We paired up based on times, and the girl next to me told me she purposely overstated her time and that I would pass her immediately. Which was true.

But wow, I zig-zagged all over the place, to the point that my family all commented on it after the race. There was no one to draft, because my swimming "partner" was much slower. I kept sighting, and kept seeing that I was off course. It was extremely frustrating.

Had to dip into the breast stroke every now and then because I was getting flustered over being off course. I need to practice relaxing more. However, when I was in the groove, I was really in the groove. The last 300 meters or so flew by -- largely because I was finally able to swim in a straight line.

I need to practice open water swimming more. I also need to learn how to still be able to swim amidst getting flustered.

This was by far my best transition in the history of the sport - largely because I wanted it to be part of the race, and not a break. It's odd coming back to triathlon; I'm so much more competitive than I used to be. I'm no longer meandering through the transitions, out of breath from the sports.

Nothing -- I'm very happy with my performance.

I knew that this would be my fastest bike time ever -- I had put in the miles finally. And honestly, I'm surprised it was even this fast. Biking is my weakest sport by far. However, I focused on spinning the whole time, and that seemed to work. Overall, my effort was about 80 percent.

I couldn't figure out how to drink on the bike. Luckily, even during the run I didn't get thirsty, but this will have to change for next time.

Again, sped through the transition because I viewed it as part of the race. I struggled a little with the bike, but my shoes and helmet flew off, and my running shoes flew on. It was great.

Nothing.

Wow - this run. I had read on BT that it would be hilly, but I didn't figure that would matter that much. After all, I'd trained on hills. Still, it was a tough run. I passed a few people; I only remember getting passed once.

Annoyingly, I forgot to sing the song I had planned when climbing that first long hill. But I was so in the zone, I barely noticed the "official" race music blaring. After mile 1, I just wanted to finish. The last mile became a battle to fight against the urge to stop. But I made it through. The last part is downhill, and I kept trying to go faster, but my legs literally wouldn't move more quickly.

Oh well, I nailed the pace that I had planned (6:50 per mile).

I'm not sure. Perhaps practice sprints more, so that my legs are used to moving very quickly when fatigued.

Walked around after the race and ate food.


Training. I only had two months to train for this, from basically being a couch potato for two months. I also didn't incorporate a lot of speedwork because I was so focused on endurance. It would have helped to have clocked a few more interval sessions.


This is a great course. It's hilly, but SetUp Events always does a fantastic job putting on triathlons.