After the last few instructions, wave one got going and wave two was told we would wait 5 to 7 minutes and then off we went. The water wasn't very deep at all but it was cold and the first time I dove under, I realized there was no visibility at all! I ran for a bit and then tried to swim, but was having troubles relaxing in the water. Finally the bottom dropped out and I was formed to swim, but again couldn't calm down and was forced to swim with my head above the water or do two strokes and breathe. For the first time ever in my life I thought I was going to die. I literally thought I was going to make that poor lifeguard on the raft get wet and pull my butt out of the lake. Rounded the raft, I was finally able to relax a bit and get to the shallow water again, really calm down and then get to business. The rest of the swim was smooth and pretty calm. I climbed out of the water, smiled for the professional photographer and ran up the beach to the transition area. This was actually a pretty long run up the beach.

Calm down a whole lot more at the beginning and well maybe just spend some time in the open water. I might have even been faster if I would have been able to swim correctly in the beginning.

Pretty good transition. It was just starting to rain as I ran in, got my helmet on, yelled at my dad that I almost died in the water, got my shoes on, put my nutrition in my pocket and grabbed my bike. The off running towards the mount line, it was pretty good.

Not much; just like I had practiced!

As I first pulled out of the transition area, I encountered three speed pumps, lots of people, and the first of many raindrops to come. It took me a few minutes on the bike to adjust to biking. Then when I started to get up to speed and roll into the course, the rain started to fall. And well it didn't stop. Early on in the course since I was the second wave, there really weren't that many people so I wasn't passing people and I was only getting passed by a few people with really sweet bikes. Then about five miles in if I remember correctly, it started to really pour and thunder and lightening. At this point, I changed my strategy from being consistent and fast to just being really safe. I slowed any turns down and thanked as many volunteers and police officers as I could as they stood out in the rain. About half way through, there was a turn where I almost took out a fellow biker because we tried turning at the same time and my breaks pretty much failed. I took in a GU about mile 13 and a bottle of gatorade and almost 24 ozs on the hand-off around mile 15. I was very happy with the speed and my bike was great in the conditions. I was so happy when I got back into the city and knew the bike was almost over, but then it started to occur to me what was next... 6.2 miles :)

I think the biggest thing is I need to continue working on hill climbing and also on fine bike skills like tight fast cornering. Otherwise with the lack of rain biking I was very happy with my handling skills.

Overall pretty good. I was dealing with really wet conditions, but since I covered my shoes and socks before the race they were relatively dry. However, putting socks on wet feet is not easy. Once I was set... I began to run.

Not much... again, I can't stop the rain and that is all it had done for the past hour and 45 minutes.

The course description is such a lie that it isn't even funny. As I started out my goal was to do 4:1. However as I started to run, realizing how weak my legs were, I changed plans and decided to go for running as much as I could and then walking till I felt like running again. Sadly about 3 minutes into the race my shoes were completely soaked. So I ran and walked when I had to. The course was going well and I took in a package of shotbloks about 20 minutes into the run. The one and only water stop was about 2 miles in and we hit it at that point and then again on the return at about mile 5 or so. I grabbed water and gatorade at that stop then came across a mile marker at mile three and got excited. Well I know better than to believe those, but I did anyways and the course just seemed to go on forever. I had to make a bathroom stop about 4 or so miles into it and after that the only thing that was preventing me from running more was pure muscle fatigue. Then I heard the finish line and then it was there and I crossed it and was sooo happy!

I don't know. I need to train more brick and just get my legs use to being punished that much.

I did some walking, got some water, listened to the awards, and walked to pack up my bike and gear. That was enough of a warm-down. But then on the walk back I heard my name over the speakers and found the strength to get back to the awards and get my FIRST PLACE AG TROPHY!


You know considering this was my best and worst race based on conditions I couldn't control and doing the best I could with what I had, I am pretty darn happy. More training would always help, but I am not going to rain (haha) on such a good personal performance!


Well, this was my first longer race and I was pretty happy, especially with the results. The race itself was not the best one I have done, but it wasn't too bad and the tee shirts were pretty nice. I am honestly very happy with the results and I look forward to using this race as a way to structure my training for the main event of the year, Door County Half Ironman.