As I was waiting for my wave to start we saw the first of the Intermediates coming out of the water. I remembered thinking that they must have been really, really strong swimmers to get finished so quickly.

I purposely started in the back of my wave of 25 people since it was my first OWS start. I figured everyone else would swim ahead of me and I would just follow behind the pack. Just before the start they asked how many were doing their first triathlon- almost everyone around me in the back raised their hand!

Once we started I got my first lesson in swimming in traffic. Elbows, feet, arms.. I got kicked once and it really broke whatever concentration I had. I lost my breathing tempo and could not get a good stroke started until after rounding the 1st buoy. I did a side stroke and an improvised breaststroke most of the way. On the last leg I finally was able to get a good freestyle stroke going for about 100 yards until I swallowed water for the 20th time and lost my tempo again.

I did notice that the water was more clear than I expected it to be. I was looking for the dreaded zebral mussel but I am not sure if I saw them. I saw a lot of little white 'things' all over the floor...

Figure out how to practice swimming in traffic. Coping with bumping and the wake of the other swimmers making it hard to breathe regularly.

I had practiced this a couple of times before the race. Everything went pretty smooth. I remembered which sponsor sign I needed to turn at to get to the correct row.

My wetsuit came off easily and I already had my bib on underneath so I only had to pop on my jersey and helmet. I wore contacts during the swim but ditched those at the bike and put on my race optics.

I actually had to double-check that I had everything that I needed because I thought I did it too quickly.

I grabbed my bike and found the exit easily. I had my left crank at 11 o-clock for a speed-mount. I did it pretty well but still swerved towards a couple of nice ladies along the side of the road. I think it gave them a bit of a scare!

Not panic and get out of there a little quicker next time.

Road should have been closed to traffic. Lots of rough sections but the hill was not too bad to climb back up. Overall a pretty good ride. We merged with the Intermediates about 3 miles from the finish- they ride really, really fast.

I saw some poor guy walking back along the road near the beginning with his bike in one hand and his FORK in the other!! Man, I guess I still don't dig the 'benefits' of carbon.

I did the ride in an OK time but I was not pushing myself as hard as I should have. I guess I was still thinking about the swim and how hard it was. I did a good job of eating (payday candy bar) and gels (hammer) and drinking (water/gatorade) to get ready for the run.

Push harder on the downhills to shorten overall time.

I found my row easily again. I heard my wife yelling for me along the barriers and that made me feel better.

I racked my bike and changed my shoes quickly but struggled getting my biking gloves off. I grabbed my hat and water flask and exited out the run gate.

Take off the gloves while I am running to save time.

The run was down a nice country road that was NOT closed to traffic so there were a few goobers driving their cars down the middle of the road.

My back started bothering me about 1/2 mile into the run- enough that I had to stop and do a couple of quick stretches. I was passing fewer people than were passing me. I kept looking at the racing ages of the people that were passing me and I guessed that I was not doing a very good pace.

At the turnaround I probably was running a 11:30 pace so I tried as best as I can to turn it up a little bit. I was suffering but I started to realize that I was close to finishing my first triathlon! I saw my good friend, Mike, on the way back. He started in the next AG so it was hard to see who was winning but we gave each other 'five' as we passed. I was happy for him, too.

About 300 yards from the finish was the last water station. I just dumped it on my head and ran as fast as I could through the finishing chute. The announcer actually said MY name and city as I crossed the finish line! That was awesome!

Push the run a little harder to shave some time off.

I found my wife and her parents and waited for Mike to finish with Sandy and Thor. It was over in a blink-of-an-eye. I felt pretty good after I had a water and walked around for a while. I saw a few injuries but mostly smiles. We didn't hang around very long this time but next time we will. I enjoyed talking with the other racers and checking out their gear and T1 setups.


Panicking on the swim section and never being able to get into a good tempo during the swim