Started off strong the first 150 meters and felt pretty good. I was actually passing some people who clearly started up too far forward or too fast. There were 3 buoys set up that we were supposed to keep on our left shoulder before the last buoy which was a 180 degree turn around. But for some reason a lot of people ignored the first two buoys and went straight after the turn around buoy. I wouldn't exactly call it cutting the course, but saved them maybe 15-20 yards. It was actually kind of funny because when the pack moved to the inside of the buoy line I lost sight of anyone directly in front of me besides the leaders who were already 75 yards ahead. Because I only breathe on my right, I didn't see anyone around me and thought maybe I was swimming so fast with my new swim skin that I was leading the chase pack. HAH...that lasted about 20 seconds when I peeked over to my left and saw a whole line of people swimming inside.

But I digress...I took a good line to keep all the buoys on my left and hit the turnaround at around 6:30...right on pace for a 13ish minute swim. I kind of tired out a bit though and just settled to sit on some feet to the finish. Overall, about a 1:45 improvement over 2 years ago which is about what I expected.

Maybe focus on a little more form. A lot of the time I think my turnover was way too high and I wasn't getting a very efficient catch and pull.

On the run into transition I was able to pull down to top of my swim skin pretty easily. That locking zipper design is genius. Swim cap and goggles off and just tried to run as fast as possible without red lining.

I knew I could shave some time on my T1, but also I wanted to used socks to make sure I didn't blister which could compromise training going forward so that took some time. Shoes on, sunglasses, helmet, and off I went.

Ok...did you catch what I missed. (cue Jeopardy jingle)...

So I run to the mount line and swing my leg over the bike and...WHAT THE FUCK...I still have my swim skin on my lower half. SERIOUSLY??? Well, for those who haven't worn a swim skin before, they are actually surprisingly thin and very compact. Folded up, it can probably fit in a box that holds a dozen golf balls. Split second decision and I just decided to roll with it. I'm actually not sure if anyone even noticed and I don't think it was that much of an aero penalty. Comfort wise...I didn't even notice it.

10th fastest T1 in AG, 50th OA.

Ummm...you stupid noob...take off the freaking swim skin. I give this T1 an "average" grade simply because I shaved 20 seconds from 2011 despite putting on socks.

It rained the night before and I thought it would clear up but it rained again just as the swim started making for a wet course. It was wet last year too when I just did the bike as a relay so I figured I would just need to be a little cautious on some of the sharp turns that have white cross walk paint. More to come on this.

Right as I get on my bike I notice that another guy in my AG is right in front of me. I got clipped in first, but he hammered away the first 400m and put a pretty good gap on me. He bike races as well, but I've beat him pretty consistently. Ok...here's me being mean, but he's kind of a dork and there was no way I was going to let him out bike me. I had no idea at the time, but he was biking as a relay...but still...now way I'm not getting to T2 behind him. Turns out that he took a spill at the first corner. He was okay, and I felt bad, but it was I took this as a sign that I need to be careful on the turns.

So last year I rode at 243 watts and 251 NP. I figured I'd shoot for around 240 and see what happens. HR was getting pegged though, so I decided to let it settle and see what power is manageable. I think it went all the way down to around 228, but just as I expected, once I let my HR settle below the redline (coming from the swim), the power started to pick back up. In any case, power was really the least of my concerns for this bike.

At around mile 4 there's a gentle right turn that normally in training I would rip through. I made sure to slow down but my back wheel still slipped out a bit. Kept it upright, but it was a bit unnerving...that was wheel slip #1.

Finishing the swim faster meant less people to pass. And obviously less people to notice me biking in my swim skin. At mile 10ish I finally bridge up to Portugal and at this point I have to tell him about my swim skin fubar just to get it off my chest. He laughs and says maybe it's more comfortable. Well, I suppose when you race in a speedo, the extra padding seems appealing...LOL.

Ho Hum...just riding...I pass the road where I took a wrong turn last year and thought that I just banked about 15 seconds. Sweet. A few minutes later Tim Marr comes flying back the other way. And nobody even close to him. Easy peasy win for him. I climb Heartbreak Hill in my 34/26 at a nice cadence and around 270 watts. No problem...but then...shit almost hits the fan.

