The swim in Aquarena Springs is incredible! Crystal clear water. You can see the vegetation at the bottom of the springs, though I didn't see any fish this time. I think this is the only OW swim I've done where I could easily see my hands while swimming! Sighting is much less of an issue here since you can see plenty of swimmers ahead and to the side of you while your face is still on the water, so less need to sight. The hydrilla (the water plants) were bothersome at the shallow finish since the water got murky from all the swimmers and you'd be swimming through hydrilla you couldn't see!

My swim felt good. Since this was a time trial start there wasn't much opportunity for drafting. I did find one candidate that was worth drafting off of but he was significantly faster and I didnt' want to up my effort level just to keep on his feet.

The swim includes a 50m run to transition, and based on my time the swim distance must have been long also. I can do better if I up my swimming volume and frequency.

My wetsuit came off perfectly and the rest of the transition went well. Except for that it had been drizzling and my prescription glasses were watered up. I really couldn't see much through them and even considered sticking them into my tri top pocket and ride semi-blind, which I would have been with them anyway. Well, I decided to leave them on, but skipped the flying leap bike mount due to being semi blind (and I was doing them poorly the day before while practicing them...)

This transition setup clearly favored those who set up on one end of the transition area. I didn't arrive early enough to get anywhere near there so I figured I lost a few seconds in T1 to my competitors.

I wasn't sure what to expect since I really haven't been riding as much as I did last year, and did a 28 mile hilly ride the day before. I felt strong through first half, passing lots of people. I got passed by one guy in my AG so I figured I was in 2nd or 3rd at that point. The first half of this course was slightly uphill most of the time, but the second half was fast!

I was actually pleased with my effort until I saw how low I placed overall on the bike (46th) relative to my swim (16th) and run (20th). I need to train more and smarter! Not being able to see well through my glasses was a minor issue throughout the race.

Quick and easy, overall good. I need to see if there is a way to keep the tongues up on my Saucony's to make foot entry easier.

That big hill at the beginning of the run was cruel! I took motivation in the fact that I seemed to be suffering less than the others. Is that mean?

The big downhill was difficult also (though fast). I felt out of control at times and had to slow down a couple of times.

At the finish line I didn't have anyone in front of me to catch and there was nobody behind me that could catch me on a sprint. So no sprint at the finish. I'm not sure I had one in me anyway...

I'm thrilled with my run time given the difficulty of this course. I'm pretty sure this was a sprint tri 5k personal best for me!

OK, so I took 1st place in my AG! Well, in this case it's surprising unsatisfying since the real 1st place finisher won an overall award, and the real second place finisher won the Master's award, so they didn't count toward AG awards. So I was really third. I feel kind of like a fraud with a 1st place medal!


Need better bike training.


Overall a great race. Impressive given that the race director is a university student and organized by the school triathlon club. It's a fundraiser for the club. I like that they changed the run course to include that big hill, though that might not be a plus for everyone.

Lots of friendly volunteers, mostly college students.

This is a definite "must" triathlon due to the uniqueness of the swim venue.