This was my best 500 swim to date. I felt great. I miscounted and thought I was one lap ahead, so I burned a fair amount of energy and then really had to push after my lane counter indicated I still had one lap to go. I wouldn't change a thing about the swim, except that it left me surpisingly worked for the bike ride.

No separate times for transitions in this event. I was reasonably quick. My biggest areas for improvement are in hopping on the bike and clipping into pedals. I was breathing hard, a bit out of balance, and struggled to clip in and go.

I rode this course before, but the hills seemed larger today. There was a decent headwind that coincided with much of the climbing. But mostly I had trouble recovering from the swim. I had a side stitch for much of the ride, and just didn't have the power reserves I usually have. To make matters worse, I dropped my chain at the bottom of the steepest climb. It was clear as I was riding that this was not going to be my strongest ride performance, and I tried to just focus on the stretch of pavement in front of me and continue to peddle. I am pleased that the chain was no more than a momentary setback and I kept moving, but I sure would have been pleased with a faster time.

Do some swim-bike bricks and figure out the cause of these side-stiches. I wonder if I am either over-eating or hydrating prior to the race. Same problem at the Heart Run last month.

No time on this transition, but again I was reasonably pleased with my speed. I was suffering from the bike, but got my shoes changed and race belt on and was out of there in short order. First half mile of the run was tough, and I really could use some brick training.

Tough run for me. Had to walk about three times, once to visit the woods, and twice because I was just suffering. Again, I need to figure out and solve this side stitch problem. I think my run pace was actually pretty good for me, and if I could cut out the walk breaks I'd beat that 30 minute goal. I finished strong, which felt good.

Great race and overall I am pleased with my performance. Had I not dropped my chain, I probably would have beat my 1:30 goal for the event. I am most delighted with my swim, considering how daunting this leg of the sport was a year ago.