I was so happy with this swim!!!! I did not panic - not once-- took pretty much to the turn buoy to get down to bilateral breathing- up till then, there was too much territorial/defense swimming to keep my head down that long. I tried to stay waaaaaaaay left and out of the fray-- as did every other racer- so I basically had to cross everyone to get back to the buoy line. Next time I would hope to notice this sooner. I guess it could differ race to race. Once I rounded buoy and hit my pace it was great-- it was funny to look around and see everyone doing the same thing as me-- looking around! Practically no heads were down for first 300 or so. I basically did a lot of ground holding- learning who to give in to and who to stand up to in asserting my swimming presence. I liked this part- it felt very strategic.

RIDE MORE. PERIOD.

This felt harder than I expected. I think I put out too much on the bike.Not a terrible run, but could have been better, for sure.

I need to do more bricks. I was able to run faster on bricks in practice??hould do hillier bricks, I guess.

Felt good- then changed and could not find shade to watch friends finish. UGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH- began to feel nauseous with tight crampy knots across whole of stomach region. Ate, drank, didnt' really help. Had a massage, which helped. Back into the sun to watch friends- still no good, had to leave. Home to shower and nap-- helped but still whipped. Went to friends's house (who also raced) for dinner. Early to bed.


Not enough practice on bike. If I had been stronger for bike, I would have had more legs left for run. First open water swim with mass start so had no idea what to really expect despite much thought and discussion with others on topic. Not sure why T1 took so long- maybe I was just so happy to be done with swim?? It felt much faster than 3 minutes. I have looked at other people's times and there were people that I beat out of the water (not really my strongest event- as you may recall I have only been a swimmer since January) who beat me on bike- runs were the same, generally. So basically I could be stronger at my swim and my bike and make my run easier, since that's the event where I have most experience anyhow.


I loved. Signing up for this race in January was what started this whole ride for me. I did it, I placed right up there pretty close to, with and even head some local tri/Iron Man athletes, so that made me feel great. I am definately hooked on this sport!!!!