It was actually a goods non-wetsuit swim for me. I got kicked in the very beginning, causing one side of my goggles to be unusable. I was able to fix it once the swim herd thinned out. After that, the swim went pretty well.

Start off to the side to avoid the herd

It was a little challenging running with the bike because there was a slight hill out of the transition area.

The beginning of the course was about 1/4 mile up a 5% grade hill. I was determined to get strapped into my shoes before going up the hill. I was a little distracted and almost ran into a parked car.

The end of the course is down the same 5% grade hill and then around a sharp curve, so you have to be very cautious when dismounting.

Not go out too hard.

Not so smooth because you have to navigate a curb, go down a little hill. For some reason, my shoes (still clipped in on pedals) dragged on the grass. I have a water bottle between the aero bars and that extra weight seemed to have changed the maneuverability of the bike when pushing it from the saddle. The front wheel wandered a bit to the point where I just picked up the bike and ran with it.

I would like the bike in a high gear so the shoes don't rotate and drag. I would also finish off the water in the bottle so it would not affect the maneuverability of the bike when running with it.

Good course, just very challenging because there never seemed to be a flat section where you can just cruise. It was either up or down a hill. The only flat spot was the last 1/8 of a mile towards the finish line, but that turned out to be a sprint with whatever energy you have left in the tank.

Nothing.

Slow swim.


This is a well-run fun local race. This was the first time the race took place after a 5 year hiatus. Not sure why, but everyone did a good job respecting the neighborhood and picking up after themselves so the neighborhood association would welcome us back. I will be sure to do it next year!!