So descending the shallow side of Heartbreak is the only hairpin on the course...and it's still on a 1% grade downhill. I braked...I braked more than usual just to make sure. Then I leaned...and shit...rear tire slipped. Keep it up, brake a hair more and lean again...same shit. At this point I'm out of room and there's no way to make the turn without laying the bike down so while I kept the bike upright I went into some cones and had to do an emergency unclip while I hopped around over my bike. I was fine, but I was in way too hard a gear to start going uphill from a standing start. Lost maybe 15 seconds here...so that time I saved earlier by not taking a wrong turn...gave it right back. Wheel slip #2 and #3.

Now I've got to descend the steep side of Heartbreak and I was shitting bricks. The road looked really slick and going down a 8% grade was the last thing I wanted to do. I feathered my brakes just hoping for the best and when I reached the sharp left at the bottom of the hill about 10 mph slower than I normally would take it. But I stayed up. The next right turn though...another wheel slip. #4

At this point I was like fuck it. I put one and one together that it had not rained for nearly 3-4 weeks and usually the first time it rains...all the oil from the asphalt comes to the surface. When the race was done, I realized I was far from the only one having issues. Lots of people went down, or had close calls like I did. Thankfully there were only a few more corners to negotiate and on the long stretch along the highway I was able to put more power down.

Cresting Diamond Head a spectator told me I was in 6th...and shortly thereafter I passed one more rider to get off the bike in 5th.

Not wear a swim skin on the bike? I actually doubt it cost me that much time. Maybe 10-20 seconds of aero loss. Given my power, and how I took the corners, the time is what I would expect.

I didn't crash, which was goal #1. I wish I had a few more watts though. Time was very 6 seconds faster than 2011 on slightly less watts.

Feet on shoes and flying dismount. Perfect. I roll my bike up the make shift wooden ramp over the curb...FAIL!!! That ramp was more like a speed bump and I was holding my bike by the BTA bottle. Before I knew it I had my bottle in my hand and my bike was bouncing around in the grass. Sigh...whatever. Lost about 3-5 seconds here.

Helmet off...SWIMSKIN OFF...shoes on and a pretty smooth T2 after the bike drop.

9th fastest T2 AG, 68th OA

Need to slightly lift the bike to get over that bump. About 6 seconds slower than 2011. Probably due to dropping the bike and the 2-3 seconds it took to drop the swim skin off my bottom half.

The first half mile of the run felt okay. It was starting the run first in my AG and wondering if I could hold on to a podium. Coming around the zoo, I knew a 7:15ish pace wasn't going to be possible considering the hills up ahead. I just tried to manage my effort and then the passes start. I couldn't tell at all who was in my AG, but 3 people had passed me before the hill on Monsarat with one of them being Portugal. He was looking good and I just tried to keep his white speedo in sight for as long as possible.

The hill though was just stupid long. I bike up here all the time as part of an interval but I never run here. My pace was dropping like a rock and both my quads were starting to pinch a bit. I knew after cresting there would be a nice downhill and mostly flats for the next 2 miles so I just tried to stay focused.

Coming back up towards Diamond Head was where I mentally had to suck it up. I wanted to slow down so bad and maybe even walk for about 15 seconds but I knew I was still in decent position. The female leaders, and a few other guys came by, but again...I just wasn't sure who was in my AG.

I was passed one last time on the descent from Diamond Head and figured there was no chance of a podium just based on the fact that at least 14 guys had passed me already. But I was racing against a few buddies that started in later waves so time did matter. The last half mile I saw some friends cheering and I just tried to run as hard as I could. One final look back and I didn't see anyone within 100 yards. Pace dropped down to around 7 flat and just kept pushing to maybe 6:30's the last stretch.

Crossed the line and dropped to my knees. Turns out that there actually was someone that finished around 12 seconds behind me...and he was in my AG. Turns out also that I ended up with 3rd...which is pretty amazing since the 30-34 podium usually requires closer to 2 hours flat.

Shaved about 2 minutes from the 2011 run.

Nothing really. It wasn't really my day today but I managed what I could.

Chatted with friends and shared my dumb mistakes.

Astro had a good race and ended up beating me by around 4 minutes. I beat Stan by around the same margin but he still managed to win his AG. Tony had a great race as well and was outkicked by Eric at the end of the run for the AG win. Overall the team did really well. Two 1st's, one 2nd, two, 3rd's AG and a 2nd and 3rd in the relays.


Not removing the swim skin, slippery road conditions, need to lose a few more pounds, wah, wah, wah.