went well enough at the beginning-I took a wide left being in the third/last wave on the left side of the buoys and went slowly into the water; drafted well in the first half but when we turned I got kicked VERY hard by a 'breast stroker'...ouch and ouch...took my breath away and had to get control of everything but was able to pull it together-whew...

every swim has adventure for me

avoid the 'side kick' from the martial artist disguised as a swimmer

very slow transition as it was rainy and there was no carpet during the run up from the water-got a few rocks in the heel which slowed me to a walk...

easily found bike but made tactical error being near the run exit not the bike exit and that cost some time; also decided on socks at the last minute but they were soaked so that was a mistake also

lots of clogged up riders at the bike mount and I carried my bike right past them and jumped on hearing the announcer claim 'that's how you do it!!!'

terrible time for transition with an OA ranking of 145

pick a spot for my transition closer to the bike exit/entrance
go without socks in a sprint

pushed hard right from the start and since I was in the last wave and I'm not that strong a swimmer, I felt like the entire field was out there...and I passed hundreds on the bike but because there are a lot of first timers (who drift towards the middle a lot) and it was wet and conditions were sloppy, I was cautious

despite that, I almost went off the side of the road twice-once when someone just cut me off on a corner to the right and they drifted over to the left leaving me no space at all and another when I was hard on the brakes trying to slow down quickly enough--clearly my own fault

the hilly course sapped my energy and I wish I could have had more in the tank to push the hills harder--I did my best hammering the slight downhills and caught many people in clumps on these sections

make a sacrifice to the weather gods ahead of time...

well, nothing really, except train more...you had to be careful out there and I'm still woefully underexperienced in sprint tri racing

a bit better in this transition despite the fact I took off my wet socks and ran with no socks which took a few more seconds

OA T2 time was 106th

nothing really

surprising execution and I'm pleased but still think I could do much better on the run with better fast/brick training

had to slow down on the last mile as my left calf starting to pull again and I was afraid of an DNF so I did not push as hard on the last 1/2 mile as I could have

not have a calf injury 1.5 weeks prior to this race

my own iced towel and a very cold Newcastle Ale


weather, injury, training-in that order


I like the open transition area and the relaxed nature of the event with lots of support. It is a good time and everything goes quickly. Mid week races are tough travel-wise and this was one with a big turnout and I'm impressed by that.

There were an awful lot of triathlete's in my AG that were VERY fast. 9 out of the first 33 racers were 50-54M. (#8 in my AG ran 1:09)

Wow. The old guys like this race. I'm going to have to train a bit harder to catch these guys.