Stonebridge Ranch - TriathlonOlympic

The gun went off and I sprinted as hard as I could. Somewhere around the first buoy I realized that my goggles were starting to fog up. Shit. This isn't good. Kept the pace up and moved to my right in order to take a shorter line and hook onto a pair of feet.

There was a group of 4 or 5 of us all together which made things easy. Settled into my pace and our group was wittled down to two after the first turn. Passed Shannon(swatson) and did my best to not hit her as we turned.

Now it was me and some guy's feet. I couldn't see anything out of my goggles when I tried to sight out of the water. So if I lost this pair of feet I was in trouble.

He had a tendency to veer off to the right and then make a quick correction when he realized it. So I would try to drift a bit to the left every 10 strokes or so and be waiting for him when he corrected.

Starting the 2nd lap someone put their hand on my back. I have no idea what that was about. I'm assuming it was one of the later waves waiting to start as we passed through the start again.

Still keeping up with my feet. The pace wasn't getting any slower but I felt very relaxed. My breathing had been great and was doing a really good job of drafting for a change. I don't think I've ever been able to stay with one person for this long before.

Finally we came around to the boat ramp and I could stand up and take my goggles off. Hey! The guy I was drafting off of was my buddy John! We came out of the water a second apart and were 4th and 5th in our wave.

Spit in my goggles.

Ran up the hill and came side-by-side with John. Thanked him for the draft and he laughed when he realized I had been the one bumping into his feet all day.

Did everything I could to keep from falling on my face as we came down the steep hill and settled into a more normal stride as we ran through the parking lot, around the tennis courts and finally into transition.

Sunglasses on, helmet on, run with bike.

Nothing. 3rd fastest T1.

Saw Coach Z directing traffic at the mount line and he gave me a cheer as I ran past. Got on my bike and up to speed quickly. Right shoe went on without a problem but the rubber band on my left shoe didn't want to break. Had to use the last of my flat ground reaching down to break it so I'd have to wait until after the first hill to get my foot in.

Spun my easy gear as we reounded the first corner and continued up hill. Had a roadie pass me at a good rate of speed. Finally the climbing stopped and I could put my other shoe on. The strap had come unthreaded and I had to tediously fix that first but finally got everything right and could go to work.

First lap was great. Light wind on Ridge Rd but nothing strong enough to really be a bother. Turned onto Eldorado and really picked up the speed. Caught the roadie and was really trying to push the pace.

Up the hill and he goes right past me again. Turn onto Stonebridge and I go right past him again. Figured this would be the last I'd see of him since this was the fastest road of the course and I was holding upper 20's with no problems.

Turn onto Virginia and start lap two. Had to yell at one woman for swinging out wide as she left transition but the course wasn't very crowded yet so it was all good.

Up the first hill again and get passed by the roadie. Okay, now I'm getting sick of this guy. Spun easy until the road flattened out and then dropped him for the last time.

Pretty much all the olympic racers were on course now and I had a lot more opportunity to draft. Everyone was strung out nicely so I could just hop from one person to the next and take full legal advantage of the situation.

Starting the 3rd lap things were not nearly as fun. Now all the sprinters were getting into the mix. Instead of enjoying the opportunity to draft I was pissed off. Now we had beginners riding on the left side of the road. Now I was yelling "LEFT!" every 10 or 15 seconds to get people out of my way.

I made no effort to move to the right. Just stayed as far to the left as I could and yelled as loud as I could. There was only one time that a girl wouldn't move and I had to cross into the next lane to get around. A moment later I got passed by my buddy Mikey. He was a killer cyclist so I wanted to try and use him as a pacer.

Turned the corner and saw Shannon up ahead. Gave her a "Leg Warmers!" cheer as I passed. She didn't look terribly happy so I wished her good luck in my head and tried to keep Mikey 5 or 6 bike lengths ahead.

Started the last lap and an older woman was confused on where to drive so she drove right onto the course. A cop of there yelling at her on his bullhorn but she was totally confused.

Up the first hill for the last time. Now the wind had picked up and it was definitely harder to get to that corner. Spun easy up the hills and before getting to hammer down Stonebridge for the last time.

Got out of my shoes and coasted into transition.

Nothing. This was a solid ride and my only mistake was with my shoe as the start.

Hopped off my bike at the line and went into a full sprint. Picked my bike up to go over the curb into transition. Unclipped my helmet as I ran before throwing my bike on the rack. Luckily I was on the first rack for non-elites. Having your coach as the RD is fun.

Helmet off, shoes on, grabbed my visor and race belt and put them on as I ran. Saw Craig(docshock1964) at the back of transition as I headed out.

Nothing. Tied for 3rd fastest T2.

Started out passing people through the tennis courts. Eased the pace a bit on the first hill. My HR was already at the high end of my race pace so I didn't need to kill myself on the hills.

My goal was to make this the first run where I didn't run a single step. I just kept repeating the word pull. Over and over again, "Pull. Pull. Pull." All I had to do was lift my ankle, lean forward and fall down. There is no pushing off your back leg. Running is a highly coordinated act of falling down.

Dropped through a tunnel and ran up a hill onto Ridge Rd. Started to pick up the pace as the road flattened and kept my HR just below my threshold. Started to see the sprint leaders coming back in.

Passed the 5K turn around and suddenly the course was very empty. There were two guys ahead of me but there was no one else in sight and certainly no one coming back the other way.

A few minutes later we ran up Stonebridge and I could see the race leader. He was extremely pasty and no wearing much clothing. HOLY SHIT THAT'S JACOB! Passed each other near the aid station and yelled out that he had 15 seconds on 2nd place. Holy shit, he could win!

Made the last turn before we headed back and I had 3 guys ahead of me and directly in my sights. At the turn around I grabbed two cups of water and passed all three guys who decided to walk.

Next up was my buddy Mikey so he was my new pacer. Came down to the last 2 miles and John finally caught me. I was shocked that I kept up with him in the water and I knew he'd get me on the run, it was just a matter of when.

Up the last long hill and I was starting to run out of gas. Just hold on. Just lift your ankle. Over this hill and it's the last mile. Time check: damn! I'm on pace for 2:15!

Started the last mile with my HR easily above my threshold. This hurt. I couldn't get enough oxygen. Nothing else mattered. Just hold on and it will all be over soon.

Rounded the last few turns and saw the finish chute. Nothing could have possibly looked better at that moment. Crossed the timing mats and hunched over to catch my breathe. Made it just a hair under 2:15.

My run form still needs more work, but this was a very difficult course and I was a minute faster than my previous best on a flat 10K. So I'm headed in the right direction.

Grabbed a bottle of water and looked for Jacob. Found him by transition and congratulated him on the win. Dropped my stuff off and then searched out the other BTers.

Hung out was watched Shannon come in off the bike. Stretched in the sun and then headed off to find some food. From there is was hanging out with everyone and having a good time.

Saw Shannon finish her first oly before going to transition to pack up my stuff and ride back to Derek and Laurie's.


This was about as good of a race as I've ever put together. I was strong in all three sports, transitions were flawless; this is as good of a race as I can run right now.


Awesome day. The course was great and the new transition setup seems to work really well. Coach Z did a great job putting this together.