With all the waves already in the water, I knew the course would be crowded so I decided to try and hug the line as tight as possible and that proved to be the right decision. I was able to avoid pretty much any and all contact. It seemed folks were staying very far to the right of the line and it was a straight shot to the red turn bouys all the way around. As I mentioned at the start, swimming has had to take a back seat to life, but I have begun to work with a local swim coach, Frank Sole, and I am hoping to finally begin to make some positive incremental changes over the next few month. Having said that, this was a very good result. I was very happy to see a 30 flat on my watch when I hit the ramp. It was great start to the day.

Swim more often, but I blame Jensen.. ;)

Helmet and shoes had to be left in the gear bag by the bike and I needed to stash my wetsuit in there before departing, but otherwise it was a fine transition.

Practice transition more, but I blame Jensen. :)

I quickly settled in and broguht my HR up to my planned effort of 149-152. The course was very crowded but we had the entire road as we looped the Sand Hollow lake and made our way back to the main highway. Somewhere around mile 3 or 4, I was passed by a guy in my AG, much to my suprise/chagrin. He didn't get away though and we went back and forth for a bit until we were joined by a third guy. Now we had a party. Back and forth we went. I noticed I seemed to be faster on the descents despite the fact that both these dudes looked to have at leats 10 lbs. on me. I attributed that to my disc, they were running less aggressive set ups. On the climbs, one of them kept jumping out of the saddle whereas I was comfortable staying seated and saving it for later. Despite a crowded course, folks for the most part stayed to the right. I think it was somehwere around miles 25-30 heading back into St. George that I was able to drop those two guys.

Now I was on my own, continously moving through the field and staying very steady and consitent in my effort. I opted to take a few GU Roctane's with me as well as half a PR Bar for nutrition and had one water bottle between the bars I swapped out at the aid stations. By the time I reached the infamous but spectacular Snow Canyon, I felt ready to tackle the challenging climb. It lived up to it's advance billing, it was long and it was steep, but I chose my cassette wisely keeping with the 11/25 I used for the full last year. I was able to stay seated for almost the entire climb. It was a great relief to make it to the top knowing I would have the last 10 miles or so to recover on the descent back to town.

My recovery was dealt a bit of a blow when a new guy from my AG blew past me at the 50 mile mark! He was absolutly flying down the hill and I thought briefly about trying to go with him but decided to stick to my plan of getting a little recovery through here before the start of the run. At this point I figured I was in 2nd place or thereabout depending on how the guys in the second wave were doing. I came rolling into T2 feeling like I had a very good ride and bracing myself for what I knew would be a beast of a run.

Bike more, but I blame Jensen. :)

Again, all gear was in the bag so I did socks and shoes on first. I did sit down for that. Then I grabbed my race belt, visor, sun glasses, and 2 GU's and got myself sorted as i ran out.

Totally Jensen's fault.... :)

Due to to the extreme nature of the course, I knew going in running to pace would be a challenge so I went with HR and planned for 155-158.After the first mile running up the gradual incline of Diagonal St. I was spot on the effort...and was being passed like I was standing still by the cat who would go on to win our AG. He was flying, I think he ran a 1:29 on this course which is pretty spiffy. So I still had a lot of work to do and was pretty sure at this point at best I was 3rd. I felt ok running to the climb up Red Hills Parkway. I climbed well and was working hard but running well. I did begin to feel some twinges of cramping in my hamstrings which is a good indicator I was pushing my fitness. Around mile 4 I had used up my two GU's and was ready to start in on the coke.

Everything was going to plan, well except there was no way I was going to win the AG, that ship had sailed and sunk, and then when I reached the turnaround at the far side of the course, something changed. I was about 100 yards from the turn heading back when I saw a guy coming the other way who looked a lot like one of the guys I had been biking around at the start of the race. I wasn't sure, his kit looked familiar...and he looked over and stared right at me! Yikes, it must be him! I am being persued and he was running fast! Oh no. I literally spend the next few miles anticipating him catching me. But he didn't and now I was though mile 10 and was descending back to Diagonal St. like a man possesed. I knew there was a short but annoying out and back where I could see where he was and as I rounded that cone and looked up...there he was again! Still coming on, still looking RIGHT AT ME! Less then 2 miles to go and I was going to get caught. I tried to keep moving as fast as I could but that road looked so long. I blew through the last aid station with less then 1/2 mile to go, made it to the first round about and it was all downhill to the finish and I began to sprint. At some point I looked over my shoulder and caught a glance of someone less then 15 feet back coming on me! I looked back forward and ran harder then I have ever run at the end of a race. I can't wait to see the race pics because I must have been a hot mess of flailing arms and legs and desperation. I crossed the line and brought my self to a stop completly spent. I turned around and see my persuer..and he wasn't there. I looked around, back up the chute, nothing. WTF?!He was nowhere to be found. I just sprinted against a figment of my imagination. :)

Can't blame this on Jensen, even though it would be nice to... :)

I literally stood there for a minute searching for thiis guy and then gave up. I have no idea who he was, but he wasn't the guy from my AG as the next AG finisher was over a minute behind me as per the results. He must have been some random guy and I must have missed him after I crossed the line. I swear he was there, honest!


Give me a "J"! Give me an "E"!...No, I am totally kidding. I felt very prepared heading into this race. I knew I had to make some sacrafices and I wasn't sure how that would translate to my perfromance. What I learned was with the reduction in volume but by keeping the quality, and a great job done by Coach Nick in managing my schedule, I was able to race to the absolute best of my current ability, it's just that was a bit slower then I have done in the past. And that is ok by me. I have three moanth to prepare for Vegas and I think now that Jamie and I are on a comfortable routine in regards to Jensen, I can find a few extra hours per week that won't impact my family time and I can prepare for a good result.


It's funny, this race report is really very positive considering I am still dissapointed with my result a bit. I haven't finsihed 4th at a non-championship WTC race since IMNAZ 2007. But I have been able to maintain my streak World Championship qualifying at every race I have done and I am very proud of that. Vegas 2013 with the goal of getting back onto the AG podium. Game on! Oh, and if I blow it, I blame Jensen... :)