Well, here we are, swim start, we had 4 age groups in my start, and i got a great spot right in front off to the left, the idea was to go just outside the first turn buoy, and keep clear of the bottle neck at the turn. So some guys comes up with a bull horn and starts signing the National Anthem, i give him credit for trying...really i do, he did better than I would have anyway.... So the announcer gives the speach and starts the count down, gets to 10 secs and stops, so we are all like...????? then the horn goes off and there is 150 doods scrambling for the same 15' of water space, god i love this part!!!! I love the washing machine!!!! I have a good lineand am drafting some 6'4" dood in a speedo, we are not talking jammers, we are talking full on bannana hammock, so anyway i follow him for 150 meters or so and he starts going right at the turn buoy, andi was like see ya, have fun in that clusterfuck, i actually went too wide on the first buoy...by like 10 yards!!!!! Idiot, at least i was in totally clear water, the only problem was i had no one to draft off of. The course is rectangle, but the way the beach curves the buoys actually get further out from each other, so even though i was really wide on the first turn buoy, i sighted off the last buoy and stayed clear of the field. Today was not my best swim, it was average, and i will take it, i have not done alot of speed wprk lately, but a lot of longer distance stuff and it showed when i got out of the water. So down the back stretch they come, one long strung out line of fish in the water, and there is this lone swimmer 10 yards to the outside of them...yup you guessed it...me!!! So after the long back stretch i make a perfect approach at the last turn buoy and head for shore, and now it is a drag race, all the fast doods that killed themselves i am picking off 1 by 1 in the last 200 meters, i get out of the water and my friends yess and say i was about 20-25 out of water...i will take that anyday!!! Sprint up the beach unzip wettie, pull off my Cool Lime Green Cap!!! and goggles and into Transition i a go!!!

more speed work in pool, but Mom i dont want to go to the pool, the ocean is sooooooooo nice this time of year!!!!!!

So i come flying up the beach and into T1, i have the second el Primo rack spot in the first rack into Trans, so i do the old wettie down...step...and stomp routine and there is my wettie in a nice pile, grab and toss...bend down for bike shoes, on and on, get up grab sunglasses on, helmet....helmet...helmet....i could not get the friggin helmet clasped....ok on, bike off rack and out to my favorite part!!!

Clip helmet on first tri, what more could i say, i had the 14th fastest T1 of 632 racers, who am i to complain!!!

So as i get all set up and unrack my bike, i start jogging out of T1, the good thing about the Crank Brothers pedals and cleats is that the cleat is recessed in a plastic enclosure, so between the cleats and the grass transition area I had sure footing and no problems. As i am leaving a guy who came in behind me has unracked and is beating me out of T1, he has the slick shoes rubberbanded to his bike trick and i am thinking maybe i should try that. so we cross the mat front to back jump on our bikes and i clip in and go, while Mr. Slick Shoes on bike is struggling to get his feet into his shoes...Later dood i am Chatta here!!!! You start out in the park on the long driveway..about 3/4 mile long and i have already picked off 4 or 5 guys and am hammering the flats, i get a slight twinge in my hamme and am like...no...i can't cramp already...i just started...i slowed my cadence a hair and it went away, never to be felt again fortunately!!! We get out of the park and get on the main roads and i am still picking off the few guys that got out before me, we make the hard right to the first short hard climb and i shift down to the big cassette gear and keep the front in the big ring, i start the hill of nice and smooth and pass 3 other guys and when the cadence get s up i get out of the saddle and hammer it to the top...now my left calf twinges...ummmm WTF???? I get to the top and get back into the saddle and viola..pain is gone...?? ok, whatever...so we make the quick left up top and then the quick right out past the golf course, small roller, which i did not even feel, pass a few more guys, down the back sideto the flat hammering the whole way, still picking off guys and then to the big climb. At this point i recalled a coversation where i had with Jim (birkierunner) about longish climbs, Scott from Mass popped in and sent me a link to an article which broke the clims down into 3 phases. i followed it to a T, starting off the climb easy and then picking up intensity and speed, i am 3/4 the way up the hill and i get passed the first time, some dood griding uo the hill on a full really cool looking monococque bike, looked like a BP stealth or something, i let him go and a big ole' clyde like me pulls up next to me and i started to put the power down, last third of the hill i up shifted and got up and hammered over the top and started the one long descent, i go blowing by Clydemonster and Monococque boy downhill and get ready to make the left back to the beach, us 3 would see alot of each other for the next loop and a half. I am hammering downthe flats and there is no one ahead of me, i am thanking the police and the volunteers, pass some friends who are volunteeering and yelling and screaming for me, it was really cool. So we come back into the beach area and hundreds of riders are streaming out with the look of disbelief that there are guys finishing their first laps, the crowd is cheering and me Clydemonster and monoboy are flying to the turnaround, we go inside, i get up and start hammering out of the beach again. At this point we are passing dozens of the riders from later waves, male female old and young. Out of the beach and start the second loop. The second loop was pretty much like the first out up left right down and start the climb again, Mono boy goes by me and says, i have you this time...then he says till we get to the top, and starts laughing, Clydemonster goes by me again, so i hammer it a little early and follow him up, we ar both yelling at the tops of our lungs ON YOUR LEFT, every five seconds, we are going by peeps wholesale absolutely killing the course, we get to the top of the climb and sure enough i go past both on the downhill, wqe make the left onto the return to the beach and there is this old lady in a white BMW, we catch her right before a corner take the free draft, she starts to slow and we go blowing by her on the left, i look over as i go by and there is this little old lady with this look of HOLYSHIT where did they come from??? we get past her and start the end hammerfest into the beach, into the loop and feet out of shoes, first left then right, back on top and then into dismount, i go to do a flying dismount position and see this huge freakin pothole, ooops back onto bike, lose a few secs, get passed it and slow and jump, not my best effort, but i did not carry a ton of speed since we had a turn and pothole and flat right before dismount. I jump off the bike grab it by the toptube and carry it into T2. Rack it and get ready for the run!!!!

