The Swim was actually last as this was a Reverse order Tri. The Swim was in the fitness center pool that was about a 200 yard walk from the main transition area. Rules were that you had to Walk from the transition area all the way until you got in the pool. This was a nice breather, but it is brutal to have to go slow on purpose when you are trying to race. The walk added a good 1:30-2:00 to everyone's swim times.

I was SO tired after the bike and run that I could only swim Freestyle for about 100M. I did side stroke for another Lap and then alternated whatever mutant stroke I could muster to finish the race. It got terrible crowded the last 3 laps and I found myself continually being run into and having to avoid people. I really was dead though, so I can't blame that much on the pool traffic. I really don't think I like swimming last because it is my weakest sport. I need all the freshness I can get. Wasn't far from having the worst swim time of the event.

I really just need to improve my swim this winter. Even if it was first I probably wouldn't have been under 10 minutes. Swim training here I come

Okay this race report is all out of order because the Tri was reverse order. So T1 was actually run to bike. All I had to do was switch my run shoes for bike shoes and put helmet and glasses on. I decided not to wear my jacket or gloves because my body temp was pretty high after the run. I was going to down a hammer gel, but I was holding back vomit, so I decided against it. I had a few issues getting clipped in but after that I was on my way. Much quicker transition than last race.

I need to practice and get used to my pedals. i have only had them for a week. Also, I could have shaved another 10 seconds off my T1 if I had ran the whole way out to the road instead of fast walking.

I think I did well on this course. There were not too many people that passed me and I passed a lot of people. I kept it aboout 20 on the flats, aboout 30 on the downhills and just did the best I could for the big hill. I definitely felt stronger on the bike than I did last race.

There were a few times I should have pushed it harder. I think I need to try and stay tucked in the drops more often as well.

T2 was the bike to swim transition. The only thing that slowed me down was having to remove the transmitter to get my cycling tights off. Maybe 10-15 seconds extra because of this

Nothing really.

For the 19th time, this was a reverse order Tri, so Run was first.
THis was my first mass start race. I was just kinda standing around wondering when we are going to start when I see a whole big group taking off. Oops, I guess I should have paid attention! I took off, already at the very back of the pack. I started off really slowly, trying to pace myself. After about 2 minutes I was feeling good and starting weaving through the crowd. I was making really good pace and feeling good. At 5 minutes, when I had planned to take a walk break, I was feeling great, so I kept going. At 10 minutes I had made my way ahead of another 25 people or so. I was still feeling great and thinking maybe i would just run the full 5k, no walk breaks. I was almost half way through when I came around the corner and into the hill. This hill was fair sized and it really filled me with doubt. This was enough for me to decide to walk the hill. A fair amount of people passed me on the hill, which was a little discouraging. At the top of the hill I started off and passed a good share of those people again. I had to take a couple short walk breaks on the last mile, but I could tell I was making PR time for sure. If this was a 5k only, I think I could have pushed myself to a 24:00, but I kept thinking I should save a little for the bike.

I would have like to have run the whole thing with no walk breaks, but it is hard to criticise a personal record. If I had lined up closer to the front of the pack and paid attention at the start that might have been good for another 15 seconds.

walked around and talked to a few people. Got some snacks and water


I don't think I messed up too bad on anything, so it is all the fact that I have only been doing this for a few months. I will log a lot of run and swim hours this winter to get those up to speed with my bike. I should be doing a lot better next season


I think I could have done well or placed if they had a Clydesdale division. Not that that would have changed my overall time or anything. I feel pretty good about this race overall. I beat my goal time by over 3 minutes and I had a PR on the run portion. I scored right in the middle overall. If I can get swimming down to a reasonable performance I think I could be consistently in the top 1/3. Next year I think I will be doing a lot better at these races.