My swimming has dramatically improved this year due to swim volume and Masters. I went to the front and planned on sprinting the first 100-150m. Then, I was going to try to hang/draft with the front pack.

When the horn blew, I put my head down and gave it about all I had. I'd quickly sighted a couple of times, but I'd go 10+ strokes without sighting. I get about 25 strokes out and think - WOW, I'm out all by myself! I'm leading the swim! I take a few more strokes and see some caps out of the corner of my eye while breathing. I take a better look and I'm a good 15-20 yards to the left of EVERYBODY. I take a good sight and sure enough, I'm off course.

I take an angle back to the pack, trying to minimize my loss, but I probably went too aggressive back. I'm swimming through the group and immediatly notice a guy going faster than most, myself included. I sit on his hip for a bit and think I should draft his feet. I hold his feet for a while trying to feel the draft but I never really felt the pull. I've never drafted before and couldn't find a good stroke and keep close, so I let him go. Maybe he was going too fast or I just need more drafting experience.

For the rest of the swim, I was pretty much in clear water and was in a nice, moderately paced groove.

Towards the end, there were two big yellow buoy's and I wasn't sure if I was supposed to go in between or around them both, so I followed a guy around. I ran up the beach and saw my dad who indicated I was 10'th out of the water (all males were in the first wave).

Keep the course. I certainly need more swimming without the black line!

Probably my fastest, most efficient T1 ever.

Rack my bike on the short end of the rack. Most races I've been to makes everybody cover the same distance in transitions. Here, however, you could go in/out however you pleased and I was racked about 8ft from the far end of the rack.

Had a decent mount and passed one guy before I was on the main road. On the road, I was immediately going 22-23mph and not sure if there was any wind. It was here I realized I never started my Garmin, but this isn't out of the ordinary. I always seem to forgot about it. I jockeyed a bit for position and then hit the turn. The ride was fast and I knew I needed all the speed I could get before I hit the rolling hills.

They came quickly and I was down to 13mph on a longish hill. I pretty much stayed aero the entire ride, including most of the rollers and maxed out at about 35mph.

Just after the turnaround, I see Clint and he can't be more than 1 min behind me. I'm pretty happy he hasn't caught me by now and do what I can to keep him behind. About 2/3rds through, my back starts bothering me a bit, but not as low or on the same side where I had the disk problem. I stand for a bit and stretch it out and realize it's not much and would be fine. I also had a stitch/stabbing pain on the top of my left shoulder. I've had this in many races and it usually carries over to the run. I've gotten it on 3 different bikes, so I'm not sure it's a fit issue or what. I lowered the effort a bit, but not completely wussing out. Looking back at the HR data, I lowered my HR by about 5bpm and was able to relieve the pain.

Overall, I only passed a few and got passed by about 8 or so. I really had no idea about my time and not sure if I might have gone a little too hard (before the stitch).



Not much. I think I paced myself well, but I'd like to know what causes the shoulder stitch/pain. It is the same shoulder I messed up my rotator cuff and I've rarely also gotten the same pain while running (standalone).

Another good, fast transition for me.

Rack position

I felt great right off the bike. It felt like I was going slowly, but I was right at an 8min pace. I kept it as I felt good and thought I'd be able to maintain it. Not far in I see the leader. He's wearing his whitey-tightys. I figured he lost his swimsuit in the lake and that's all he had in transition, but I realized later he (and another or two?) threw them on over their speedo.

I kept my pace letting a couple of runners pass and leave me and I passed one or two here and there. I'm still feeling real good and am going for a negative split to get me sub-8 overall. During an out and back off the main path, I see Clint and figure he's gaining on me and can tell he's working hard. I figure it's just a matter of time. At the turnaround, I see Clint right on my heels. At the 2mi mark, I hear him breathing behind me and then pick up the pace slightly to try for the neg split and see if I can keep Clint behind. I skipped the water stops and never looked back. He definitely motivated me to the finish.

Nothing; best tri-run ever.

Drank lots of Gatorade & water. Congratulated Clint and Gina for both winning their AG, and ate some baked potato, bananas, oranges, & watermelon (oh, and there was that beer :) )


Limited OWS and less time on the bike than what I would have liked by this time of the year.

I'm very happy with my performance in this race. I've made a 7 minute improvement over last year at this race.


I absolutely love this race. Nice, small race. Did I mention they start at 8am? The post race is as good as any, the bike course is simple (turnwise) and challenging, and there is decent shade on the run course.

My only complaint is there is basically no security in the transition area.