Swim went really well for me. I believe that I sighted well, kept a very consistent pace, and did about the best I could have hoped to do. Gloves did not work, as they started to fill with water - I ended up ditching them at the first Kayak I passed. This was my best improvement over last year - I was able to trim about 13 minutes off my swim time from last year.

No gloves - everything else went according to plan. A couple of times on the last leg I went to sight and take a breath - and got a big mouthful of lake water instead. There was just enough waves to suprise you if you were not careful. Training wise, I really kind of fell of the wagon with respect to open water swims - my last one was in July. Getting a few more in my last training weeks would probably have helped me.

T1 actually took a little longer than I expected - but there is a pretty good run (both into and out of) that adds some time. Everything went well, suit down, earplugs out, and goggles/caps off by the time I got to my bike. Pulled the suit off, put on my top and arm warmers, snapped on my fuel belt, slipped on my socks, shoes, sunglasses, windbreaker and helmet, and off I went.

I had to keep telling myself - stick to the plan!!! It was so cold, that I knew I would be tempted to add more clothes - which I would hate about a mile into the hillclimb. I stuck to the plan, which worked really well - a little chilly on the fast downhills, but overall it worked good.
Last years T-1 was a disaster - over 8 minutes due to hypothermia and my inability to do anything quickly.

Took off well from T1, put my gloves on while riding, dealt with a couple of goof-ball motorists on Hwy 28 (oblivious to the fact there was a race going on), then headed up Hwy 267. The northbound route up is not incredibly difficult - just a long stinking climb. Passed a few people, felt pretty good with my pace, then two guys blew past me like I was standing still - so much for my ego.

Made it up to the summit, slammed a gel and quick drink of water and headed down. The downhill leg probably averaged 10% grade, so even without pedeling you were doing 35 or 40 mph. Road surface was very rough, and it was a constant death grip on the bars, trying to keep your tires on the smoothest piece of road. I was about a mile into the downhill, when all of a sudden I slammed into two potholes that were hidden in the shade. I didn't even know what I had hit, as I never even saw them coming. Immediately afterwards, I heard this awfull grinding sound - I thought for sure I had either broke something on my bike, or the chain had flew off and was grinding along the highway. Once I got back under control, I realized that the sound was my water bottle flying out of its cage, and then sliding along the highway behind me.

While I was glad it wasn't my bike, that little incident raised hell with my hydration/nutrition plan for the ride - as that was my only electrolyte drink.

The next challenge was the K-rail section - My plan was to try to listen very carefully, if I didn't hear any cars coming, gradually move over, and take a quarter of the lane - I figured that would work OK as long as we didn't have any opposing traffic. Made it though uneventfully, then just cranked up the speed - passed three people doing 33 mph on the downhill section.

Made it to the turn around, lost a little time stopping and getting a new water bottle - it wasn't electroyte, but at least it was wet. I pulled my power bar out in the flat section, thinking this would be a good time to have some of it - I got it opened and tried chewing a piece off - it was nearly frozen solid. I kinda chewed the corners off of it, and was able to gradually warm it up enough so that I could eat some of it. I briefly thought about putting it inside my shorts to warm it up, but couldn't bring myself to do it - that just seemed wrong!!!

Climbing back up, I kept telling myself to keep a good easy pace - as the climb back up was really tough. Last year I had to walk on three separate occasions because my quads just gave up. My goal this race was to not have to stop. About 1/2 way up the demons started pestering me, saying "it's getting hard now, and it would feel real good to stop and walk a bit". Once I realized they were getting in my head, I quickly tried to put them back out of my mind, and just told myself to focus on a good cadence, and to get out of the saddle once in a while to switch the muscle groups.

I saw one gal going thru the same struggle - and she would spin for a while, then get off and walk - then repeat. I tried to encourge her as I went by.

The K rail section on the uphill portion was a little scarier. I was going 5.7 mph, and the cars were probably doing 40 - and there was not enough room for both of us. One truck came by that had to be within a foot of my bike - that was a little too close for confort.

Finally made it to the top, slammed another gel and a quick drink, then down the other side.

This downhill was every bit a rough as the other direction. As I rounded the last little curve, coming into Kings Beach, all of a sudden the shoulder disappeared, and all you were left to right on was an incredibly alligatored roadway surface. All I could do was again put a death grip on the bars, and scream outload at the caltrans maintenance guys for not spending a couple of hours with an asphalt patch truck before this race.

I made it down to the bottom, and was greeted by a line of about 30 cars lined up at the signal. I swung to the inside, and scooted past all the cars, and as I approached the intersection, the CHP stopped everyone, so that I could go through. How sweet is that!!!

My ride this year was really good - I cut almost 9 minutes off of my time from last year.

Got the the dismount area, and headed to T2.

Still need more big hills in my training routine - and this winter, I need to start a weight program to build my leg strength.

Everything here went really well - there were only about 4 people that had faster times than me.

Nothing.

Run went OK. Last year I walked the steep hills, to keep my heartrate in check - so I went with that strategy again this year. Worked well, I just had to be a little careful with the downhills, and I could feel those trying to hurt my quads. Ran with a gentleman from Reno, for a couple of miles, and we had a great converstation. It really helped the miles click by. They had Red Bull at the 1/2 way point, I had one to help push me to the end. The finish was along the beach, right near where we started. There were a few people cheering, but a pretty small crowd overall.

Nothing really - I just can not seem to run very fast, after swimming and biking... I think what really hurt me here (I was 4.5 minutes slower than last year) is that there was no-one to race. It almost started to feel like a training run, with no other competitors around (with only 79 total racers, we got pretty well scattered out, pretty quick). I was almost just "going through the motions" of running, rather that really competing at this point. Seems that perhaps I need a little more mental preparation next year. Had I ran this part of the race well, I could have made my big goal of cutting 30 minutes off my total race time.

Walked around a bit, had a few bites of apple and orange, and some water. Picked up my transition area stuff, and then had a chocolate milk.


Same thing that always limits me - life, family and work obligations that seem to come in front of my training obligations.

Overall I was pretty happy with my time - I trimmed 22 minutes off my time from last year. This still wasn't quite fast enough to put me on the podium - but there is always next year....

Last year, I felt that this course was incredibly difficult. At the finish line, it was all I could do to still walk. This year, I sailed through the finish, and it was no big deal - I remember thinking - I could easily run further... Maybe even push it to do 13.1, rather than 6.2. Hmm, if only they had a race that a guy could run 13.1 miles after warming up with a little swim and a bike ride..........




Post Race was great - FREE tri-tip sandwiches, FREE beer, lots of salads, and a live band to entertain us while the last finishers came in - then a nice but quick awards ceremony.

Only complaint about the Post Race - at the finish line they did not have any type of recover drink or electrolyte. I had brought my own, but it was a 1000 yards away in my pickup, it would have been nice to have something as soon as we crossed the finish line.