Split at swim exit was actually 21:30 for a 1:19/100y which I'm really happy about. Didn't wear my wetsuit top which I think was a good move. Had no arm restriction but good leg floatation. My line was very good. Effort was pretty easy. I really enjoyed this swim and performed very well. When I saw my swim split I thought I was going to have a breakout day.

Nothing.

Our rack was the farthest possible from the swim finish and the bike exit. We had to run about 100 yds further than the pros to our rack, then 100 yds back to the bike exit. Didn't feel like running that far in my speedplays so I attached my shoes to my bike which worked kinda ok. I can probably knock 20-30 seconds off my bike split if I can learn to get into my shoes better which I will before the 5430 long.

Practice.

Not happy with this bike. The big hill hurt me bad and I was very hot. At 185 lbs, I know I'm not a good climber compared to some of the front range guys. I think I lost a ton of time on the hill. Got passed by one guy like I was standing still. I eventually caught and passed him on the flats but I know the top riders gained many minutes on me up the hill.

I live right off an almost identical hill (~10% grade, ~600 foot climb). Before next years race I'm going to train like crazy on this hill and get those minutes back. All my rides are hilly but the grades are 2-5% which is completely different than sustained 10%. I finish on 300' of the the 10% grade but I'm tired so it's mostly just survival. I need to train seriously on that pitch with fresh legs. I'm going to have to ride in some heat as well. While I wasn't tortured by the heat like in the run, I think it slowed me significantly.

Took my feet out of my shoes way, way early compared to the pros which I got to watch. This cost me some time on the bike. My dismount off the bike was weak compared to them. Need to practice this stuff. Otherwise a good T2.

Practice

The heat killed me. Ran the whole thing but it was absolute torture. I just can't run in 70 degree weather every day and expect to compete in 95 degrees with no wind.

One good thing about the run is that at about mile five, three guys from my age group passed me. I tried super hard to hang with them and did. In the last 0.1 miles I pushed hard and passed two of them into the finish. And as it turns out, one of them was the only other participant that lives here in Breck.

Run more. Run in some heat.

Sat in the lake for about 30 minutes and tried to hydrate. Went into the beer tent to find BT friends but I was too dehydrated to partake. Head felt like it was going to explode.


Heat. Initially, I was disappointed in my time as I though I'd go about 10 minutes faster. But my expectations needed a reality check and I got it. Looking forward to taking some minutes off next year and competing better in my AG.


My only problem with this race is that they are very environmentally conscious yet they require 1500 people to drive twice to the venue for packet pickup which negatively offsets everything they do environmentally many times over. Plus it wastes a lot of people's valuable time. Allow people to pay extra to have their packets mailed and do a race meeting via the internet or conference call if neccessary.