I was totally NOT prepared for the complete chaos of the start. With all of the body parts flailing around, the amount of water being splashed, the clashing of bodies, the massive number of bubbles in the water, and the feet directly in front of me ready to kick me in the face, I think I panicked! All I know is that I was feeling out of breath after only about 100 meters and that ain't good! I spent virtually the entire swim feeling out of breath.

I would definitely not get into the middle of the pack racing for the first buoy. I should have stayed to the outside away from the chaos. I think I would have stressed/panicked less and been more relaxed, which would have resulted in better breathing and a better overall time (even if I had to swim an extra 25-50 meters).

Changed into my Spider Man bike jersey for my son. Took a lot longer to get into that tight bike jersey than I wanted it to. Most other aspects went well.

I won't bother with clothing changes during my next event. I did for this one just to have that jersey on for my son to see it. Not much else I can change. Maybe run a little faster out of the water and into the transition area.

Bike went well. It was a relatively hilly course, but only two hills were difficult. I knew I had to push because of my bad swim and my body obliged. I think I found a good mix of stretches to push it and stretches to rest up for the biggest hills.

Not much to change. I did make one mistake not changing gears quickly enough to engage a hill more efficiently. I got stuck in a higher gear than I wanted to, didn't want to shift mid-hill, and struggled to get to the top. It took me a little while to recover and get back up to pace.

Got stuck behind a slow moving person getting into a crowded transition area and had no way to pass. Really struggled getting the bike jersey off and my running shirt on.

My next tri will be done wearing on set of clothing for the entire event. I wasted way too much time in transition putting on and taking off clothing. I'm sure I lost at least a full minute changing clothes between T1 and T2 combined.

Overall, I was pleased with the run. I felt a cramp building less than a quarter mile into the run. I had to stop to stretch my calves. Probably wasted 30-40 seconds stretching, but did a good job because they didn't bother me again.

Train more?! LOL My run was right about where I thought I'd be based on my training. If I hadn't needed to stop and stretch, my time probably would have been more like 28:15, which is a real good 5K time for me.

Inexperience, mostly in the swim, but also in transitions. Otherwise, most of my event times and my overall time were just about in line with my expectations based on my training.


No race t-shirt or finisher's medal seemed kinda lame. Very little in the "goodie" bags and very little in the way of post-race activity. Not an expensive race, but it still seemed like they could have done more for the athletes.