Swim was ok. I was really nervous about the pool swim, since it was my first. My heart rate was very high, and I had a hard time hitting my rhythm for the first 100 or so, but after I got into it, I was very smooth and felt strong. A little bit of heavy breathing, but nothing that hindered my performance. Seeded myself perfectly--I ended up not having to pass anyone, and no one passed me!

Calm down a little bit before the start so that I can get into my rhythm earlier. Do some more practices with such short distances and pacing.

Ran hard out of the swim -- there was about a 150-200m run from the pool to the transition area and I think I kept a pretty good pace. Still haven't mastered the idea of having my shoes already on the bike and getting into them while I'm moving, so I had to run in my bike shoes. But overall, transition went well, no major issues or slowdowns.

Need to work on starting with my shoes already on my bike, and mounting the bike while moving.

Ride was ok- the pace felt comfortable, but I would have liked to be able to maintain my momentum better going over the rolling hills. Had some shifting issues, where I just couldn't find a comfortable gear to cruise in, and had to keep shifting up and down because of the hills, even though they weren't very big. Cornering went very well, and managed not to lose much speed there. During gusts of wind or open areas, I did get down into my drops for a little bit. I took one gel at the beginning and one gel at the end of the bike leg, with water both times.

Some mechanical issues, where my bike would shift two gears, or not shift when I asked it to and then shift twice, etc. But I'm getting that fixed.

Need to put the aerobars back on the bike, or get the tri bike- would have liked to be a little bit faster on the bike leg. Not a big improvement from my sprint last year, although this course was a bit hillier than the one in Texas.

Also, for such a short distance, I need to work on pacing issues. I could have continued with the pace I had for a lot longer, but I'm not sure I would have gone faster.

Transition went well! I managed to get the feet out of the shoes while I was still biking and came into transition with my shoes already off, which made running to my area much easier. However, I still can't get off the bike without stopping completely. I did start running the wrong way out of the transition area and had to run back a bit, which slowed me down a little. Some problems getting socks on- one of them stuck getting around my toes, so that slowed me a bit.

Need to work on dismounting while moving, and wear different socks (probably the nike ones). Also, running the correct way out of transition would definitely help :-p

Also, need to be going faster on the course... this ride should have been quite a bit faster, I think

Run was a pretty good pace. I cramped up on both sides as soon as I left transition though, and they never really went away. I may have taken my gel too late getting off the bike. Pace was great though, and legs felt good.
PR by 2 seconds for my 5K (and not just in a tri)!!

Work on gel issues with the bike/etc to try to avoid cramping. Work on taking water without walking - maybe wear a fuel belt during such a short race?

Walked a bit, and stretched some


Hills on the bike course really stole my momentum, and the cramps while I was running.


Great race overall... any complaints are due to my performance, not the race organization. It was well organized and executed! Great volunteers!