottle in it to wash my feet before putting on socks. Well, none of this worked out. I had to lay down the bike to get my socks on and this caused me to lose about half of the Gatorade in my aero-bottle. I ended up muddy and frustrated. I then had trouble getting strapped into my shoes, which were already mounted on the bike.

If I do this race again I will probably race the bike in clips with toe straps and use light running shoes. This will allow an easy run to the mounting line and an easy mount up. It would also be easy to run back into transition from the dismount line. Plus I could do the 5K without changing shoes. It would be less power on the bike because of flexible soles but I think it would be better overall.

I noticed a lot of people that were in packs and sort of drafting. Considering that I haven't ridden much lately I did OK but the ride with all the hills took a lot out of me. I lost most of my Gatorade when I laid the bike down coming out of T1 but I replenished it with water from the water bottle I have. That's a trick I've learned, to use a standard squirt bottle to reload your aero-bottle while still riding. The long uphill that started the race was a fast and fun ride downhill toward the dismount area but I lost some momentum due to sharp turns at the base of the hill and also because the park entrance had about 4 or 5 large paved rumble strip speed breakers that disrupted any attempt to sprint to the finish.

Toe clips and straps to ease the transitions and also get enough mileage in before the race so I'm not so out of breath coming into T2.

I normally get out of my bike shoes before the dismount line and run in socks into T2, but because of conditions I decided to leave my bike shoes on to protect my socks and feet from the mud and rocks. This made for an uncomfortable stop at the dismount line and a slippery clip-clop into T2. I started walking just before I racked my bike because I was so tired and the conditions were not good. I knew it would be a long 5K for me.

Toe clips and straps with running shoes for the bike leg.

I took two Gatorade filled flasks from my running belt and put them into the back pockets of my Sugoi tri-top. This really helped because I needed a lift for the run. I came into T2 in the thick of the pack and then everyone passed me on the run. I think the only way I'm going to get noticably faster in the run is to lose some major weight.

I did all I could do, but training more and losing weight are obvious needs.

I went to the lake to cool down and clean up because there were no shower facilities.


I was not prepared for the muddy conditions of the transition area. I also have neglected my training lately.


I believe that the transition should have been setup better and I don't understand why park speed breakers are not built with a narrow smooth pass through slot for cyclists. Transition areas should always be paved and the dismount line should be on a mostly flat area. I also think that the T1 timer should be at the water exit, not way off at the entrance to the transition area. The way these tri-the-parks races are setup you get an accurate run and bike time, but a skewed swim time.