This is my best race swim ever. No blazing speed, but good and steady with no mental lapses. Never tired or had any issues. Sighted well, drafted a little, minor contact; all in all, very smooth.

Focused on form and relaxing, and actually did well. Imagine that.

Just get faster, but I'm pleased with this one. (Never really been able to write that before.)

Decided to put shoes on at the bike because I wanted to pedal hard right out of TA to build speed for that first hill.

Did well enough for 5th in AG.

Nothing.

Since I was in the last men's swim wave, everyone in front of me was in my AG or younger. Just concentrated on pushing hard up the hills and keeping the speed up. I know I passed some guys in the AG, but wasn't really watching the legs that close.

I really like this course because it has just enough hills to make you work, but you top out just it starts getting hard. Got out of the saddle a number of times and mashed to keep the speed up.

Had to go into opposite lane several times to go around guys riding 2 and 3 abreast and just chatting away. That always irks me. Come on!! Let's race now, socialize later.

The winds were light and it still wasn't that hot yet, so it was a very pleasant ride.

Got passed right at end. A big guy got some serious gravity on the last downhill and slipped past. He wasn't in my AG, so I didn't worry about him.

Got out of the shoes just in time and nailed the dismount into T2.

Nothing. Rode consistently and to my current abilities.

Really good transition. Would've been faster, but I got stuck behind 3 slow guys at a tight spot.

Tied for 1st in AG. (Truth be told; the other guy beat me by 1/10th of a second, but I like being able to say "tied for 1st".)

Avoid 3 slow guys.

Left T2 feeling good and ready to run. My goal was to push the uphills hard and stay steady and even. Had no idea about my placing in the AG, but I knew I was doing well and I did pass one AG guy at the turn-around point.

Getting warm by now; lots of sweat, but not the kind of conditions that slows you down. Not much else to discuss here. Just go run fast and get it done so you can rest. Sprinted on in to the finish line.

Push a bit harder. An acceptable run; I can go faster, but the hills bring the average down a little.

Walked around, got something to drink, ate some fruit, found my wife; the usual routine. The sun was getting tough by now, so it was time to hang out in the shade.

Saw in the preliminary results that I had done pretty well. Found the young lady running timing computer and she confirmed that I had snagged 3rd place. Hung around, got my medal, and podium shot. Cool.

Met up with Brittany again and she'd had a good race also, winning her AG. Between us and Todde (jwithyco) there were at least 3 BT'ers on the podium. Maybe more, but I don't know.


Reduced training levels for the last 1.5 months.


Typical good J&A race with lots of volunteers, music, drinks, and food.

Packed up and headed over to San Marcos to play in the river and cool off.