This was my best triathlon swim ever. I won my heat by :37. The water was very calm, but some waves did kick up just before my heat hit the water. I tried to run through it, but lost my footing in the first one, stumbled, and just started swimming like a beast in foot-deep water while others ran alongside me. As far as I can tell, I pulled away from everyone within the first thirty seconds and never saw them again. I tried to stay a bit to the right of the buoy because of the current and thought someone fast was on my left, but I must've just seen a lifeguard because I got to the buoy first, bumped into it with my left shoulder and turned around it. I sighted the buoys really well, just skimming each one, and really cruised through the swim. I had expected to take it back a bit once I got into clear water, but that didn't happen and I was able to keep up the pace pretty well - a pace that MUST have been faster than I've been doing in the pool. I was a little disoriented as I rounded the last buoy because I couldn't see the flags on shore and didn't know what to aim at, but I just kept going until my hand hit bottom and, it turned out, was right on track (I also had some people from the previous heat straggling in near me, so I figured I was on course). Unfortunately, I don't know my real swim time because, from there, I had to run all the way up the beach, up the stairs onto the boardwalk and over it into transition to hit the timer. I assume I was on a 1:20 or better pace. I was really flying. I was a bit dizzy and disoriented upon getting out of the water, probably because my pace was so quick, but it was totally worth it.

(I should also mention that this was my first-ever ocean swim, which I was really nervous about. Up until now, I'd only chosen races in lakes because I didn't know how to deal with ocean waves. I guess that didn't bother me once I got in there . . .)

A little more space around the buoys - I really don't need to run into them. Sight flags on shore better.

This transition was ok. Disoriented and dizzy coming out of the swim meant disoriented and dizzy in transition. I got in there and felt a bit lost when I got to my stuff (I guess practicing transitions would help there), but since I got out of there pretty quickly, I guess it went well.

Have a plan. I didn't know what to do first and my hesitation showed.

I didn't recover from the swim until at least 8 min into the bike. I felt like I couldn't find a comfortable gear and kept switching between my 2-gears. Eventually, I decided that I'd stick with a gear that hurt a bit. I think I built into it, because I didn't feel so bad by the end and clearly went fast (for me). I was able to keep passing people all the way through to the finish.

I raised my bike seat by two inches just a few days ago. This has worked out brilliantly, because I feel like I am pedaling so much better, but it put an awful lot of strain on my legs (I was dead for the rest of the day after a short, easy ride on Wed). I think part of the reason the bike felt icky was because I'm not used to this yet. While it was a good decision, doing it a few weeks ago would have been better.

I came in and racked my bike well, but then forgot what I had to do. I looked around for my headband for a few seconds before realizing it was on my head (I'd decided to put it on under my helmet earlier so I could save time here . . . which didn't work). Then I had trouble getting my watch off my bike and onto my wrist (which I could have been working on while running with the bike earlier). This was fairly quick, but I could shave it down even more.

Have a plan. Know where my stuff is.

I started out at an easy plod, which was all I could manage. The problem was that I really had to pee (I drank WAY too much before this race). I saw one bathroom and ran past it, thinking it was inappropriate for me to run off the course. I ended up really needing it by the end of the first mile, so I ran to another one I saw and, when the women's room was locked, used the men's. I felt much better after this and was able to relax into my pace. I don't feel like I ever ran particularly fast, but it was consistent. When we got down toward the end of the boardwalk, I was expecting to turn right around and really lost it mentally when I realized there were several turns ahead of me. I walked a few times here, though I didn't really need it physically - they were mental breaks. When I got back to the boardwalk, I was determined to run through to the finish, but I still stopped once for a few seconds' mental break. I picked up my pace well through the finish. Overall, though, this was a really good run - it beat the 5K I did a few weeks ago, and that was a stand-alone race!

Not drink so much before the race on such a cool day - while I only lost :45 in the bathroom, I was lucky there was one along the route at all, and needing it really threw off my pace beforehand. I'd also try and maintain a consistent running pace instead of stopping so much near the end. That was totally mental - I had a sense of where I had to go, realized I was wrong, and it was like the rug got pulled out from under me. If I'd gone over the course map beforehand, I would have known the route better and been prepared.

Walked around the area for 20 minutes or so, ate a banana, tried to eat a vegetable sub but it was terrible (just tomatoes, shredded lettuce, a bell pepper slice and a huge gob of cheese I didn't want). We stayed for some of the awards as well.


This was an awesome race, coming after a seven year layoff from the sport. I didn't feel great in parts, but I am overall very encouraged by how it went. More training would improve things, of course. Also, replacing my hybrid bike (which I have written in every race report I've ever filled out) would improve my bike leg tremendously.

Interestingly, although I was critical above of my transitions, they were my second best discipline today: I was ranked 236 in T1 and 198 in T2 (there are some benefits to not wearing a wetsuit and not having bike shoes and clip pedals). While I could do better, my current gear has me cruising through them pretty well, and it definitely allowed me to move up some places!