I kind of messed this up. How long have I been doing this and I still have to teach myself how to race every year? Seeded myself to the left front and took off like a rocket (mistake number 1). For some reason, I thought I could hold my all out 100m pace for the "short" 400m. With water in the goggle to boot. Sure, I was the first one to the buoy, but then I couldn't breath. So, I figured, I would do some backstroke and get the water out of my goggle to catch my breath. While doing this, I got passed, so I tried to catch the dude's feet. Again, I went way beyond threshold to do this (How many stupid mistakes can one make in a 6' swim - stay tuned). So, I caught him and hung with him awhile until I started to hyperventalate. Then my brain kicked in a bit and I let him go (found out after the race, that he missed his wave and was in wave 4. I know this b/c he ended up beating my overall by 3s and we talked about our races afterwards.

After I slowed down and got my HR back down to LT, I started to swim towards the boats instead of the mats. I miscalculated and kept with that line until about 50m in when I realized the other people I was laughing at were actually going the right way, and I was not.

Anyway, I got to the edge of the water in 6:20, which was 20s slower than last year, but I used up much more energy in the process.

I ended up with the fastest swim split in our age group, but it should have been much better.

Start out slower, Start out Slower, Start out slower. I had to repeat this, so next time I actually will do that. I think with this being my first triathlon since IMWI '08, I got a little juiced up to kill it. Lake Mills: 1, Schmize: 0.

T1 was OK. I actually had issues getting the wetsuit off (maybe an extra 5 sec than normal). I also put my helmet upside down with one of the holes over the aerobottle straw, thinking this would save time. Well, when I pulled it up, the straw went flying into the next row (probably another 5s). So, I definitely should have beat a minute. Even so, this was the 2nd fastest T1 in our AG, so I took some advantage of the free speed available.

Really yank the left leg of the suit. It ALWAYS gets stuck on timing chip, so I need to get after that. And put my aerohelmet on my seat like normal.

I had the AG lead here for about 20 seconds of the bike. Since I did the shoes in the bike trick, I was playing around with the velcro on my shoes going up that first hill. Not smart, should have waited until I crested the hill and then put the shoes on....like the 2 guys that passed me going up. I knew one of them was in my AG, and had to assume the other was, as well. The one guy was a rocket ship, but I kept the gap pretty close (20-30s) between the second one, whom I called "tall dude".

I pedaled as hard as I could once my HR settled down. It had started to rain, and it was cold, especially on my knees and toes. Arms were OK, even though they were bare. I figured if I hammered, the extremities would warm up. Lots of traffic and turns to negotiate with wet, slick roads made for a bunch of slowing down and speeding back up. Hard to find a rhythm.

After about 5 miles, another dude with a fire jersey passed me. He wasn't going great, so I passed him back. I thought I had left him, but he must have been hanging on my wheel, b/c he passed me back. His AG wasn't on his calf, but figured he was in ours, so I decided to pass him once and for all on the next hill. I hammered up the hill and then just kept pressing. I had dropped him finally.

Hammered it all the way to the finish, feet out of shoes, and nice dismount to T2. I had actually caught tall dude, as he was having issues with the tongue of his racing flats and was sitting down in transition.

I definitely did not have my bike legs. I pushed hard, but there was nothing there. I have to guess this was fatigue from my anti-taper (240 miles in the 7 days before the race). The fact that my HR was 8 bpm less than last year's effort seems to verify that rationale. Should have been in the 235W+ range, methinks.

Therefore, a nice little taper would add to my overall speed in this split.

This went well. I racked the bike, put on my shoes, grabbed the garmin/hat and was off (race number was already on for bike). My T2 was the 2nd fastest by 1 second in the AG. So, this is where I moved back into 2nd place in our division.

Nothing. I did stutter step, as I thought I must be forgetting something, but pressed on. Did not cost me any time.

Run started out less than ideal. Firstly, as I was trying to get my Garmin on around my wrist, tall dude passed me....like I was standing still. I didn't even try to stay with him, as he was running like a gazelle (later found he ran 17:xx). So, now I knew I was 3rd AG, and had to do my best to hold that position. However, I could not feel my toes and most of my feet. I just kept turning over the legs, hoping they would warm up.

This wasn't horrible because it kept my pace relatively slow, so I didn't go out and blow myself up like I did on the swim. After the first mile, I started to get some feeling back, and by mile 1.5 after the water break, I really started to feel good (a first for the day). Turnover and form were great, and it felt like I was running downhill.

At this time, I see fire jersey dude and he is moving fast. And just when I thought I could put it on a fast cruise control, I needed to push it beyond uncomfortable. So, with 1.1 miles to go, I started to get into the lower 6s and get myself into the "I wanna puke" state. With about .5 miles to go, fire jersey dude passes me...but slowly. I get on his feet and we are running the same pace all the way to the hill. He actually surged down the hill and separated from me. I couldn't let him go, so I surged with everything, and actually got to his shoulder and he found another gear. Ended up finishing 3 seconds in front of me.

So, much for the podium...or so I thought.

Run splits (turned in a nice negative split..ideally, would like to see it a little more even):

1m: 7:01, 150ahr
2m: 6:48, 155ahr
3m: 6:25, 160ahr

1m: 5:48, 162ahr

I would probably do a couple more bricks. I had only done one all year, and my legs felt like that was all I had done. The feet being cold sucked, but probably a blessing in disguise as I just kept getting faster.

Grabbed some water and fire jersey came over to congratulate me. Said, his goal was to pass me on the run after I dropped him on the bike. He said I really pushed him to the finish, as he could hear my footsteps and after the little hill to the street thought i was done. Surprised him when I ended up on his shoulder. He then explained to me that he went with our wave b/c he was late for his own wave. Nice. This meant that I would make it to the podium for 2 straight years at this event. Sometimes, you have to be lucky, rather than be good. Although, I do find the harder I train, the luckier I get ;)

Got on some warm clothes, and went back to cheer the rest of the athletes. Had a nice brunch with Holly and my cousins on the way home.


Going out too fast in the swim. Can't win it there, but sure can eff up your race. The anti-taper (17 hours of training since Monday). And probably should have done a couple more bricks. Finally, the weather, but that was the same for all.


Great event. They really do a good job. Nice lake, nice shirt, nice breakfast burritio, orange, banana combo and good fluids after the race (Diet Dew - have never seen that before).

It would be nice if they kept the transition area locked down better. Too many people in that area, including non-athletes. Should make the finish line right on the beach before the sand, in the grassy area. Put up a fence/stands whatever.