I was the first to start after a 2 minute break in the starts, so I had clear water in front of me. The swim started okay, but I seem to have slowed down in my swimming the past month. I got frustrated on the third lap when someone coming up the lane from the other direction was on my side of the lane and slammed into me head on about halfway down the lane. I make a concious effort to stay firm to the left of the lane, but I guess that's the joy of a snake style pool swim. The collision made me stop and stand up in the pool to fix my goggles which let me guy behind me catch up. On the 4th lap the guy behind me tapped my foot and then swam up next to me as we approached the wall. I could tell he was a little faster anyway, so I let him go. The final two laps were uneventful and seemed to go pretty quickly, but the guy who passed me slowly pulled away.

Not sure I could avoid the collision since I always swim as far left in the lane as I can. I need to focus on improving my speed some more, though.

Pretty good T1 for me! Jetted up the stairs out of the pool and jogged to my spot. I stripped off my swim cap and goggles while running and tossed them in my crate. I wiped my face and quickly slipped on my socks and bike shoes. My spot was close to the bike in/out, so I decided to run in my shoes and just clip in. Grabbed my helmet and sunglasses and I snagged my bike and ran out. Passed the guy who passed me in the pool in transition.

Not much. This was my fastest T1 ever, so I was happy with it.

Excellent bike for me. I started my computer after I clipped in and powered up the hill on Granite Falls onto the course. I decided to skip the jacket for the bike since I was warm coming out of the pool, and I'm glad I did. Even on the early downhill I get comfortable and was never cold. I made a few tweaks to my fit before this race, and it was the most comfortable I've ever been on the bike. Hit 36+ mph on the early downhills, but several times on the course I was topped out at ~34mph. I need to look into either a larger crank ring or a smaller rear casette top gear because I could have gone a little faster on the downhills with that. I enjoyed the early speed and the coasting let me get my breathing back under control. I attacked the early hills by getting out of the saddle and staying up in the big ring. I made a good turn down at Heritage and carried some good speed by the golf course. On the long uphill I stayed in the saddle and in aero as I was still making good time, but on the last hill I got out of the saddle and hammered up the face. I made a good sweeping turn out onto 98 while the cops held traffic and made good time down 98 to the large hill. Last year I struggled up this hill, but this year I felt much stronger and was able to drop into the small ring in 4th gear and stand up on the pedals. I stayed standing about halfway up the hill when I felt the hill slacked a bit. I sat down but stayed on the horns for the rest of this climb. I did get passed on the hill by one guy who rode away from me by ~50 feet by the end of the climb. Once I crested the hill I tucked back into aero for the rest of the ride. When I made the turn onto the last road I was closing on the guy who passed me on the hill. I slowly reeled him in and pulled out to pass him, but once I got my him the wind was blowing right into our faces. I was pushing about as hard as I could to stay ahead, but he pulled back out and passed me back. I let him go so I wouldn't draft, but I stayed about 20 feet behind him for most of the ride back in. He pulled away on one of the last hills, but having the "carrot" in front of my helped my push the last bike leg. I made a good turn onto Granite Falls and raced back to the transition area. Once outsite the run start I unstrapped my shoes and tried to pull my feet out, but I couldn't get my left out out. I ran through the cones separating in from out before my foot came loose, but luckily no one was there. I ran the bike into transition from there. It was a good ride for me - computer showed 20.4 mph average. Probably passed 10 riders and was passed by the one guy.

Not much - a good ride for me overall. I might have been pushing a little too hard on that last leg, but overall I felt very comfortable on the bike.

Pretty good T2, but I need to get my feet out of my shoes sooner. I also need to pay better attention to racking my bike because it had fallen by the time the race was over. Pretty good into my shoes and out onto the run course.

Pay closer attention to my bike. Unfortunately, because my seat is so high my bike won't go under the rack. Maybe I can make a hook on the back of my seat.

Rough run. I started out slow and it didn't get much better for me. The whole run course felt like it was uphill - even the downhills! The early climb into the neighborhood slowed me quite a bit, but I was able to recover by the first gravel section - only to see another never ending uphill! I wasn't wearing a HRM, but I could tell my HR was high like when I do a tempo run on my normal course. I started feeling better once I made the second turn towards the gravel road, but I did not enjoy running on the gravel this year. The gravel seemed much deeper and looser this year, and it was inviting an ankle roll at any time. The short section of gravel between the neighborhoods was fine, but this long road was too loose and too steep at the end (with the gravel) for my liking. Overall my run was slow for me since I have been running an open 5K below 22. Never got passed, but I didn't have much kick. Once I could hear the finish line music I went "all in" and kicked it with all I had until the end.

Depressing run time since I consider running my best of the three sports. Not today. Run more, especially on hills.

After I got my chip clipped off I walked it off and found my wife. I saw my time coming in, and I was really happy I improved so much over last year. We grabbed some good, said hey to a few people, and then went to gather up my stuff. We took my gear back to the truck and then came back to the post race area for a few more snacks and the awards ceremony. Afterwards we went home for a shower and a post race lunch at flying biscuit.


Running today. I felt like I had the strength/energy, but I didn't have the cardio to push faster on the run today. My swim was adequate and my bike was excellent, but I need more run speed.


Good race by the Setup group. This is a hilly, challenging race, but that makes it enjoyable to me. The race personnel are very friendly and helpful and the course workers did an excellent job as well. My only suggestion would be the re-routing of the run course to eliminate the long gravel road, because it just seems too loose and invites a twisted ankle or falling down a steep gravel hill.