Jumped in close to the wall to get a good push-off. Tried for nice, easy, smooth stokes. At about 40yds, I caught #35. I thought about just sitting on his feet, but I saw a gap and sprinted for a pass. In the last 100, I caught and passed one more, then exited the ladder.

I probably could have seeded myself a little higher, but I checked and the first guy I passed missed the time by 30".

Decent transition for me. John (jcagg90) came over to cheer me on, then I was gone. Noticed my Garmin was off, so I turned it on in hopes of getting a lock before I started riding.

I took the transition spot farthest from the aisle, so that cost me a few seconds. This and keeping my shoes on my bike cost me some time. Having my Garmin on before T1 would have been nice.

This time is exactly the same as last year, but I was farther from the swim exit, so it's still improvement.

Goal was to push hard on the bike and hopefully break 40'. I immediately went aero and started hard. The Garmin didn't have a lock, but I started it anyway, albeit a little late. Passed a few on 205 and turned for the hills. I'm pushing a good pace and remembering the hill that left me pedaling 10mph on the flat on top. I got passed twice on this stretch, but kept the second guy in my sights. I managed pretty well over the hill and was able to keep pedaling afterwards. At this point, I knew I'd beat last year's bike split but still needed to push myself.

The middle of the course is pretty flat and fast coming back. I found a few people to pass and did my best to remain strong. With about 3-4 miles left, my back started to hurt a little. I stretched it a bit and realized the pain was higher than normal. I did my best to find a good position that didn't cause more grief and still allowed me ride hard. Based on HR, I did slow up a bit out of cautiousness, but not too much.

I drank as often as I could. I had the AquaCell with Infinit & water. I ended up drinking mostly when going downhill as I found this was the easiest.

Ride my tri-bike more. In hindsight, this probably caused my back pain more than anything else. I've fiddled with my fit and have not put much saddle time on it.

Good transition and probably my best running dismount yet.

I'd have surely been under 40" with my bike closer to the aisle.

Started with my cap and Garmin in hand. I can feel the back pain a little and again realized this was different and convinced myself I'd be fine. After the first minute of running, I felt normal and never thought about it again. Fumbled a bit while running with both and put the Garmin in run mode. Pace on the Garmin was shaky at the beginning with the trees and curves, but I'm sure I was in the 6:xx range the first 1/4 mile. I slowed myself a little and ran by feel. I had to shake off some shoulder pain, but it went away pretty quickly without me having to slow down considerably.

Once on the pavement, I settled into a pace I felt I could hold the entire race. Glance down and see it's 7:30; sweet! I had thought about skipping all aid stations, but at the turnaround, I walked a few seconds to put down some Gatorade. Shortly thereafter, I got a small side stitch and regretted the stop. It wasn't too bad and I was able to fight through it.

I was almost done and for the first time I can remember, I couldn't muster up a quicker pace for the last 1/4 mi. The multiple 90* turns at the end also did a good job at keeping the pace down, but I didn't have a sprint left in me at the finish. I was spent.

Not stop for water/gatorade. In a race this short, I should be fine by hydrating on the bike and skipping all aid stations on the run.

Drank alot of water, ate some fruit, breakfast tacos, & donuts my family brought. Talked a bit with the BT racers (Craig & Johnny) and 'strapers (John, Gary, Jen, & Karen) and hung out with my wife, kids, and parents until the awards.

Congrats to Craig (Docshock1964) for winning his piece of the Rock.


Time in the saddle with my tri bike. I also really need to ride more in general.