I'm finally confident enough in my swim to start near the front and not the back. However, my wave included AGs down to 30, so I got passed in the first 100m more than I expected. Tough rounding the first bouy because after that you're headed directly into the sun, which made sighting extremely difficult. Didn't help that I didn't wear my tinted goggles, but the sun was so bright I don't know if it would have made a difference. It would be great if they could modify the course to change that. Since it's such a short swim there's no room to get much separation, so trying to draft isn't worth the effort in my opinion.

Wear tinted goggles, try to start more towards the outside.

Easy with no wetsuit. Finally had a good day with getting my helmet on easily enough. It's an odd run-out because of a speed bump right before the mount/dismount line so you can't go full-boar (I learned this last year).

Nothing much. Maybe use rubber bands to keep the bike shoes upright and easier to get into when starting out.

I hate the road leading out and coming back in. After that, the loop portion is in good shape. Got into a solid rhythm - this was my first race focusing on cadence and letting everything else fall where it may. Succeeded with an avg 88rpm, right where I wanted, and my Garmin said I averaged 20.2mph. Can't ask for more. I was irritated on this one corner, though - all 3 times when I came into it (it's at the bottom of a hill) there was someone slower than me getting in the way. Every time they prevented me from hitting the apex of the curve, and I had to slow down and take it much wider than I wanted to. Every single time. It probably didn't cost me much, but the fact that it happened every time was frustrating.

Try to hit that corner faster and navigate the fellow competitors better.

A little late getting out and on top of my shoes, but better late than never. Hard to do a flying dismount because of the speed bump.

Start getting out of shoes a little bit sooner.

Overall very pleased. This was my first sprint course after doing an HIM (Kansas) 5 weeks prior. I did fall once coming around one of the trees on the grassy portion, but quickly got back up without any pain.Didn't feel like I was struggling at all, but didn't feel like I had my usual strong kick at the end. I ended up chasing down the guy who finished second in my AG but was just one second behind him at the end. If could have seen his calf and known his age, I probably would have found that extra kick!

Not hit the wrong button on my Garmin - I couldn't tell what my pace was because I hit something incorrectly. But that wasn't a bad thing - I ran by how I felt instead of what my watch told me.

Water, a banana, some stretching. Felt great.


Not doing sprint-focused distance training. Everything has been built around the two 70.3's I'm doing this summer. If I did more distance-appropriate training, I could probably compete in the elite division.


It's a nice sprint event. Non-sanctioned, which probably helps keep the cost down. That may also have something to do with it being a part of the Iowa Games. The post-race isn't anything to write home about, and the awards ceremony is not at all worth hanging around for - a simple podium would be nice. If I hadn't finished in the top 3, I would have headed out as soon as I could have gotten my bike out of transition. I'd be OK paying 10 or 15 bucks more if that would allow them to do a bit more.