The swim was not good. I was really disappointed in it. I couldn't get in a groove. I caught the lady in front of me within the first 100m. Finally passed her on the first wide lane. But I just could not get my groove on. So I started pulling at a decent pace and tried get going. Caught up to another guy, near the end, and he was struggling. Passed him in the final lane and got out of the pool at about the same time I did last year. Oh well.

Place myself higher in the swim. I finished higher than my placement, again, so next year I'll put myself up higher to see if I can push myself a little more.

Transition was great. I've never had a transition that fast. I flew through it. Definitely helped that I didn't have a wet suit, but still flew through it. Got the shoes on and ran with the bike to the gate. Through the gate and hopped onto the bike all in one go. It was great. Except for loosing the GU packet after about 15 pedal strokes out. Oh well. :)

Nothing. It went perfectly.

So off on the ride I go. Tighten up the shoes, tuck in and I didn't get out of aero for the rest of the ride. Turn East to the first long stretch and feel a pretty good side wind. Look at my HR and it is a bit too high. 175! So I spend the next few miles trying to spin it down and really focus on keeping a good breathing pattern going and a decent cadence.

Kept going and only got passed by a total of maybe 5 guys. Two of them were much higher placed than me and actually were on their second lap of the outside loop.

I really felt good once I got my HR under control and kept it in the 160's. That's better. Made the first turn North and WHAMMO the wind. Slowed me down to about 16mph. MORE T.I.T.S. Kept thinking that. Anyway, turned back East again to start the second loop and picked up the speed again to try to make up for it.

Made the last turn West to start heading back into town and really started to feel good. Couldn't believe how quick this was going, compared to last year. Amazing what a good bike will do for your ride.

Got back into town and had a few short stints going North again. I really have to get better at riding. That will come, though.

T.I.T.S. Nothing more. Nothing less.

I thought my T1 was good. This was even better. Feet were out of the shoes coming into T2 and it made a HUGE difference. I was 2nd in my AG and 51st overall in this. Felt really good. Everything laid out right helped and so did all the experience last year.

Ran with my belt and number in my hand and put it on during the run instead of trying to do it in T2. My biggest worry were my calves which were a bit tight from pushing on the ride. Will I have repeat of my calf issue of last year? I hoped not.

Nothing. Felt great.

So this run was much better than last year. I was really nervous coming out of T2 because of my calves. Last year, I cramped up something awful out of the shoot. This year I was tight. Repeat? NOPE! I got about a 1/2 mile into the run and the tightness was gone. Alright. Let's go!

I took off and caught up to a few people. Only got passed by 1 guy and he was flying. Overall the run felt so much better than last year. And it went so much faster too. In hindsight, I probably could have pushed it a bit harder. Kept a great turnover for me kept pushing ahead. Next thing I know, I'm out of the woods, onto the road and going around the lake. I see Beth and she gives me the "well?" look. I give her two thumbs up and a big grin. She smiles back and knows I'm having a good race.

I can see John (Team Javelin, met him before and remembered him from last year, he is also on BT sometimes) and think, I'm going to catch him? (He flew by me on the bike) Pass a few more around the lake, including a young lady that was burning up the swim. I realize I'm a 1/2 a mile from the finish and pick up the pace just a bit. I'm getting closer to John. Let's see if I can do it.

Nope, he finishes about 30 second ahead of me. Still, the run felt great. I hadn't even looked at my watch the entire run to see my pace. Just went off of feel. I look at it now and am happy. Sub 8:15 pace. I also look at my total time 1:16:56. Not the sub 1:15 I was shooting for, but it is still a big step in the right direction.

More speed work. I now know I can run faster. It really wasn't till this race that I could figure it out.

Beth was there at the finish and I showed her my time. Knocked off almost 15 minutes from last year. I knew I wouldn't place but I still was happy with the over all time. Got my water, and quick grabbed some food to replenish what I just got rid of during the race.

Beth and I walked over to a picnic table that she had been holding onto and then she went to get the food for the picnic while I ate. She came back and we started to get set up for Stef to finish. The wind was starting to pick up and I was starting to cool off. I ran back to the car to grab my jersey and then over to T2 to watch Stef come in.

Got there just in time to see her pull in with a big ole grin on her face. She looked really good. Danny, Sarah and I ran around to the other side and caught her coming out of the shoot onto the run. Smiling.

Danny and I then went into the woods, caught her on the run a few more times, she finally popped out onto the road and around the lake. I jogged over to the other side and then started to run/walk with her the remaining 1/2 mile into the finish. I'm so proud of her. She did a great job.

So my warm down was a bunch of walking around and running. It was fun!


This is only my second year. I'm still learning. Still building base. Still working on speed. Still getting a better idea of what I need to do in a race. But I'm getting better.

#1 limiter, though is T.I.T.S. That will be resolved this year, though.


It really is a great tune up race for the season or a great race for Beginners. It is so well organized, the swim is short, the ride is not too tough (with or without the wind) and the run is nice. Just a really well put on race. I will probably do it again, next year, just to keep going back. I like it. It has a good home feeling to it.