I hate starting the swiwm without any swim warmup. It's just much harder for me to get into a rhythm. I knew it would take me a while to settle in which it did. I decided to start out on the far left to see if I could get some clean water. Problem was I started a little too far left and may have added 40M as a result because I took the first turn pretty wide. Once I got around the first turn I got into a great rhythm. With about 400M to go a guy passed me but we ended up swimming side by side for a while. I figured I'd let him go ahead and draft him for the last 400M. If I pushed it I might finish a few seconds ahead of him but I figured I'd conserve the energy.

Except for the first turn I'm pretty happy with this swim. It's always much nicer swimming with the wetsuit. :-)

Real happy with this transition. It's a long run from the water to your bike and then from your bike to the mount line. No problem getting my wetsuit off. Put my sunglasses on, put my helmet on and I was running to mount line. I had my shoes on my bike and was able to get my feet in them much better than the first time I tried it a couple weeks ago at The Rookie.



Real happy with this transition as it was the 2nd fastest in my age group and the person that had a faster T1 was only 1 second faster.

I didn't feel great the first lap but settled in nicely for laps 2-4. I felt like I never went all out on the bike as I wanted to leave something for the run. I had one guy pass me on the bike and he ended up winning our age group. BUT, that one guy that passed me, Bib #827 was a real a--hole. He was passing people on the right, then swurving back left to pass people there only to go back around people on the right. I don't know if 827 is a BTer but if you're reading this you have to learn how to ride a bike. Had he he just clipped someones wheel we would've all been done.

I admit I constantly yell "on your left" when I'm riding as I at least want to warn people I'm coming. I don't yell to be a jerk, I'm just trying to be safe. I also have to confess I was yelling at 827 and calling him an a--hole because he needs to learn how to ride.

I'll be the first to admit this bike course is very packed but passing on the right when riders are 3-4 deep is just asking for trouble.

I'm happy with this ride. Pushed hard enough to have good speed but left plenty in the tank for the run.

I'm guessing this is my T2 time. Once again my chip did not pick up my transition. 1:50 would be the 2nd fastest transtion in my age group so I figure this is a good round number.

Got out of my shoes on the bike. Racked bike. Put shoes and hat on. Grabbed race belt and I was off.

This is my best guess at my running time since the official time also includes my T1. It's possible I was faster than this if my T2 was longer than I thought. Initially, I was disappointed with my run time when I saw it because I felt like I had a better run. Then when I saw it included T2 I was happier.

As for the run, I changed my nutrition strategy as I've battled side stitches the last couple Olympics after taking a Gu with 30 minutes left on the bike. I decided I just can't digest food at this heart rate. So I figured for a 2 hour race I'd just take Gatorade on the bike and water on the run. This strategy worked well for me.

I felt strong right out of transition, but at mile 3 I started to feel that ugly feeling that is a cramp in my right hamstring. I had to back off a little and shorten my strides. I knew I was one wrong step away from having to stop to work it out. The change in stride along with grabbing as much water as possible at all the stations worked and the twinge started to go away.

I wasn't sure where I was in my age group coming off the bike but I knew I was close to placing. I passed a couple in my age group in the first 2 miles but then didn't see anyone else until mile 4. He was running at a decent pace but I was pushing to catch him. He stopped for fluids at the aid station and I ran by him. I knew he wouldn't catch me. The next 40-44 I saw was with about a mile to go on the Congress bridge. I passed him and he yelled at me to finish strong and I knew I'd leave him behind as well because there was no way I was letting up the last mile.

As it turns out the last 2 guys I passed finished 3 and 4 in my age group and I beat them by 17 and 31 seconds.

Again, I'm happy with the run. I had to back off a little bit when I started feeling the cramp coming on but I think this was a pretty decent run.

Just grabbed pizza and Gatorade and hung out for a while. I guess the only advantage of being the last wave is you don't have to wait to get back into transition.


This was my 2nd CapTex. The first year was rained out and last year I had just come off injury and only had 3 weeks of training prior to the race. Although I was injured again November - January I was able to get 3 solid months of training in prior to the race. My base is defintely there with the IM training I did last year and it's good to see progress in all 3 disciplines.


I've only done this race 2 years now but it has yet to start on time. The website was never up to date and had multiple versions of wave times. The venue is absolutely great but it comes with a price. The bike course is brutally packed and they really need to have some marshalls out there as everyone rides to the left, and you already know about people passing on the right.

I doubt I'll be doing this race next year as I'm not sure I'll be fully recovered from IM St George. I'm hoping I'll need to be getting fully recovered after St George so that I can get ready for another IM in October. :-)