This race had a ton of first timers, which meant almost no one properly seeded their swim.

The first 100 was strong as I was able to draft with a girl who was about my same ability. We were making good progress through the crowd until she faded right around the 100m mark. I pressed on and found some feet to cling to, but most people's kicks were so random and uncoordinated that it was hard to do, so I just sucked it up and moved on.

After 300, I finally found someone who I could draft behind and followed her down to the wall. When she hit the wall to turn back, she got to the flags and started breast stroking....right next to another guy doing the same thing. I quickly caught up to the pair, and after taking a few feet and hands to the face, managed to swim between the two of them.

The final 200 were uneventful. The slow people were sorted out within the first 300, leaving people at about my speed in the final 200. I did end up towing one guy the final 50.

Overall it was a good swim. It wasn't very fast, but on par with my current times. The big difference I noticed was the ability to turn it up when I needed to pass someone or break their draft without hurting my overall endurance. I am also finally getting comfortable enough in groups to be more aggressive and actually worry about tactics.

Seed myself farther up. My actual pace for the swim was right at my seed pace, yet I was swimming over people almost constantly. I was not the only one in this situation either. The first group to go to the pool were supposed to be the 'fast' swimmers, but by the time I could see the water, there were a ton of people breast stroking and clinging to the walls and ropes... Realistically, I should have been within the first 40 people to have a clean swim.

Not my fastest T1, and not my cleanest, but it's been a while. I did manage to get really good rack position (right on the end), so it was no problem to get to my stuff.

I still can't ride sockless in my current shoes and they aren't Tri shoes, so the 'flying dutchman' mount is a no go. This cost me a little time as I had issues with my right sock, but I still made it out cleanly.

invest in real tri shoes that I can ride sockless and learn to jump on the bike.

This was a perfect day for a bike race. The temps were cool and the course was flat. I have been having some issues running fast lately, so I decided that full out race pace here was a bad idea, so I raced a tad conservatively.

For as many beginners as were at this race, I was really surprised by the bike course. I saw ZERO people drafting. Everyone was riding to the right and following the rules. The only 'issue' I had was when a rider pulled out to the yellow line to allow me to pass on the right. I asked him to move back over and he apologized as I passed.

Ride harder. I had some leftover when I got back to T2 that I didn't need out on the run.

There are two drives leading into the parking lot where trans is located. Every time I come to swim at this pool, I always accidentally pull into the first. Today was no exception. I pulled my feet out of the shoes in preparation to hit the first entrance, when I really had another 100m or so.

Coming into transition, was kind of funny. After the turn, the transition area is maybe 50 feet into the parking lot. I make this turn at full speed and swing my leg over to jump off, the whole time all the volunteers are screaming 'DISMOUNT!!!' as I'm squeezing every last inch out of the road. The look on their face was priceless. After the race, my wife said that the guy just before me had actually ridden all the way into transition, which is why they were panicking that I was slowing down.

After dismount, I hit the ground running and found my rack...kind off. Apparently there was someone with the same shoes and a very similar looking towel as me, three racks down. So I run in, spot 'my' shoes and get ready to rack my bike...only to see it's not my spot. So I have to unrack it and run down 3 more racks. If not for that mistake, T2 would have easily been in the mid 20s.

Remember where my rack is

I have been having issues with my running all summer, especially higher intensity stuff, so I was pleased by this effort. I hit pace early out of T2 and held steady until the last mile or so, where I started to pick it up. I felt really strong the entire race, but could feel I was walking the edge.

run more

lack of training...mostly swimming. If I could have swam a 'pedestrian' 2 /100, I would have gained 6 places. 15 more seconds per 100 and a real run effort would put me in striking distance of the podium.


This was the first year for this race and I have to say it was probably one of the best organized and managed races I have ever done. It was 50%+ first time racers and yet went very smoothly. There were some hiccups, caused by a TON of late entries (I think they said they had 100 more people then they planned for), but you honestly couldn't tell. The bike and run courses were almost excessively marked and had multiple volunteers at all the corners directing traffic. All the major intersections had police presence to direct traffic and I even saw something at this race I have NEVER seen before. As I approached the final turn on the bike, I saw race volunteers sweeping the corner. They didn't just do it before the race..they were keeping it swept between riders.

The price was a little high, but it was to support the Fishers swim club and the race was organized and run so well, I really can't complain.