The swim has always been my achilles heel. Although I'm not a great swimmer, I'm usually able to hold my own. I did have more anxiety than usual since I have been unable to swim near as much as I would have liked, but my fitness is good and I expected that anxiety would diminish as pre-race jitters normally do. The first 200 meters was awesome. Smooth, no issues. I actually managed to keep up with the pack and not get mauled too bad. Once I rounded the bouy I'm not sure what happened but I started having some rotation (Pain) issues with my left shoulder. I adjusted my stroke which slowed me down, then panic set in. The pack left me and the next wave began to catch me. This pretty much killed me. How could something going so good, end so bad. The last couple hundred meters was pure pain and survival. Shoulder pain, heart rate up around the max, legs felt terrible! Once I reached the shore and exited I just wanted to get on my bike.

Unsure. Train more? Hire a coach?

Transition went alright despite how I felt. Dizzy, out of breath, and heart up around 166 (My training max). Slowed down to lower heart rate. Overally transition was ok.

Need to learn to start with the shoes clipped on the bike.

Overall I'm not too upset with my bike performance. I had to start off very slow for the first few miles to get my heart rate down. Recovering from the swim was tough. Once my heart rate was down I picked up the pace and was able to hold 20 mph + for the remainder of the race. I even reach 35 mph on the last hill. Unfortunately the damaged was done.

Nothing under the circumstances.

Heart rate in the 150's. Very high for me at this point. Transition was ok. Slight trouble with one of my shoes, no big deal.

Overall my run performance was much slower than I planned (As was everything). This is the first time in an athletic event of any type I can remember where I was mentally beaten. It's really a shame since I trained very hard and my confidence was so high at the start. I just picked a comfortable pace that I could maintain and I stuck with it. What else could I do?

Nothing under the circumstances.

Sulked, wimper, licked my mental wounds. Ate a bananna, and a bagel. Went back to watch the finish of the race.


Swim training. I probably should not have raced this race. With my swimming ability level I need to train more. I assumed my fitness level would compensate for my lack of swimming over the last few months. Definately not the case. I am going to reassess my race calendar and probably drop the Tri the Parks race in May and opt for a duathlon that being ran on the same day. Plus continue to swim.


This was a great event. Beautiful weather, great course. Plenty of volunteers. All in all, a bad day racing beats a good day at work any day! And congratulations to Lhablas (Lou)! Great job!