The swim went well. I was able to maintained a 2/3/2 breathing pattern throughout (which means I should have swum faster), swam straight, drafted for a very short while off one person, and thought might have finished first in my swim wave since I couldn't see any yellow capped swimmers near the end (I was actually third, just behind a young woman and one guy in my AG).

I'm always amazed at how many people start the swim way too fast. I started on the front row and at 100 meters there seemd to be a couple dozen people ahead of me. Even toward the end of the swim I was catching people in my wave who had slowed down quite a bit.

For the little that I've trained in the last few months I was pleased. Swimming a few weeks in a row in Lake Tyler helped.

Overall good. I didn't do a flying mount since I haven't practiced it this year.

I came out of T1 just behind a guy in my AG. He had a much nicer bike and a disc wheel so I suspected he might be fast. He slowly pulled away from me and I didn't try to stick with him. My strategy for the race was to take the first half relatively easy to be able to push hard on the second half. I saw him at the half way mark and figured he was about a minute ahead of me. He ultimately finished about two minutes ahead of me.

As per usual, I was riding with the expectation that the faster cyclists in my AG would catch me on the bike portion, but that didn't happen today. I did get passed by two guys in older AGs, though....

I was happy with this ride. I kept to my strategy and was able to finish strong.

I didn't pay any attention to the transition area in and out when I set up my bike, so I had a hard time finding my spot. I went down the wrong row twice! Also, since I haven't run sockless at all this year, I put some chamois cream in my shoes at the back of the heel to prevent blistering. Well, I've never tried this before and didn't realize it could make shoe entry a bit more difficult due to sliding fingers while getting the shoes on....

Pay attention to the transition area and don't try new things on race day. I had no blistering, though.

I just am not in shape enough to maintain a faster pace. I got passed by a guy in my AG who pretty much zoomed past me; I didn't have enough energy to try to keep up.

I kept looking back the last few 100 meters to see if there was anyone coming up fast that I needed to worry about. Fortunately there wasn't and I was happy I didn't have to sprint to the finish line since that would have been ugly and difficult!

Overall I was happy with my performance given that I'm not in race shape. With the move (new job, new city, new house, new everything) my training has been little to none for four months, though I did pick it up a bit the last six weeks to get ready for this race. I was pleasantly pleased with my swim and bike. My run was a struggle, though not unexpected.


This is a first-class race. Well organized, lots of volunteers, huge tent so lunch and ceremonies aren't in the direct sun, incredible food catered by Ricks, great live music in the tent, a rose for every racer, etc. Most other races will be a disappointment after this one!