I started out in the 2nd row of the group. Gun went off and I ran in the water behind the people in front of me for maybe 10 ft until I found a place to dive in and swim. Got into a fast pace right away to break away from a few people.

Someone in front was wearing a yellow cap which sighting the yellow buoys a little confusing. After 150m my arms were basically numb from the cold water. I kept on pace and tried to push a bit harder towards the 2nd half of the swim. Feet were out of the water around 6:35-ish and ran up the beach into T1.

Get a full sleeve wetsuit.

Ran into T1 and already had my cap and goggles off. Peeled the wetsuit down to my knees, stepped on it, yanked the leg out and it didn't come out. For some reason I reached down and tried to peel it over my heel with my hands. Of course that didn't work (not sure why I did that in the first place), so I stepped on it again and yanked my leg out. Did the same to the other leg with no problem. Shoes on, helmet on, glasses on, wheels out!

Not fumble around with my wetsuit.

To preface: I was not expecting much from this ride. This race was in the middle of training week and I rode 76 miles on Sat with a 5 mi transition run at a decent pace (6:30s). I would have been really happy with something in the mid to lower 37'. Before the race the legs felt fine, but I was unsure about how they'd feel when pushing it on the bike.

So, I ran out of T1, hopped on my bike, clipped in pretty quickly and took off. I've been having this problem lately on the bike where my hips/butt (Gluteus Medius area) is very uncomfortable in aero and feels like its on the verge of cramping. It takes about an hour of riding before I'm able to work that out. Today was no different. As soon as I got to the top of the hill and made the first turn I could start to feel them tighten up and weaken.

I kept pushing as hard as I could without blowing up. Quads felt fine, but the majority of what was holding me back from pushing harder was in my hips. I was able to keep a good pace and pass a bunch of people. I only had one guy pass me at the turn around the whole ride.

On the way back I pushed harder than the way out to try to squeeze that last bit of power out of me. HR was steady right around 148-149, telling me that fatigue was lingering in the legs even though the feeling wasn't that obvious.

Coming down the last hill I took my feet out of my shoes and rode into T2.

Took in 30 oz water with 2 servings Gu20 (200 Cal).

Not bike 76 miles the day before. Maybe get a better bike fit to fix my hip discomfort issue or stretch them out more.

Coming into T2 there was a guy I was trying to pass on the bike at the very end. So, I was trying to beat him out of T2. Helmet off, socks on, shoes on and put number belt on while running out. He got me, but only by a couple of seconds. I was so focused on getting him on the run that I missed running over the Run-Out time mat. So, T2 time is an estimate. Turns out that the guy missed it as well. I must have been just following him out and we barely missed it.

Nothing, except for cross over the timing mat to get my splits.

Running out of T2 I immediately noticed my right foot was completely numb. I'm talking like it felt like I was running on a peg leg kinda number. I ran through it and passed that guy I was hunting down. Shortly after feeling came back and I was running good. Running was feeling good so I pushed a bit more. At the turn around I was able to see people in front of me and I counted to see where I was sitting. 9th. Perfect - exactly where I wanted to be (Top 10). I timed the guy in front of me from where I saw him at the turn around until when I passed that same spot. He was about :40 in front of me. Also at the turn around, nobody was even close to catching me. I pushed really hard the last 1.5 mi to chase that guy down. In the end, I was only able to make up :38 on him. Damn, 2 seconds...

Since I didn't cross the mat, I don't have an official run split. But, at the end my watch read 16:49 and I started it a bit late. If I estimate T2 at :45, which is a fair assumption, then this 5k came in at 17:03 which seems to be about right.

Push a bit harder in the beginning.

Crossed the finish line and got my wind back. Slapped a few high 5s, found Amy and got my recovery drink. Downed that, got my soggy burrito and went for a short run to cool down with. Once I got back I stretched a bit and packed my gear.


Riding 76 miles with a 5 mi brick run @ 6:31 pace the day before the race surely didn't help me go any faster.


Overall a good race. It was run well as always. No transition area security this year which made me a bit nervous about leaving everything there after the race.

Performance-wise, it was a good race. Swim - good; T1 - ok; Bike - eh; T2 - good; Run - good. This race was not a priority on my schedule. I have bigger things to train for and accomplish this year than ripping up a sprint. So, racing after a decent training session the day before was alright by me. Overall I'm happy with my results and AG placement.