"What's This Wet Stuff?"

Kell swam well...came in 4th in the relay and would have 6th in the women's sprint. Considering she hadn't swam in months we'll take it, and she dropped like 30 seconds off last year.

Loved the bike relay transition- I just stand there and get the chip put on my ankle by a teammate.
7/19 in the relay.

"Build to Red Line, Don't Take a Wrong Turn"

This is my third time racing this course in the same number of years plus I've ridden hundreds of miles around here. I had The Plan ready...get going up to speed/power quickly, not giving away time the first mile, ride through the punchy first couple of miles accelerating out of the turns, Z3 the straightaways, push the climbs, start going all-out earlier than last year.

Nailed the plan, though I struggled getting clipped in (again!) - heck just not taking a wrong turn two miles in was a big improvement over last year. Held steady until the first straightaway and pushed a little on that flat, trying to hold 230-ish watts. Coasted for 15 seconds into the first hard climb and stood up, hold high 300s. Coasted the descent and got back into Z3 and pushed a little to the top of the hill. Second straightaway is downhill and I was holding low 200s and around 26 mph, leap-frogging another rider (I'm definitely farther in front than last year, way fewer riders around me). Got to the technical section and just resigned myself to a quick rest during my butchered-as-usual U-turn, but got back up to speed quickly and started kicking about 1.5 miles out, averaging high 200s the last 4-5 minutes and pushed hard to the finish. No bumper bikes this year, dismount and run to transition went fine.

7/19 Relay and 28th in the men's race
Avg Power = 225
Nom Power = 235
IF = 0.88 (though as usual, my FTP number is really delusional right now)
VI = 1.04
dropped about a minute from last year, most of that being a smarter rider

be in better shape and get rolling quicker, didn't matter in placing so I'm happy with the result

I also enjoy T2 as a bike relay participant - my runner partner takes off my timing chip while I try not to puke or fall over on her. :-)

We were a little slow here but nothing that mattered and only by a few seconds.

16/19

Steph ran a good race, just a tad faster than last year.

11/19 in the relay

We meandered around until they let us leave - the post-race spread was really lame compared to when Charm City Run managed this race. They had Cheez-Its though, so not all was lost.


Only can give a three...lack of volunteers and the bathroom debacle, plus the lame post-race spread. I still love the vibe of this race so we'll probably keep doing the relay though I do want to toe the line all the way through again at some point.