This was one of the rougher swim starts I've experienced at WL. Maybe it's b/c I didn't start behind or off to the side and was in the mix of things from the start. I knew I was racing some fast guys, and seconds count, so I needed to be in the fray of things and not give up any advantages.

After the first 400 meters of MMA style swimming, which was mostly defensive on my part, I started to veer off to the left a little. It's something that always happens to me in a race. The cause is that I don't sight in the beginning stages and just go with the crowd. Once I realized that I had to glance up at the buoys to stay on target, I swam straighter.

The chop wasn't bad, at first. There was a strong smell (and taste) of gasoline in the water, though, and I made a concerted effort not to drink any of it, which was harder on the third leg of the swim. The third leg felt much more choppy and you had to breathe to your right (which I do anyways) to not get inundated.

I'm not sure why I never have a good swim here. I thought I'd go at least 1.5 mins faster. Maybe I just need to OWS more.

Probably the second worst T1 I've ever had.

This is a longer T1, so I always run it hard to gain time on the other racers. As I ran, I peeled off my wetsuit and started to put on my aerosuit. One side came on fine, but then the other sleeve got stuck on my Garmin. Really stuck. I ended up almost ripping the suit, and possibly the watch, to get it out. This caused my garmin to stop, which I didn't realize until later.

On top of that, the zipper to the aerosuit would not zip up. I figured I'd pull in up on the ride, at some point, so didn't bother with it. Those two mishaps cost me about 20 seconds.

Take more care putting on aerosuit.

The start of the ride was a disaster. I was trying to fumble with my Garmin, an aerosuit that wouldn't zip up, and trying to get into my shoes.

After messing with the suit for about 30 more seconds and almost wrecking, I decided to just ride with the top open. I didn't want to waste any more time on it. I got up to speed and then started to get into my shoes, but they were slippery and it took me way longer than normal to do so.

Afterwards, I realized I was flustered and that I needed to tone it down a bit. I recited my tri mantra a few times (swim hard, bike harder, run hardest) and got into a rhythm

After that, things got so much better. I pushed it really hard for the first 10 miles, then eased into it afterwards. The open suit did flap a bit, and I could tell that it was not super aero, but it was just time to deal with it. Later in the ride, I tried to zip it up again, but I just couldn't do it one handed.

Around mile 15, my lower back started to bother me, but I knew it was just from the lack of riding and the new, lower bike position. I stretched a few times, put my head down, and kept at it. I rode through the discomfort, getting out of aero a few times to stretch, but kept at it.

The wind really picked up at this time, too. Pretty strong crosswinds that made me swerve a few times. My aero helmet helps with these gusts and headwinds, though, as you don't feel or hear the wind as much. The road during this stretch is also rough, with bone rattling sections that will launch anything not secured.

The last few miles were tough, but it came to and end and it was time to run. I really didn't know how much more ride I had left b/c my Garmin was off. I was at 26 miles towards the end of the ride, which was off 2.

Aero suit, shoes, and Garmin all cost me at the beginning of this ride. I think next time I'll take care of all that in T1 so as to not have to worry about it on the bike. I had predicted a 1:11 bike, but was happy with the 1:13:xx

It took a minute to put socks on, but then I was out and running. Decent T2.

I need to find sockless running shoes, especially for shorter races.

Swim hard, bike harder, run hardest...and that's what I did. It was good enough for the day's top run split. I suffered, though, as White Bake lived up to its name. HOT, HOT, HOT.

My goal was to run down anyone in my age group and try to catch Art. Based off his normal racing style, I knew he'd have a several minute lead on me at the start of the run. I kept cool by putting ice in my hat and holding ice in my hands and mouth.

Running into the neighborhood, I caught my first glance at Art. He was running well and was at least 3 minutes ahead of me. A quick mental calculation told me I could catch him if I ran the last 3.5 miles at a 6 minute pace, assuming he was running a 6:45 min/mi.

I kept up the pace, which in hindsight was prob a little aggressive for this heat, and paid for it on mile 5. My body was hot and I inadvertently started to slow. After a quarter mile, or so, I picked it back up for the finish.

Art had a great day, with the day's second fastest run. He was the first non-elite race, and I rolled in around 1.5 mins later, as the second non-elite racer. It was a good day for Whispering Pines. :)

At mile 5, I was a bit hot and slowed down. I should have worked better to cool myself down.

Hung out with Art and Chad, then got my award.

The race director made a funny comment about Whispering Pines when he noticed both Art and I were from there.


Gear issues and loss of focus when things didn't go perfect...I need to work out those gear issues and work to ensure mental toughness is there, even if there are issues.


Good race, but expect it to be hot. It's also a great place to take the family as they can hang out, play in the lake, and get to interact/cheer all the racers coming in for both the Half and Int'l.