I had a much better time navigating the course than in Wildflower with only a little "zig-zag" at the end. I continue to feel more relaxed as I do more triathlons, so when I entered the water on this race I was really casual and got a nice "jump" on the pack. Because my heat went last, I was weaving through a good amount of trafic the whole swim, which was a slightly distracting. Good swim overall.

It's time to get more serious about technique and speed. I had a nice pace going but know I've got a at least another minute to shave if I cleaned the technique up a little more.

Fairly smooth transition. I got right to my bike and was out of the wetsuit and into my bike gear in good time. The racks weren't very crowded at this race so I had plenty of room and found my transition area exactly as I had left it pre-swim.

This was the first race that I attempted to pre-cleat my shoes and run out of the transition barefoot. While my speed was great running out of the LONG transition area, I had one hell of a time getting my feet into my shoes. I'm using a 3 velco strap shoe and would seriously benefit from a true triathlon shoe with only one strap. The entry-exit capability of my current road shoe is simply inadequate.

I felt a little weak on the bike today. I was slow on the climbs and didn't crank it on the downhills and cornering opportunities as hard as I am capable. Being a big rider (momentum) and good skiier (love to take turns at high speed) is my strong suit, but I didn't "help myself out" by maximizing my strengths as much as I would have liked.

Climb, climb, climb.

Dismounting folly followed by a decent T2

T2 started with a folly. As with T1, I had trouble getting my feet out of my shoes while still riding and ended up dismounting with one bare foot and one shoed foot. I proceeded to take the shoe off and run my bike with the left hand and carry the shoe in my right. It would have made for a funny picture for the BT site on how NOT to dismount.

Easy run and cool weather made for the easiest of conditions. I took no fluids and ran toward the top of my comparatively weak pace. I was happy to be feeling fresh on the run but dissapointed at the finish because I still had some spring in my step and could have cranked out a little more effort. I did, however, pace myslef with a faster runner on the last mile (pushed myslef harder than I would otherwise) and had an all-out sprint for the last 200 meters - "catching" a runner well ahead of me, which always feels good.

Train, train, train. Work on the track - INTERVALS - so that I can deal with spiking my HR and learning how to positively manage myself through the run.

Nothing. Felt good. Got some fluids then went out to breakfast.


Swim technique, climbing ability on the bike, and overall running fitness.


#11 of 47 in age group, #128 of around 1,200 overall. Not bad!

Loved the convenience factor of the race being in my back yard. Otherwise, I felt like a real triathlete (my 3rd race - 2 sprints, 1 oly) because there seemed to be a lot of beginners out there. The course was about as easy as it will get (flat) and the temperature was ideal for keeping cool but not cold. A good "fitness" race for me, but I wasn't really into it mentally or physically like I was in my last 2 races. I need to be more aggressive in my training and races in the future.