I was really excited about this start. This is the only race where I get to be in the first wave. So, I sprinted early and too fast. I got a little winded as we approached the first turn and actually felt a bit of panic. This is crazy, I'm 4 minutes into a sprint and feeling panic? I'm training for an ironman. WTF?

Anyway, fought through the panic and rounded the buoy. Passed one more guy and then I was essentially in a no man's land. Nobody in front of me for a long way. So, no drafting.

If I would have played it right I could've gotten on the feet of a good swimmer at the first turn. But it took too long to get around one guy and by that time the other swimmer was too far up.

This transition did not go well. Got the glasses and helmet on but as I bent to put on my shoes I got dizzy and almost fell over. Kept leaning to the left and couldn't get my shoes on. Then, once I finally got the shoes on I couldn't get the bike off the rack.

Even worse, the photographer had followed me from the swim and was snapping pictures the whole time. I look like a dork trying to get my bike out.
http://thetimesnews.mycapture.com/mycapture/folder.asp?searchstr=&s...
Photos 97-99

I may actually need to learn to put my shoes on while on the bike. This dizzyness thing really bothered me.

The original goal was to ride hard and if someone passed me to try to stay in sight of them for as long as I could. Of course, the first pass was made before even leaving the park. It wasn't until mile 5 that another guy went by. And then another, and another. I think I counted 6 that passed me during the ride.

Honestly, I rode as hard as I could, and didn't pass a single person. I guess that is the downside of starting in the first wave and being a good swimmer. I just figured that there would be at least one fish in front of me without good bike speed. Not today.

Maybe in another year I'll work on speed. This year is IM training, so there really hasn't been any speedwork. Still, I was only 20 seconds slower than last year.

This was going fine. Ran to the rack and got my bike in a lot faster than I got it out. Went to bend over for my stuff and realized that I was in the wrong rack. BRILLIANT!

Got the bike out and went down 2 more racks. Helmet off, shoes off, shoes on, grab race belt and go.

Maybe go to the right bike rack?

First off, I don't know where the timing mat was for the T2/run. I hit my watch at where the run exit was and timed a 21:35 run. So, the official time is way different. And I remember noticing no matt at where it should be and don't remember ever seeing one.

Anyway, I decided to go way out on this and try to pass people. I got a number of them pretty quick and then actually got passed by several others. I ran as hard as I could, knowing that everyone would be struggling on that course.

For the second lap it was impossible to know if the people you are passing or who are passing you are on the same lap. It is tough to race, so you just have to go your pace.

Cold towel and food.


This is a well run race, as most are by Setup. While I finishd pretty well and raced as hard as I could, I just never felt like I had it all together. The swim took a minute longer than last year, although that could have been a course issue. The bike ride was 20 seconds longer than last year. The run was about a minute faster than last year. Overall was about a minute slower, same AG rank and moved up 2 on the OA rank.