Started strong. Swam at an easy pace in the middle of the pack and stayed calm when making contact with other swimmers. Rounded the first buoy and could not see the second. It was overcast and my mirrored goggles were far too dark. Had difficulty with sighting and my stroke became unbalanced, causing me to constantly swim to the left. Settled on following other swimmers and zig zagged my way across the rest of the course. I did not draft anyone. My arms started burning at about the halfway point so I eased up a little. I kept my breathing and heart rate under control and had no trouble finishing. I ran out of the water feeling good.

Use clear goggles, find landmarks to sight off before the race.

This was my first triathlon with a wetsuit. I had some trouble quickly removing the suit and getting my socks and shoes on. I wasted some time drying off and doing a final check to make sure I had everything.

Practice getting out of the wetsuit quickly.

The road was slick and my bike felt squirrelly. I rode on 700x25 gatorskins and may have overinflated them. I worked hard up the hills and was extremely conservative going down. I rode my brakes on all the steep descents. The corner at mile 4 should have been marked with a warning sign. It was a 6% decent into a sharp right turn. I saw several people on the ground who had lost control while braking and crashed. The next descent at mile 5 was a test of bravery (or stupidity). It consisted of a 6% grade over 1 mile of twisting & slippery roads. I kept my speed under 25 mph since I wasn't about to try leaning into turns in these conditions. My fastest mile was at 28mph and top speed was 36 mph.

Put less air in my front tire and work harder up the hills.

I was slow changing shoes and wasted some time removing my garmin from my bike and getting it on my wrist.

Wear my garmin on my wrist during the bike leg, practice changing shoes without sitting down.

I felt good at the beginning but got a mild cramp in my left calf. I tried running through it but eventually had to stop and stretch it out. Felt very good after the first mile and picked up the pace. Felt even better after mile 2 and picked it up more. Felt great at mile 3 and kicked it up two notches. I finished with a lot left in the tank. Splits were mile 1 in 8:48, mile 2 in 8:25, mile 3 in 7:40, and the final .1 at 6:15 min / mile.

Don't get a calf cramp, run harder at the beginning, go sub 24 min.

Ate the junk food given away by vendors


I am new and still learning to use my equipment. Between sighting, slow transitions and slow descents on the bike I gave up 5-10 minutes.


I would give a 5 if not for the unsafe conditions on the bike course. There should have been a sign or volunteers before the hill on mile 4 warning people to slow down.