I think I got a little ahead of myself, thinking I would be able to completely dominate the swim from beginning to end. I forgot that 400m is not exactly a 50m sprint, and some sort of pacing would be required. I went out super hard, dolphin diving, and pushing as hard as I possibly could. I was leading the race for the first 75m or so, until I started to lose my breath and doubt whether I'd be able to get around all the people from the wave before me. The punch in the face didn't help much either.

I still managed to hold on, and I kept up reasonably well. If my navigation had been better in the last section I would have been able to keep myself in third place, instead of dropping back to fourth.

Overall it was a pretty good swim.

Pace myself.

Best T1 ever! I've got it on video, and despite my suit getting stuck on my wrists and ankles, it was great. It was also my best flying mount. I got right on, and nothing dragged on the ground. If I had elastics holding up my shoes it would have been absolutely perfect. I had the second fastest T2 in my age group, and I gained 3 positions. I left T1 leading my age group.

Lube up my ankles and wrists a little better.

This wasn't a bad bike, but it wasn't particularly good either. I managed to hold on to the lead up until the turnaround, when the leader caught me and passed. I tried to hold on to him as long as I could, but my heart rate was soaring. Every time I checked it was in the mid- to high-180 range. I tried to let off a bit to give myself some time to recover, but I was feeling too inspired to let go. I kept pushing.

During one of my heart rate checks I ended up dropping my Garmin. I hadn't mounted it to the bike, so when I reached to grab it out of my pocket it just flew out. Looking back at the video it looks like I only lost 30 seconds and one place. But in a try-a-tri 30 seconds is a hell of a lot of time.

Coming around the final turn I got cocky and jumped a speed bump. I dropped my chain. I spent about a minute trying to finesse it back on. I debated coasting the rest of the way in, but I managed to get it back on with barely enough time to take my feet out of my shoes. I lost another place there.

Secure my GPS and not be so damn cocky.

Best T2 ever! My dismount was brilliant. I flew in and caught the two guys who had just passed me a minute earlier. Even though my T2 was only the 5th fastest, I still gained a place. I was in 3rd when I exited for the run.

Nothing at all actually.

My heart rate was way too high for this. I tried running the entire distance, but I wasn't able to keep it up. I walked up the first hill, and the rest of the time was spent walk/running.

I still had a few great games of leapfrog. I was running more or less the same pace as the guy who ended up in seventh place. He had passed me a couple times, but about 700m or so from the finish I went for it. I passed him and a swack of other people and finished up really strong. I could hear people yelling "don't let him catch you—don't slow down now!"

He didn't catch me.

My heart rate during the final sprint was topped out at 200 bpm. It has never been that high, even when I tried a max HR test a few years ago. I'm surprised I lived through it.

Possibly pace myself a bit better so I would have been able to run the entire distance.

Dropped to the ground and splashed water all over myself. Pretty much it.


Mostly mental errors—pacing, sloppiness, and lack of focus. My running could have been much better, but considering my injury I think it wasn't too bad.