I started out to the right side of most of the other swimmers. I was bumped some but nothing too bad. I know that I could swim somewhat faster if I tried to stay with a group or draft off of someone but I really didn't wat to deal with any of that. I tried to keep away from others as much as possible. At one point I could feel someone on my heals for probably at least 100 meters or so and i couldn't lose him but I was tired of him hitting my legs. I stopped and let him go around me. Made sure I stayed clear of him from that point.

I can't say I was disappointed with the swim but I was felling pretty good and expected that I was under 30-minutes. Time in my watch was 30:43.

I just never can get it together in transitions. For one thing, I have fat ankles that seem to make wetsuit removal a major ordeal for me. I never practice this and I'll just accept that I'm going to loose a couple minutes here.

I hadn't been on Old Stage for about 15 years so I rode the course the day before the race just to remind myself of what I was getting into. Usually I eat a gel in transistion but today I grabbed one and put it in my back posket and ate it on the ride. But I must have been a little sloppy as I notices I head gel all over my hands, handle bars, water bottle and just about everywhere else. What a mess! I sprayed what I though was water from my water bottle then realized it was Cytomax. I don't know what I was thinking...I eat gels all the time during rides and have never had this happen. Next time I think I'll just do the gel in the TZ.
The climb up Old Stage is really a hard climb...I did see several people walking their bikes. It is a short climb though and riding it the day before helped me pace myself for the ascent. The decent down was fun but I think they need to lose the 35mph speed limit. I mean how much safer is it to have someone watching there computer to make sure they aren't DQ'd for speeding then it is to just let them ride and watch the road? Anyway, I was careful to keep it under 35 in the safety zone.

Overall I'm fairly happy with the bike...especially to the point of getting to the top of Old Stage. I could have pushed harder on the flat portion of the course but I knew it was going to be killer hot for the run. I don't do well in the heat so I held back some and made sure I drank lots in anticipation for the run. In hindsight I wish I would have pushed just a little harder to get my average speed over 20mph.

this transition was much faster than my first one but could have been better. My spot was about as close as you could be to the bike dismount area. I just couldn't get moving. On top of that, they guy who had the spot next to mine did a nice job racking his bike at an angle. Kinda pissed me off at the time but it was a nice bike. I took the time to move it before racking my bike.

not a great transition but I've done much worse.

I told myself before getting off the bike was to just keep my legs moving for the run and not worry about my speed. I figured if I just kept running I would be around 9-minute miles. I know I am capable of faster than that but the heat was taking it toll on me. This wasn't going to be a fast run for me today. I took water at every aid station (would walk a bit); I would drink some and then also dump a cup over my head to try to cool down some. Nobody looked like they were having a lot of fun out there on the run. I am impressed with the toughness of alot of the women in the 20-24 AG which started after my wave. I was passed by a few of them on the run and I could hear them breathing as they approached me. I could see they were hurting but they kept it strong and steady in the hot sun. Again, not a great run for me (my splits were all over the place) but if there is a bright side is I finished strong. My first mile was 8:17...my last mile was under 7:30.

I waited until the 5-mile mark before I realy tried to push the pace. Obviously I had more left in me than I had thought. I should have tried pushing a little harder throughout the run. Of course, that could have backfired.

they wad cold wet towels at the finished and that felt so good over my head! I walked to the shade and drank a bottle of water and stretched my back...which bothered me some almost the entire bike and run. Grabbed some food and then hung out for a while and had a couple beers.


This was my first olympic tri since I did Boulder Peak back 1994. I don't remember it hurting this much back then. Of course, I was also in better shape back when I was 33 than at 47. More than anything I don't feel I was mentally focused for the race. We had been on a family road trip through SE New Mexico getting home on Friday night. I didn't exercise at all during the week and also consummed a lot of beer, cheeseburgers, hotdogs, and lots of other junk food that is so appetizing when camping! I always try to taper before a race but a week off is a little much. Anyway, I just didn't think about racing pretty much all week and when I did get home I almost talked myself out of doing the race at all. I just wasn't as pumped up about racing as I normally am.



This is a great race. I enjoyed it back in the early 90s when I raced it and I enjoyed it yesterday as well. I love the bike course and I thing the RD does a great job overall organizing this event. Something that I think they should change is packet pick-up. Seems to me it's really a waste of time and fuel to drive and pick up a race packet the day before (120-miles for me RT). I know they have the pre-race meeting but I skipped it and had no issues because of it. I think they could make this optional. I like the race but it just ties up too much of my weekend. I'm not saying I won't do it again...but most likely I'll look for races closer to home.