MTS Olympic Distance Triathlon

My plan was just to get some glorified speed work, and not treat this like a race. I just started riding my TT bike again last weekend, and not being used to the more aggressive position really tightened the right sight of my body.  I had trouble bending over and walking all week, good thing it was recovery/exercise week.  By race day, I was feeling about 95% normal.  I did the race sans aero helmet and race wheels; the only fast thing was my Team BSR race kit, and well, that alone was good enough for the W in my age-group.  Here's a break down of what went well, and of what needs improvement: 

Things that went well
• Swimming in a Sailfish wetsuit again, this wetsuit is easy to get on/take off and is damn fast!  Thanks Kara!
• My run, including running off the bike, is much further along than I thought.
• Using the Extreme Endurance tablets Charisa gave me to sample, no cramping for my first race of the season, a rarity for me.
• The Vega One (chai latte flavor is particularly good) smoothie mix I used race morning.
• Camping and racing with my high school triathlon team.
• My roommate from college teaching himself to swim and train for his first triathlon at the age of 41.
• The pre-race scoop of bittersweet chocolate ice cream in a waffle cone.

Things that need improvement
• More threshold/speedwork training, I just couldn't go there and when I tried, I couldn't stay there for too long.
• Too often I found myself thinking, "when is this going to end?", and though I corrected it, and answered with, "I'll go as long as I need to until the end.", I want to improve my racing state of mind.
• No pre-race dinners at taquerias where the guacamole is glowing and the ingredient reads, this contains 2% avocados.
• Do not pull the crotch of my wetsuit up too high, especially for cold water swims.  If turtling is when your penis crawls inside, what is it called when your testicles crawl up inside your abdomen?  This has happened to me before in cold water swims.  Both of my testicles ascend up into my abdomen, and hurts like...well, NUTS!  The entire swim, I could barely kick because it hurt so bad. But the worst pain was yet to come, running to T1 with ascended testicles.  I seriously thought I was going to pass out, because with each step, it felt like someone was punching me in the balls.  Ironically, I think this made me run faster because I just wanted to get to T1 to push those puppies back down!  I was second out of the water in my wave so lots of fans were cheering and watching me, how funny it must have looked when the first thing I did was to stuff my hands down my wetsuit, and then have this huge look of relief come over my face.  Priceless, you gotta love triathlon racing.