Very good swim. I think I was pretty relieved to know it was a wetsuit swim. I did just do an OWS the day before, and maintained a pretty good sub-2 pace, so I felt fairly confident either way.

Swimmers left every 3 seconds. This is the first time I actually ran to the water. Started my swimming a little too early. My hand hit the 'mud' a few times before I could really start swimming. Kept a 'lane' between me and the buoys so I wouldn't have to deal with any of the faster swimmers coming from behind.

Hit the sandbar and swam over it. Last year I walked a bit just to get a rest, but ended up stepping on a few sharp rocks. Didn't want to repeat that again this year. No panic issues. I think this may be the first swim where I actually tried to race the distance. I would try to catch drafts from fast swimmers that went by. I'd stay on their feet for a while, and then lose them. Kind of made the time go by faster. Before I knew it, I was at the first 'corner' buoy. No singing 'Swing Low, Sweet Chariot' in my head to pass the time, no mental math, just concentration on swimming. Great swim on the way back. Buoys actually curved in on the way back, but I was able to sight the finish baloons and target a straight line on those, so swam quite a distance from the buoys. I'm sure the strategy saved me a few yards. Swam it in strong all the way until my hands hit the bottom. Stood up and saw 29 minutes on my watch. Boy, was I stoked! Took out my earplugs, THEN goggles and swim cap, unzipped my wetsuit to my waist before I even hit the timing mat.

Nothing. Swim faster?

No problem getting out of wetsuit. Sunglasses and helmet were on top of the aerobars. Left a gel on top of the bottle sponge and threw that into my tri top pocket. Threw on my shoes and rode out of T1 (allowed at Turtleman).

Nothing.

Good bike. Did the whole race 'nekkid.' No HR monitor, no Garmin GPS for race pace, no cycle computer! Just went by perceived effort and internal pace. For nutrition, aerobottle full of Gatorade mixed with 2 PowerBar gels (about 330 calories). Water bottle behind seat to wash things down. Slight cramping at about mile 19. Saw Daryll (volunteer Sherriff) and shouted out a 'thank-you.' Did the same darn thing in the no pedal zone as last year. Stopped pedaling at the line. Started stretching out the calves, bike slowed down and I started pedaling again (maybe 2 rotations). Glad I didn't get a penalty...:)

Try to consume the full 300 calories. I had some Gatorade left in my aerobottle.

No issues. Went sockless.

Nothing.

Good run. Started out 'slow.' Worked on getting the HR stabilized. Surprised myself. First couple splits were great (8:07, 7:57, 8:19). Started to feel it at mile 4 - 8:34. Finished strong - 8:17.

Run a little harder. I had more than I should have at the end.

Grabbed a water. Stood in the hot dog line. Looked for Roger and didn't see him. Walked down to the lake to grab my sandals and shorts. Talked to LeAnn for about 15 minutes. Got my bike and bag out of transition. Talked to Daryll about triathlons. He just started running again -- a few miles here and there with a co-worker. I told him we need to do this as a relay next year. :) Walked my bike back to the car (had to travel down to Mankato with the family at 1:45pm). Loaded things back in the car, and in the process left my phone on the ground BEHIND the car. Left the parking lot and headed towards 694, went to reach for the phone to call my wife, could NOT find my phone. Went back to the lot to look for it and didn't find it. Walked back to the volunteer tent to ask if they had it. They did. My wife had called my phone and a volunteer answered it and announced that my phone was there at the booth. Funny thing is Cody (sharp4850) heard my name announced and came over and met me at the booth. We talked triathlon for several minutes. Thanks for stopping by Cody. Great to meet you. Headed home. Stopped by to pick up my usual post-race food (double cheeseburger at McDonald's).


Trying to keep my pace in check.


Great race. One of my favorites. I actually 'raced' this year rather than just trying to finish. Nice 'small' venue. A good opportunity to just hang around and visit with folks. Very relaxing race.