The swim was wetsuit legal due to all of the recent rain cooling down the Bay. Used the ROKA Sim Shorts as they are easy to get off. Pretty solid swim. Never felt I was pushing too hard. First 200 fairly moderate then moderate+ for the remainder.

Got a little off course a couple of times but a good swim for me. Also, goggles came loose after the jump off the pier and had to stop for a couple of seconds to fix that.

Pretty uneventful. Put shoes on in T1 since there is a big hill right out of transition.

I know I could have pushed harder but wanted to maintain a consistent effort and have something left for the run. AP246/NP247 so pacing/effort was good. There were times it felt hard and times very comfortable but just tried to keep an eye on my power. Quads were tight from the start.

Good transition. Always testy coming down the steep hill into transition on the bike. A guy heading out on the bike came into my lane and that could have been a big wreck but everyone, including me, started yelling and he quickly adjusted. Was able to get feet out of shoes cleanly before heading down the hill and things went smoothly off the bike and through transition.

This is a tough course and times typically run 1.5-2 minutes slower than a flat 5K. I took the hill very easy to try to keep from going into oxygen debt and struggling the rest of the way. Splits were 7:20/6:50/6:36. I felt like I paced the run well and pushed hard over the last mile or so. Not great/not bad

Push harder and risk blowing up?

Hung out with friends, Team and family. Enjoyed the post race festivities and beverages. Ended up with 2nd in AG award as top 50-54 guy claimed grandmasters.

Son's relay team won first place in that division by 10 minutes. Fun to have him at the race....need to get him biking!


Nothing really. I raced within my abilities and improved 3+ minutes over the previous year. Level of competition highest I have seen at this race.


M50-54 AG was stacked with first 4 all placing in top 15 overall. I raced well and am pleased even though I didn't finish as I high in AG as I would have liked. Very happy placing 13th overall and 3+ minute improvement. Easily the best field I have seen at this race. Seems our local race is quickly beginning to attract some top regional participants. Always fun to race against top notch competition.

This was my first triathlon in 2009 and it is always well done....being only a mile or two from the house is also a plus. Lots of hardware for Gulf Coast Tri Team including overall winner. Fun morning!