Just as the race was about to start the skies opened up and it poured. It was cold and everyone just wanted to get going. I was out in a 6:05 for the first mile and with the number of guys in front of my I determined I was pretty outmatched to be really competitive in this race. I just wanted to get through the next 3/4 of a mile and get on my bike to make up some ground.

Nothing

Pretty bad transition. I had my shoes in a bag in an attempt to keep them dry. (That was a joke!) I took a few extra seconds to get the aero helmet on and debated whether to take my socks off.

Not wear socks for such a short run segment.

This bike segment was in the pouring rain but it didn't affect the speed on the track at all. I still hammered through the downhill corners and managed to hold all my lines coming out of the turns. I passed a lot of people that were being overly cautious on the downhills. I need to work more hills as my legs definitely felt the uphills.

Work more hills and get more time on the bike.

A little better and smoother than the first transition but still room for improvement.

Faster with the helmet off and shoes on.

This run I just got into a comfortable cadence and held a pretty good pace. It was frustrating getting passed by everyone that I just passed on the bike but I just held to my pace and looked forward to getting on the bike again. I commented to a few people as they passed by me that I really needed a swim segment. :)

Nothing really, get better at running.

Better that T1 but still not great.

Practice transitions!!

I found my mind wandering for a bit on this leg. I just wanted to have fun and soak up the track experience. I was not looking forward to the last run segment except for the fact that it was the LAST segment.

Focus on racing and push harder.

Much more respectable transition. Everything went pretty smooth here.

NADA

At this point my legs felt good at the pace I was running but they were right at the failure point. I tried to speed up a bit when I heard footsteps and my legs said "ABSOLUTELY NOT, THE CRUISE CONTROL IS SET!!"

Nothing.

Ran to my car to get a jacket and my camera to take some pics of friends.


Training for short distance races that I really don't want to train for. Oh yea, I probably shouldn't have had 5 or 6 glasses of wine and multiple roast beef sandwiches the night before a race. Bacon wrapped scallops with horseradish was probably a mistake as well. :-) How can you say no to a surprise birthday party with 130 friends!!


Jeff Henderson (Musselman RD) does a phenomenal job on any race he is involved in. I highly recommend this race to anyone of any level. The experience of riding around a wold famous race track on a bike is awesome!!