OMG, that was hard. I haven't been in the pool much except to teach my kids to swim lately. I hung back a little to avoid the crowd, but still ended up bumping into people some. Between that break in my rhythm and the fact that I was unprepared, I was hypoxic very quickly. Eventually switched to backstroke as "temporary" recovery, but never managed sustained crawl. Veering all over the lake, probably swam an extra 100m. At least they didn't have to drag the lake for my body.

Train, maybe? I've heard some people find it helpful.

No wetsuit. I don't currently have decent tri shoes. I did this race in Teva-style SPD sandals, which I put on on the ground. I was very shaky and weak from my ordeal in the lake, and doubted whether I could really complete the race. Dropped my helmet, and almost dropped the whole bike... My wife shouted to me to just get on the bike and spin, which was the best advice I could have gotten.

I'd like to get a decent shoe setup. Maybe skip the gloves, even though I feel naked riding without them.

Stayed in my tuck well, kept speed & cadence up. Didn't get passed on the bike, but a little disappointed with my time. I think the reason it was slower than expected is that the hill came just after T1 and I wasn't recovered from the swim yet. Mentally, I was afraid to push too hard after being challenged so badly by the swim.

I need to use a drinking system on the bike. I didn't drink enough because of the issue of breaking the tuck to get a bottle. On the other hand, I was pretty well hydrated from the swim ;^)

Again, the sandals were a mediocre substitute for tri shoes. Gloves sucked up a couple seconds. Shoes on smoothly. Things were definitely looking up at this point.

Had some blisters on the run, so maybe I should be using socks?

I started to get pretty hot & winded on the hills, but even untrained I can handle a 5k without too much trouble. Got done with the climbing the best I could, stretched it out and tried to pull the time back down.

Pick a different triathlon? For my first race after a long hiatus, this was a poor choice, as the course was very challenging and didn't play to my strengths. I think I could have run a disproportionately faster 5k on a flat course.

Water. A little jogging. Needed a T-shirt for sun protection, but didn't have one.


Base training and swim training. Not necessarily in that order. I'm proud that I got myself back under control after that abysmal swim, but I'm not proud of other aspects of the performance. I'd like to do this race 10 or 15 pounds lighter and see what affect that had on my bike & run times.


There should have been water stations near the tops of the hills - some of the Clydes and Athenas were really having a hard time with the run, and it was hot by then.

It was unclear where the post-race stuff was, and there wasn't much fluid available when I finally found the tent.

Judging from my experience, I would not return to this race. However, the area is under construction and should be finished by next year. It might be a lot easier to organize when the construction is over.

Also, see my run notes regarding the unsuitability of this race as a beginner course.