This was a very confident swim. As soon as the steamship blew its horn I was completely ready to go. I don't know if it was from holding my breath for a dozen or so strokes warming up, or if I'm just used to it. I felt very powerful, and even my forearms were feeling the burn. I never felt burn without being out of breath before.

Navigating was crap. I zig zagged a lot. We could navigate on either side of the buoys, and I think that allowed me to get sloppy. As long as I could see that there were other people near me I figured I was doing okay. But I was almost always on the outside, and the buoys were always changing sides when I was looking up. I wish I had a GPS track to prove this (and maybe get an accurate estimate of what my ACTUAL speed was), but the boat horn was too loud for me to be able to hear whether the GPS started or not.

It's also possible that the tinted goggles might not have been the best bet for visibility. I had trouble finding buoys. Or maybe I was just rushing too much.

Drafting was difficult. I would see some bubbles, try to follow them, but then I'd either bump them, or one of us would go off in another direction (probably me). Carp. But the times it worked it was brilliant. Seemed to almost have more of an effect than drafting on the bike (obviously from group rides). There was almost TOO MUCH room on the swim.

I'm going to have to compare this directly to my last sprint. From 29:05 to 16:50 (3:53/100m to 2:15/100m).

Take a little more time to properly navigate. I'm sure I must have done at least an extra 50m, possibly more.

All in all I'm VERY happy with this swim. Personal best in a race, but that was expected.

At least my heels didn't get that stuck this time. I was quicker in the transition area, everything was set up properly and went on properly. No problems with my helmet, number belt or GPS.

I ran with the bike and hopped on great. But I regressed and completely forgot how to put my feet on top. I lost two places dragging my shoes on the ground. However, I DID make them up soon enough.

Yes, I don't care, I'm still going to rank myself in what I do best. 7/25 in age group, 28/264 overall. W00t!

It helped to visualize the transition, but maybe I should put some thought into visualizing my shoes. FTR, it's about time to replace those or creatively duct tape them to last the rest of the season.

This was an absolute blast. Sorta.

It was very different coming from a good swim. The calibre of cyclists was much much higher. There were no easy passes. I was passed by a few hardcore tri biked guys, but I definitely passed enough people to make progress.

I kept my passing maneuver from the last race, but I enhanced it by pushing harder up the hills, especially when getting close to the top. Some youtube video said to try it, and that was where I was able to make most passes. In fact it worked so well that when I forgot my strategy and pushed down a hill, I ended up getting passed by two of the same guys going up. We had a pretty good battle going on.

Unfortunately on the way back my nutrition caught up to me. I definitely took too much. I ate a bagel and had about a full scoop of Perpetuem on the way up (yes, not the ideal nutrition for a sprint, but I'm testing nutrition on the way to the event). Then as soon as I got up to speed I squirted some Hammer Gel. Too much apparently.

The Hammer Gel sat in my esophagus, threatening to come right back up. I tried to wash it down with water, but since it's just a sprint I only had one bottle. The harder I pushed the worse it felt. I was debating turning my head to puke a little, but that's just a little ridiculous. And I was worried that would make me dizzy and force me to stop, or worse fall.

During the ride and into the run I could feel those squirts of gel just push its way through my GI system. Not cool. Near the end of the ride I nearly drowned on my water bottle. I was pushing too hard and forgot how to involuntarily swallow. Hardcore!

Compared to my last sprint: From 40:54 to 38:11 (29.3 km/h to 31.4 km/h).

Train harder. Less nutrition. Get actual gel packets to properly meter how much I'm taking in at once.

Funny, if every transition is listed as "below average," wouldn't that make those the average?

The run in was okay, but I forgot where my spot was. I saw all these empty racks and I was thinking "wow, I really smoked a lot of people this time." Then I ran past my bag (my yellow bag blended in with the yellow swim caps left everywhere), and had to backtrack.

Everything went on smoothly though. T2 almost seems too easy... I know I'm forgetting something but I have no idea what.

16/25 in age group, 104/264 overall

Leave a spongebob towel on the ground or something. Maybe a hot pink one.

It was still a little hard to get any water in my system with the Hammerball working its way down my GI tract combined with my disabled swallow reflex.

I know you're not supposed to use new shoes in a race, but these ones felt phenomenal (and for 5k does it really matter)? I think Dr. Miyagi said something to the effect of "get new shoes or I'm going to murder you in your sleep. First I'll use chloroform to make sure you don't wake up, then I'll scalp you." I think. Or it might have been "maybe when your shoes wear out you should possibly think about something with a little less stability." Tomato tomato.

It kinda sucks that running has to be about pain management, but it was managed, more or less. My right ankle was just repaired on Friday, it was pretty sore on Saturday (in different places though), and then today it was pretty decent for the first couple km. It hurt after that, but not enough to affect my gait. So I'll call that a success.

My IT band was pretty sore by the 3k mark. But it was a different style of pain. It DID come on a little harder during descents, but it doesn't usually do that. I'm going to have to attribute this to having the ITB strap too tight. It was also on under my wetsuit (and on the ride), and it was actually a little sore even before doing anything. The pain subsided as soon as I stopped. Five minutes after I actually felt better after this race than any other.

My right quad and hamstring have been a little tight/sore the past week, and they continued about the same after the race. A little sore, but at least they haven't gotten worse.

The run was pretty hot, and I definitely got passed. But I only got passed by maybe a half- to full-dozen people. I felt bad for the girl doing the duathlon who I passed (my single kill on the run), because when I got ahead of her I heard her sigh pretty loudly. She hated her life at that point.

At about the 4k mark I did get a bit of a runners' high. I realized that I was totally killing my last sprint, and my head went crazy. It was enough to get me to run pretty hard at the end (redlining my HR in the process), but I managed to keep my head together enough to avoid chasing the end-of-the-race sprinters. Whatever, sprint away... you didn't push as hard as me during the rest of the run. :P

Compared to my last sprint: From 32:43 to 28:53 (6:11/km to 5:47/km).

Maybe leave the IT band strap for JUST the run. Maybe if I remember where my bike is there will be a net zero effect.

Also I'd learn to run faster. And train longer. And and and. Still this was just a hair off my fastest run ever. And this was definitely my fastest run over 3.7k. So eff yeah!

Oh yeah. Caught my breath. Swallowed. Stretched a bit. Walked to the food tent.


Nothing! I'm officially a MOPer!

But if I'm going to go faster, as usual I need to improve the bike and swim. But this time I was firmly MOP (overall, if not in my age group) with both. This is freaking huge. It looks like working on the running would be much more beneficial though. Now I see what some people say how the race is won in the run. Crap. I wish I loved running.

I think this proves that officially I'm in the best shape I've ever been. I've been smaller, I've been faster and capable of much longer distances on the bike, but overall this is by far tops. Awesome.

I really think I'm starting to enjoy the shorter races like this. I really really want to do a half iron this fall, but why should I use up all the most awesome accomplishments in one year? Maybe it would make more sense to savour every step. If I was only training for a half-iron, I probably wouldn't have done this race. And if I never did this race I never would have had an awesome personal best. Something to think about at least.


Love love loved this swim. Great venue. Great crowd. Not too busy (it was capped at 300), and as always the people who show up at these Multisport events are super supportive and awesome. Best vibe ever. Everyone gets cheered on like they're a superstar. I hate to admit, but even though I know a lot of it is forced it's still really motivating when you're in the thick of it.

Of course the event was very well run. I love the turnout for the awards ceremony. I can't put a finger on exactly why they attract the type of crowd they do, but whatever it is it's working.