As this was my first triathlon and having never done an open water swim, I was not prepared for this. When the gun went off I was pumped and ready to go and decided to jump in with everyone else. Huge mistake! The commotion of run start was too much for this first timer. I took a lot of water in the mouth which caused me to freak out a bit. The first 100-200 meters were really tough. I was having trouble catching my breath and could not put my face in the water. I kept thinking I cannot do this and had thoughts of heading back to shore. I soon realized that there were others around me having the same problems. For some strange reason, this made me feel better. I told myself I was not going to give up and I would get through the swim no matter what it took. Once I found my rhythm I felt pretty good.

More training in open water. Now that I know what to expect I think my next swim will go much smoother.

Due to the cold weather I took my time in T1 (probably 5-6 minutes). I did not wear a jersey on the swim b/c I did not want to ride in a wet jersey. Big mistake. It took probably a minute just to slip on the jersey. Eventually I had someone else help me get it on. I am happy I took the time to put on the cool weather gear. Except for my toes I was very comfortable on the bike.

Wear a jersey under the wetsuit. Others told me that their jerseys dried very quickly on the bike.

I thought the bike went very well however my splits do not show that. There were not too many people passing me on the bike. In fact, I passed more people than people that passed me. I believe the extra time I spent in T1 is included in my bike split and that is what cost me.

Work a little harder.

Uneventful. My biggest decision was how much clothing to wear on the run. I left the arm warmers and windbreaker on. I ended up shedding them in the run. It warmed up when the sun came out.

Wear less clothing

Legs were like lead for the first hill. Also, feet thawed out during run. This was a very strange feeling.

Run harder. Wear less clothing.

No stretching although I should have. Watched other finish the race and ate some food at the post race party.


Fitness, first open water swim.


I thought this was a great race. Good location, nice course and a ton of food at post race party.