Went into this swim with no intentions of pushing too hard, esp. since my swim training has been pretty weak. I always struggle a bit to fight through the crowd at the beginning of the race, and this one was the same. Also, to make matters worse, most of the racers missed a marker - the whole pack was headed in the wrong direction; I happened to notice and make the correction, but that caused me to fall behind a bit. Didn't want to risk disqualification though. It thinned up a bit toward the end of the way out, and finally on the way back I was able to find a rhythm and stick with it.

Learn to tolerate the hitting and kicking at the start a little better so I didn't have to come up so often. Also, I need to get the sighting figured out for the same reason... and maintain a steady swim pace and routine throughout the entire swim. However, I'm still happy with my results all things considered.

Okay, so you're probably wondering why I have a six minute transition time... well, I had a little problem... I got to transition after the swim, only to realize I had left my bike helmet in the car. DANGIT!! I panicked for a bit, running in circles contemplating my next move. I even had some evil thoughts cross my mind as I stared at all of the other participant's helmets ;). I finally decided I would exit the transition area avoiding the timing loop, dash to the car and get my helmet. About half-way there, I realized I'd forgotten my car keys... CRAP! Ran back, found them, and bolted back out toward my car (still in bare feet on gravel-covered asphalt). Got to the car, grabbed the helmet and ran back. Made it back into the transition area, quickly got my stuff together and headed out on the bike. Whew, race saved! At least I could finish the race!! In the process of my lengthy delay, a fellow triathlete (Jason Dewey) I'd met up with had passed me up, despite my swim time that was nearly 3 min. faster than his. I was determined to catch back up and make the best of my race.

REMEMBER TO PUT MY HELMET IN THE TRANSITION AREA!! Duh! What makes it worse is I even thought about it 10 min before the race started, but reassured myself that the helmet was probably there. Nope. It cost me about 12 positions overall, and an AG placement. That'll teach me :)

I was feeling good on the bike, (esp. after my 6+ minute transition), so I decided I'd put forth a good effort to catch up to Jason. I could see him cruising about two tenths of a mile ahead, and I just stepped on it to catch up. I managed to catch up and even gain on him by quite a bit- I knew I had to since I was fairly certain he was going to cream me on the run. No one passed me on the bike. That was cool.

I think I could have pushed just a hare harder. This ride was a bit too comfortable- I think if I really wanted to I could have averaged near 21 mph on this course. Part of me was feeling a little bit like the race didn't matter after my little transition mishap, so I didn't push myself as hard as I may have otherwise. Plus I'm always nervous about tiring myself too much for the run, but I'm lousy on the run no matter what, so might as well try to make up for it on the bike. I also need to work on that T1 bike mount stuff. That probably cost me some precious time at the beginning of the bike.

I'm still not very good with the bike mount/dismount stuff, so these are about 20 seconds longer than they should be. I still feel like this was a decent transition though.

Not a whole lot. Just tackle the bike dismount better.

Run was sloppy slow. I started out okay, but then I started to wimp out and walk. When I was running, I was holding 7:30-7:50/mi, and it would have been a great race. I could have toughed through it but I just wuss out on these things. I let Jason pass me and finished right behind him.

Get over it. I should be able to run and hold at least 8:30/mi on a 5k run no problem, even after a swim and bike. I'm physically capable of it, but my mental state gets in the way. Just need to tough it out- let the stomach pains and cramps just be part of the fun!

Hung out with Jason and Victoria post-race and chatted about the race. Wandered around and talked to the race directors about the race. Ate some bananas and oranges, and drank lots of water...


My wimpy head.


I still had a blast despite some of my mistakes and slowness. This race is really fun, and I really liked the bike course. I was happy overall with the race considering how weak my training has been. It gives me the confidence that I could do really well if I got more serious-- so that's awesome!