In my last race here (4 weeks prior), the swim was a disaster. One of my goals was to relax more and stay on the edge of the course instead of mixing it up too much. Overall this worked out much better. I didn't get run over, and had pretty smooth water for most of the way.
The water was probably the dirtiest I've ever seen. I couldn't see my hand during any part of the catch or pull. Not a huge deal, just felt like pointing it out.

It took me half the course to get into a rhythm. I also didn't kick very much, which slowed me down. I need to practice with the wet suit a bit more to get used to the added buoyancy. Having my legs higher made me feel like I didn't need to kick. I think I can knock several minutes off of this time with a little more OWS practice. That would have put me on the podium...

Transition was smooth. The biggest issue was people leaving the transition area at the same time and stopping to get on their bikes. It's no different from any other race though. I just ran my bike past them and did my running one-foot mount.

There were a couple of small hills (the steps) mid-way to the turnaround and another climb right before the turnaround. Nothing too bad, but it definitely slowed people down. I did my best to maintain a more constant power than I have in the past. I'm not sure if it helped or not, but figured I'd give it a shot. I was hoping to go sub-1 hr but just missed it. At the same time, I needed to save something for the run.

I should have pushed a little harder on the slower sections. There's a good mix of constant power and pushing a little on the hills that I need to find. With the downhill back to T2, it would have given me plenty of recovery time.

Nothing spectacular. Dropped my sunnys so I had to pick them up but aide from that it was a fairly good T2.

The run wasn't too bad. I felt pretty fresh after the bike, but was dreading the 1.2 mile climb up that hill. I took it pretty easy on the hill climb, trying not to burn myself out. It ended up going pretty well overall. I think the course was a little short.

I'm close enough to the course that I could probably have run that hill a few times. The actual change in elevation is only a few hundred feet. Knowing that, I could have pushed it harder up the hill. As it was, I was scared of it. Instead of attacking it, I went slow and steady up it.

Hung out with my teammate, met Bryan and chatted a little bit, gathered my stuff and watched the awards ceremony.


Swimming practice with a wetsuit and running. I need to learn to push myself harder, particularly on the run. As I get more confidence with the distance I think I'll be able to push harder without being afraid of blowing up.


The organizers do a good job. I wish they hadn't closed transition earlier than advertised, but it wasn't a big deal. It's a fun race.