Loveland Lake to Lake - TriathlonOlympic

My Goal was to get out of the water in about 29 minutes. I have a lot of work to do…

The water was cold. The swim started out with a 200 yard sprint to the first buoy before turning left for a good 700 yards. It was a washing machine near the buoy but I hung tough and didn’t let it get to me. After the turn I got into a groove and felt strong. At the turn I felt like I was doing ok and headed out for another 300 yard stretch to the final turn. The water was pretty choppy and crowded; I just kept my groove and hoped that I was swimming at a strong pace. It was tough to tell but I could see a lot of silver swim caps so I figured that I wasn’t the slowest guy out there. When I finally hit the beach I looked at my watch and I was disappointed but charged the ¼ mile run to transition. I got my wetsuit to my waist and it fell to mid thigh and it made it difficult to run so I pulled it back up. At least my wetsuit was going to come off with ease!


I'm working a little harder at my swim. I need some coaching. I might be ready to accept some. I’m tired of having to make up so much time on the bike and run. The top guys in my AG are 8-10 minutes faster than me in the water and it is not fair!

A fast transition, but I was a little frantic and wasted a few seconds locating my bike.

Mark my bike area

Today’s race was defined by my bike. I really rode well and managed the 6th fastest ride overall. Out of T2 I heard some weird sound and I thought my rear tire rolled off the rim. Luckily it was my cheapo spare tubular; I hit a speed bump and it fell off… I didn’t know I lost it until after the race which is a good thing because I didn’t need it!

Anyway, the first part of this ride is deceiving, you start out heading west and it is a gradual uphill. It is hard to really get moving so I just rode by perceived effort. After about 5 miles or so, the course turns north. This is wear the hills start to become much more difficult. Also, there was a fair amount of wind on this stretch too. After about 15 miles of a few climbs and descents the course touches the southern part of Horsetooth Reservoir. At this point I felt like I was tired and in danger of having a slow ride, but I kept passing people in my AG with race kits, aero helmets and sweet tri bikes so I figured I was doing ok. On the southern return trip I hammered hard and my AVG Speed started to improve. When I got to 23.5 I started thinking about 24 but was not sure if I would have enough real estate. I was freaking flying over the rollers and rarely dropped below 28 mph and pretty much kept my speed above 30 mph. I was really excited as I entered transition 2 because I knew that I destroyed my bike PR on this course from 2007 when I averaged 23.3 – This time I averaged over 1 mph faster, 24.4!

I had the fastest bike split in my age group and my 6th place ranking on the bike is a big improvement over 2007 when I was 17th!


Nothing. Swim faster.

My trans time was good, but I could have been faster. I lost my spot again! Eventually I spied my green gym bag. Still a fast transition, but it could have been faster.

Mark my transition spot

My run was nearly as good as my bike! In fact my bike/run combined time was in the top 10 overall (I need to do the math to find out exactly where). I was worried because 5 days ago at Ironman Kansas 70.3 I tore up my feet, yesterday I ran and it was difficult. Before the race I changed the lacing system and taped my feet. Luckily the tape stayed on through the swim and bike and my feet didn’t bother me. I did get a side stitch at about .5 mile and it stayed with me through 4. Also, my Garmin was in bike mode and I didn’t know how fast I was running. I sort of just went by mile per hour. I wanted to go under 39 minutes on the run. In 2007 I was 40 and change and my triathlon 10K PR is 39:52 at the Boulder Peak last year. As the run progressed I got stronger and by mile 4 the side stitch went away and I finished the run and race very strong. My time of 38:28 was a new PR and I think I can go faster

Not too much. I wish I didn't get that side stitch and that my Garmin worked, but this was a strong run for me.

Walked with Laura to get some chow.


My swim. I am going to continue to work hard and improve here. It is time.


This race is AWESOME. It is one of my favorite races. The post race feast was the best I've had anywhere. The competition is fierce and the bike ride is beautiful.

This was the first tri that I ever raced in 2005. My time was 3:06; today it was 2:26. Yee Ha!