There was an elite wave which was targeted to athletes who expected a swim time of 5 minutes or less. I stayed with wife and hung back while a line formed and athletes entered the water every 2 seconds or so. A nicely organized start. In hindsight, I should have pushed forward. A volunteer was calling for athletes to enter based on estimated time. When I heard them say '8-9 minutes" I decided I needed to move forward, as I was still a ways away from the start.

I'm glad I entered when I did. I spent the entire swim passing people. If i was in an earlier entry, I may have had more clean water. That said, it was pretty easy to navigate and the athletes were spaced enough that I encountered little traffic, except for the final buoy. Getting out of the water earlier would have probably helped as I would have had a better idea of what lap other athletes were on.

The swim was definitely right at 500 yards, which put my rate at about 1:48/100.

Swim 5/23 in AG

Enter the water earlier.

I had 2nd fastest T1 in my AG, so it went pretty well. Not much to change. I didn't see many shoes banded to bikes (like mine) but I was not racked near the elite wave bikes. I hopped on my bike and climbed the first hill with my feet on top of my shoes. I had some trouble getting my left foot in, but nothing too unusual. I've learned that it's a waste of time to focus too much on getting the shoes right until you've picked up speed. Lots of people create a bottle neck at the bike start jacking around with shoes. I rode without shoes, as usual for a shorter distance.

T1 2/23 in AG

I was not in a prime transition spot, so I could have shaved a few seconds.

Here's where things went bad. I climbed the hill and settled in. My plan was to go and a strong pace for the first half and then hammer the 2nd half of the race and go into T2 to test my tired legs.

I spent the first several miles riding through traffic. I saw one of the Bannana Hammock guys sitting on the side of the road. I found out later he was hit by a deer!

About 8-9 minutes through the bike, I climbed a short hill and was passed by another bananna team member (Jon). I bumped into him a few weeks ago while on a lunch run and a few years ago I ran with him for a short bit at KC Tri. Since he passed me, and I figured I'd hold his wheel for a while and see how things went. His pace was fine and I thought maybe he knew the course....plus at KC Tri a few years ago running with him picked me up when I was struggling, so I felt a positive vibe. I road on his wheel for a while (out of the draft zone!! ) when I decided I needed to pick up the pace. I thought about chatting with him a few times, but never did. I decided to make my pass, and this is where things went wrong.

Evidently, as I was thinking things through, I did not pay well attention to the street markings or the volunteers. I made a right turn, thinking I was following the correct "loop". (I still wasn't sure what was the correct course). I made the turn, and immediately thought I got it wrong. I saw Jon going straight (he was on his 2nd lap I found out later). At the turn, there is a short hill. I rode to the top and stopped. I looked around and saw no one. Another rider came up and I told him I thought I went the wrong way. He said, "this is the way if you're finishing up". I knew I wasn't finishing, because I hadn't done the loop. So, pulled a U-turn and headed back. I put my head down and hammered it hoping I'd catch the riders who surely passed my on the mistake.

As I turned up the power, I soon came to the big descent. I was looking for the turnaround (to do the big hill again, as the lady in the swim corrall was talking about) but quickly figured out I had screwed up big time. I rode into transition and dismounted. I told a volunteer that I only did one lap, and asked her how to get back. I contemplated riding the entire course again, but, didn't know what to do. The volunteer didn't know anything about the bike course and there was nothing to do anyway. I walked into T2 and contemplated quitting. I was DQ'd and there was no point.

Understand the bike course. In looking at my GPS data, it's very clear what I was supposed to do. The bottom line is that it is the athlete's responsibility to know the course and I didn't.

Basically, I walked into transition and stood around. In looking at the time, I'm not sure how I beat several people in T2, as I literally stood there frustrated, trying to decide what to do.

Nothing. Normally I would try for a T2.

So at the start of the run, I walked. Then I saw my friend who was there cheering on his wife. Before starting the first hill, I stopped to chat with him. My Garmin shows I was stopped for a little over a minute. At that point, I didn't care. I started running up the hill and tried to get into a groove. Since my run is my weakest leg, at some point I decided to stop pouting and just run. I started feeling good and got a boost when I looked at my watch and saw my current pace was in the 7's. That's fast for me, and I felt fine, so I kept with it. I turned in a pretty good run.

The run ends with a good half mile down hill. I ran well when I was caught by two young ladies. I could tell the were battling it out. Since I knew I had cheated, they were certainly in contention for their AG win. As they got close, I stretched out ahead of them about a 5 feet. I could hear them grunting and fighting each other. They were shoulder to shoulder, and for some reason i decided to exit their battle. I slowed a bit while they kicked it. As they crossed the finish line, an event photographer grabbed them for a photo and told them "this will be for our magazine". They embraced and took the photo. I was glad I stayed back. No one was looking for a final battle between two young fit girls and a 38 year old fat guy.

Run 12/23 in AG

Run from the beginning. I was relatively pleased with my run, considering the circumstances. I'm eager for next week's race to test my legs in a similar short race.

I cheered on wife and a few other friends. Jamie was having a hard time. She was sick and not fit to race. I saw here on my descent as she was climbing the hill for the first time. She started to walk and I could tell she was not well, but she was battling. After she finished, we got some chocolate milk, talked to a few folks and headed home.


I was not prepared for this race. I joked that this was my least prepared race. That lack of preparation cost me. Overall, I had a pretty good race and wish it would have been legal, because I would have placed fairly high in my AG (for me). Next week, I'll be more prepared! (and the course is more basic, so no confusion!)


Very good event! My only gripe is the pre-race communication. While they had regular announcements on Facebook, I know of several direct communications that were ignored. This was disappointing. Overall, I felt the race went very well and was well organized.

A fine event that I'm glad I competed in. I just wish I had prepared myself better.