i started left of the 1st buoy, knowing i tend to drift towards the right.


first 100 was fast, and smoooth, was concerned about my HR, so i slowed down and tried to relax. After rounding the last buoy, i started swimming faster, then again slowed down as i was afraid my HR was too high for T1.

it seems most people did not take the most direct route to each buoy, so i was swimming alone most of the time.

probably not worry about HR too much, and just swim. Drafting next time could be helpful too.

not sure why my transition took so long, it didn't seem to long. there was a nice little jog from the beach to the bike. a tad uphill on not so nice asphalt. HR was racing coming out of the water.

i don't have clip ons, so i put on my socks and running shoes. also put on my race belt, and tucked my head band into my shorts. T1 and T2 were in seperate locations.

my bike was racked closest to the exit onto the bike course. getting on my bike was as smooth as it could be, could have been smoother.

perhaps i'll have clip on pedals next time. perhaps i'll also run from beach to the bike, not worryin about HR. perhaps even ditching the gloves, even though i didn't put them on until i was on the road.

i had rode the course, so i felt good, i think i did a good job of neg splitting my time, and making sure i had enough energy to push through the 2nd half of the course.

got passed more than i passed people, but i did pass maybe less than 5 people.

perhaps next time i'll have a nice tri bike or better road bike. i was racing on the only bike i own. a used schwinn road bike, with a rack on the back, flat bar with bar ends, and toe clips. perhaps a newer or nice bike will help me bike faster.

also i knew coming in biking would be my weakest leg.

my rack was closest to the entrance of T2, so that was nice. i didn't have jump off and run dismount, but it was good enough. just had to take off the helmet and gloves. manage to knock the legs of the rack out, but the volunteers told me not to worry and took care of everything. there was only 1 other bike on my rack at the time.

since my bike was closest to the entrance of t2, that meant i was furthest from the exit, so i guess i could have run faster out of transition and then gotten into a nice cadence, rather than just starting the run in t2.

there were 4 water stations, and by the 3rd station, i felt much better and ready to run faster. although for most than 1st half i felt like puking. perhaps i need to hydrate better while on my bike, not sure.

my feet felt like stones, and i was just trying to make it. by the 2 mile marker i felt good, and i think put together a decent run by picking up the speed after mile 2.

be familiar with the running course. while i didn't feel too horrible off the bike, i ran slow, so maybe more brick workouts. also better run pacing. i had too much in the tank after i finished the run, which to me means, i could have taken the run out faster, or could have been running at a faster pace.

none really. stretch. got a massage, drank lots of fluids


perhaps not enough knowledge about my own pacing. not enough quality bike rides.


very family oriented race, most people were from the dover/sherborn area. not a lot of people in my age group, so i was able to take home hardware for my first Tri!