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Comments: I really needed to be in the first wave with the seeded men. They asked for a time from last year or equivalent performance and I just blew it off at registration. That would come back to bite me. I was in the 3rd wave and the seeded women went in the 2nd wave. I knew I would be running into the back of that pack prior to the first buoy and actually ended up running into the back of the first wave on the way back in. I aggressively seeded myself on the buoy line front row at the swim start as I wanted to get up with the faster swimmers. I asked the guy next to me if he was a good swimmer. He said "yes" so I said good I am jumping on your feet. I let him jump out in front of me and got right behind me. I was head down swimming hard following his bubbles for quite a ways and then he got away. I was also by myself right on the buoy line though as most folks started wide. The first section was right into the sun so spotting the buoy was tough so just followed the lead swimmers in my wave. I started running into lots of pink caps from the second wave at the first buoy and the rest of the swim but did ok navigating around them. My stroke felt long and smooth. I hit the boat launch and looked down at my watch and somehow it had stopped 7 minutes in. So, I had no idea what my swim time was but it felt good. What would you do differently?: Start in the Elite wave.  Transition 1
Comments: T1 Rank: 27/718 This was a long transition area. I really needed to have my shoes already on the bike as opposed to running in them. This was a still a pretty fast transition and I was the first one off my rack so that was good. What would you do differently?: Shoes on bike.  Bike
Comments: The first couple turns were a little congested out of transition but I was able to get by ok. The lap around reeds lake is a bit technical with lots of turns and some small ups and downs before you get to the long out and back on Fulton. As I got on to Fulton I had already passed 15+ people and my legs were feeling strong. There are a couple long gradual hills on Fulton that I pushed hard on and then ran out of gears on the descents. The roadways were pretty nice except for a couple of bridge crossings that had some big joints. As I made the turn to head back I knew I was riding well and just needed to stay within myself to setup a good run. I stayed steady for the next 4 miles or so and then took the last mile a bit easier into transition. I was never passed once on this ride and passed every single person in my start wave (again, should have started in the elite wave where my competition was). What would you do differently?: Nothing...I rode pretty well just wish it was faster (as always)! Transition 2
Comments: T2 Rank: 6/718 I flew thru transition..6th overall. I made up a ton of time on people just in transitions. What would you do differently?: Nada.  Run
Comments: I took off out of transition and it felt like I had weights on my feet for the first 0.75 miles or so. I was still able to pass quite a few people here but I was just not moving very well. Once we made the first turn into the subdivision I started to come around and could feel my pace get faster and feet felt lighter. Once I made my way to the Hall Street hill and got to the flat section I was cruisin. When i got to mile 4 is when a guy in my AG came by me and he was flying. I needed to make a decision at that point whether to try to stay with him or hold steady. He may have started in the first wave but judging by his stride I doubted it. I picked up the pace but could not hold it and let him go. The last 0.5 mile I really picked up the pace and finished really strong. What would you do differently?: It would have been nice to know where my competition in the AG race was. The 3rd place guy in my AG beat my by :17 seconds and the guy that passed me by :08. I was very close to that 3rd AG. I raced pretty well..nothing to be ashamed of. Post race
Warm down: Just drank some gatorade, ate bagels and talked to some of the other athletes. Really enjoyed the race and venue. What limited your ability to perform faster: Training volume this summer. Event comments: This is an excellent race and they do a great job. The field is very strong, the course is excellent and the volunteers are plentiful. I got a nice AG trophy for 5th place. I prefer to race the Olympic distance so not sure when I would do this one again. I did not need a nap after so I knew the distances were not long enough for me :). Still enjoyed myself. Last updated: 2011-08-23 12:00 AM
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United States
East Grand Rapids
64F / 18C
Sunny
Overall Rank = 30/718
Age Group = M 30-34
Age Group Rank = 5/73
This was the first sprint triathlon I have done since 2008 and was pretty excited. I have always wanted to do this race but it just never worked out and ideally I prefer the Olympic distance. I was hoping to have a really good race to end the year. I also knew that the field was going to be loaded with good athletes. I looked at last years results and thought I could get a top 5 AG finish.
The race started at 7:15 so I had to be up real early (4:30 a.m.) to drive the 45 minutes to EGR. I had a PB&J for breakfast and sipped on gatorade on the drive. Got a great parking spot right at packet pick up. It took me 30 seconds to do that and then got my bike prepped and made the 5 minute walk to transition.
My workouts leading up to this race were excellent and really thought I was going to be fast today on the bike and run.
It took me about 30 minutes to get everything all set in transition. About 6:45 I took a GU and got my wetsuit on to get warmed up in the water. I got about 5 minutes of swimming in before they had everybody get out. The water temp was perfect for my sleeveless.