The water was really choppy. And the waves went off very close together so it was very congested. I swam great the first 200 meters. I had my breathing down and was in the zone. Then I swallowed a big gulp of water and had to breast stroke to cough it up. My goggles fogged up and I could not get back into a good pattern.

Go out and practice the course and do more open water swims ( I did not do any this time).

It was a new gear tri for me. It was the first time I have used my clippless pedals and wetsuit. Overall getting out of the wetsuit went pretty well - I did get stuck on my heals and I got into the shoes pretty well. I was happy.

Practice this transition - especially with a wet wetsuit. Also work on getting into my shoes while on the bike.

I broke a cardinal training rule for this race. I was given a brand new road bike yesterday as an early birthday present. I decided to use it. I had a small problem shifting on the first hill and had to get off and walk (I would have had to do this on my old bike as well) and the chain did come off once. I was also a little nervous on the downhills seeing as I was reaching 30mph. But overall with the hills it made things a lot easier.

More practice on the new bike. Come out and ride the course before hand

My second transition was very good. Not problems.

Drink a little more before starting the run.

I did it! I did it! My goal is to always run the whole run course which I did and I broke the 10 minute mark!!! I was tired the first 1.5 miles but then I got my legs and I was off and running.

I would like to add some intervals into my training.

OK...so see parking in the spectators lot was a great idea...sort of.I didn't think about the fact that it was all downhill on the way to the park. This meant I had to climb 3/4 mile back up to get to my car after the race. I used this as my cooldown plus a little stetching. Also drank some water and gatorade.


I need more hill practice both on the bike and run. I would like to start doing intervals in training for both. Also I need to practice on my new bike. I could have hit the downhills faster than I did.
I may have also been tired on the bike because I did do 30 miles yesterday.


This was a great race overall. There are not a lot of drink stations - none on the bike, and two on the run, but for a sprint I think it was enough. The race was very well organized. It was a very nice touch that there are a lot of volunteers to cheer you on through the hills. They are tough...there were a lot of people who walked them. It was a great last race for me and I will defintely be back next year!