Very bad swim. I've never been in open, cold water and wasn't prepared for the difficulty in getting my face in the water. I tried to start with the face down, but either reflex or psyche kept me from doing it. I took on some water and soon my breathing was running away, which made getting face down even harder. Luckily I've built upper body endurance and could still stroke my arms the whole way. Some others couldn't and it hurt them even more.

I've got to learn to get comfortable on the open water. This really hurt me overall as my run and bike were adequate for a much better time had the swim gone better.

No problems with transition.

Felt like I did well here. I caught up to the back of the group after falling back in the swim. So I made up 2-3 minutes here.

Nothing other than getting my own, fitted bike.

Had my shoes untied! Normally I've got them laced in a way I can just pop the shoes on and they are already double tied. They became untied later and became an issue later.

Tied the shoes double-knotted before

Having my shoes untied in transition area slowed me a bit. I then only single-tied them and then the right one came undone about halfway through the run. I ran on anyway... Passed an AG at the end to come in next to DFL.

Double-tie shoes

Swim


My whole family had tee-shirts with "Team Brad" printed on them. My infant son and 4yo daughter had "Team Daddy". They cheered as I was racing along. It was nice because people would be saying "You're Brad." It definitely helped keep me in the water as well. Thanks everyone.