I was about 5+ seconds per hundred slower than I expected based on practice times. Part was I just came up a bit short in the strength category, but just as important was that I let 3 guys get out in front early. Mental error. Before the race I identified the fastest swimmer and planned to draft behind him. 100 yards into the race I looked up and took a bad sighting and before I knew it they had a gap. I just didn't have the sprinting strength to close the short gap that emerged. The swimmer who came in second I had beaten 2 months before and my swimming times in practice before the race were substantially faster then at that before this race. If I had been 100% I should have been 2nd, but then again who knows. The water conditions were perfect

Nothing. Stay away from my sick 8 year old a week before the race? Not.

This was the funny part of the race. Just coming off my cold I was feeling a bit light headed and was having some concentration problems. In the midst of the transition I pealed off my suit and when I bent over to put on my socks I realized I had only taken one leg out of my suit. I'd never done that before but I laughed it off and moved on. T1 had always been my weakness but I had improved substantially over the course of the season.

Practice taking off my wetsuit at home until it was second nature and didn't require any thinking.

I felt a lot stronger than the warmup the day before, but I lacked the torque for the steeper parts of the hills. I think my concentration was lacking as well. My last tri I had been so focused on the bike and it just wasn't there. I blame it on the residuals from my cold.

Try harder to focus and go a little deeper into the pain. In my last race I kept telling myself that I was in a bike race and not to think about the run. It was a bit risky but it worked out.

I am relatively fast in T2. Again I got a laugh. As I was running away from the rack I realized I had my bathing cap in my hand. How it ended up in my hand with my race belt I'll never know. At the same time I also dropped a pack of GU that had been next to my belt. Someone called out that I dropped something. Without thinking I stopped, picked it up and ran back the 25 feet to my bike. Mental lapse, but as I ran from the transition area I laughed. I had never had anything like this happen before.

Not stop of course.

Legs felt like crap the first mile. So what else is new. This is by far my weakest event. On the good side, I had good focus and ran hard. I always finish the 2nd half of the run faster than the first half and this was the case this day. Two notable things. The weather was cool, but I drank the same amount of as usual. As a result at mile 2, I had to pee so bad. Earlier in the season I had made a similar mistake and just ran with the pain (it was a good distraction from the real pain I felt running). But this time it was too mch. I stopped by the side of the road to relieve myself. It must have been a good 20 seconds, however it was the right decision. It was at the base of a climb and when I started back up my legs felt great and I ultimately passed everyone that had gotten pass me while I was on the side of the road. I picked off a couple of people in my age group. I finished strong and even picked off one more person in my age group in the last 50 yards. We both sprinted down the shoot and I beat him by one second. A small victory, but an enjoyable one. I had nothing left.

Drink less.

Walked around and did a little stretching.


Just repeating myself: Residual of a cold just came up a bit short on strength and clear thinking. This was something out of my control and didn't affect how great I felt about my race. Even if I had been 100% I would still have come up short in qualifying for Worlds. I was just thrilled to have qualified for the race. I had tried a couple of races 2 years before so this was my first serious season. This was my last race of the season and feel like I'm not ready to end it. I can't wait until next year. I am already laying out my 2009 races.


No free beer which is common at many tris I did this summer in Oregon. I was tired and the weather was cool. I didn't stay for the Elite race. I would have liked to. If it had been sunny I would have taken a nap and hung around.