The water was a bit choppy, and I lost my watch when some other Clydesdale rubbed up against me while I was strokin' away. I was a bit disoriented and my head wasn't quite where it should have been. Meh.

Think about wearing a wetsuit. Even though the water was pretty warm, most everyone else wore a wetsuit. I figured I'd overheat, as I usually do when swimming long distances. I could've used the extra lift.

Had a very difficult time getting my jersey, socks and race belt on. My body and feet were pretty wet and my race belt's adjustments came unbuckled. This was my first tri - I guess I should've practiced transitions.

Practice transitions. Consider going sockless for the bike.

I'm not a cyclist by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, during my training, I think I only got out on my bike once a week, with my training group. I clearly was not prepared; had I been in shape, I wouldn't have been that slow.

Train, train and train some more.

T2 was better than T1; I took a little more time to rest, as I knew the run would be tougher than the rest of the race.

Practice transitions.

Difficult run. Back spasming uncontrollably. By the time I got to the run, the weather had grown pretty hot. I walked most of it.

Train; do more core strength training and stretching to avoid back problems. I'm also too fat. It stands to reason that if I train more, I'll lose more weight.

Walking around, eating free food and drinking free drinks. Ice-cold towels on head.


Overweight, back pain, not in very good shape.


I thought this was a great race for my first tri. The course was well-marked, the weather was nice (although a bit hot by the time I got to the run - I'm lucky I was in the first wave behind the pros). This is why I hesitate to put "Too hard" under "Overall course based on my ability." I think it was a great race - but I wasn't ready for it.

Had I taken my training more seriously, I have no doubt I would've had a much better race. As it was, every aspect of my performance was sub-par. In addition, I feel like my weight problem and lack of core strength definitely contributed to my back problem. I need to do some sit-ups.