Overall, my swim was ok, except for the navigiation. I purposely started on the outside at the back, since this was my first open wave start and I didn't want to get mowed over. But I think this wasn't necessarily the best choice, becuase I kept drifting out to the side, away from the pack and the bouys. This happened for a lot of the course. The swim time also included the run up to the transition area, which probably took close to a minute (but don't know exactly- I forgot to use my watch AGAIN!).

start more on the inside, as long as there's enough time for the pack to thin out a little before the first turn. SIGHT BETTER & more often!!!

Wow... I sure took my sweet time here... I had problems getting my left shoelace tied (I biked w/running shoes since I don't use clip pedals yet) and got a random sock thread stuck between by big toe & the next (ouch) so I had to take it off and start over. =( Also, took a few drinks of Powerade out of my Nalgene bottle, and it was in a hard-to-reach spot so that took some time.

so much.... get Yankz for my shoes... instead of drinking in transition, just take two bottles on the bike (or one bigger bottle)... make sure there are no "rouge threads" in my socks! =)

The course was harder than I remember it from last week's training ride. I'm sure I was pushing myself a little more, but jeez... I really thought I'd get some adrenaline push, too. There were also more tough hills than I remembered. I think I averaged about 8 mph going up them- and I wasn't the only one! Of course, there were some people that flew by. My right upper quad is killing me today! (day after race) They also made us stop completely and walk across this one-way bridge with two wood planks over it... very odd. They said it was too slippery to ride across, and doing so was automatic DQ (they had an official there watching). Amazingly some people did ride across and got DQ'd. What were they thinking?

train more for hills... get clip pedals (next year). It had been drizzling all morning, and the regular pedals were slippery, so my feet kept sliding off. How aggravating! At least not having the pedals saved me a few seconds at the bridge crossing. (my silver lining) =)

This was only my second tri, but I can already see a pattern emerging... people don't care where they rack their bikes after the ride, and there is always one where mine's supposed to go. It's so annoying having to maneuver it into a tiny spot that someone else has taken over. I guess I'll just have to start riding faster and get there first! ;)

Finish drinking my Powerade on the bike and skip taking a drink during T2.

I actually felt really good during the whole run, no problems adjusting to it from the bike. The worst part was that I stumbled a little on an uneven part of the trail and could've hurt my ankle, but luckily it was fine.

push a little harder... I had some energy left, but didn't think I'd meet my 1:30:00 goal, so I didn't push myself too hard. But I missed it by only 20 seconds, so it had been attainable. Oh well... I was still happy with my time.

did a little stretching, but not enough. Enjoyed some cold water (and gave some to the dog- she drank out of a paper cup- too cute) and had an apple. BF and I hung out a little and listed to the AG winners' times, then headed home.


not sighting enough on the swim, not enough hill training on the bike


Overall, a good race. Had a fun time!