Not much. 33/632 after just about a year of riding, what can i complain about???

So i rack my bike, the rack is EMPTY!!! what a great feeling!!! helmet off shoes...shoes...shoes...uggghhh, had a hard time getting my shoes on, had the zip laces a little too tight, get them on, pick up visor and race belt and start leaving, get halfway to run out and DROP MY FREAKIN BELT!!!!!! arrgghh, stop turnaround and pick it up...jackass!!!!! Probably only cost me 3 seconds, at least i finally ran the correct way out of transition!!!

Little looser on shoes and not drop belt.

Well, now comes the run, for those that have read my reports, they know the fiasco it is for me, part size, part mental...ok alot mental..part not trained enough. I just don't WANT to run as much as swim and bike. Today was going to be different, i had made a private pact with myself, after choking up a top 100 in ridgefield with a lousy run/walk that was all mental, i promised myself i would run the ENTIRE RUN, no ifs ands or buts about it, HARDEN THE FUCK UP, get it done, the pain is only temporary, the dissapointment never leaves, it still pisses me off to this day about Ridgefield, every run, conversation bout it, i was not letting it happen again period!! So my goal was to run out of T2 and settle into a nice little pace, let my HR settle and then try to hold a 10 min pace forthe first mile or so, the only complaint i have is that the run course was not marked for splits, so i settled into a nice run, i am saying to mysef...self...you are gonna do this, so we go out up the beach to the turn around and i have only been passed by two doods, i am starting to get more and more confidence, we come back down the beach, i get passed again, but unlike before, these guys are not just blowing by and dropping me like a bad habit, i am keeping up!!!! and they look like how i feel!!! lol. So we get off the beach and it happens.........I get "chicked", lol our very own Megan Kelly (jellyfish) not only does she chick me, she stop right next to me and ala Lance Armstong, looks me dead in the eye and says nice job, looking good, then drops me like a bad habit!!! I yell "GO GETUM PUMPKIN" as she runs off into the sunrise, i continue my death march ot the beach area get into the marina area and here comes the first dood, and he is wearing a Mossman Jersey, he puts his hand up and High fives me as i go passed him, totally cool, he was sporting the #1 number from being last years champion!!! i get into the neighborhood and i hear my name again...from another FEMALE!!!! Chicked Times 2, this one is Megan's Target Training Teammate Kristin, i thought it was kinda cool that both the top 2 females called me out by name!!! So i yell Go getum Kristin!!! and she is absolutely hauling ASSSSS, poof gone, i look at my watch and i cannot believe my eyes, i am just over an hour and i have about half the run left, now i am pumped and i pick up the pacethrough the hood, out onto the main road turn right and head back, I am smelling the blood in the water, PR is in site, i go by our old president and he is screaming at me, you got this 1 mile to go, pick it up, gogogogogogogogo!!! So i fond that ever elusive gear i am always looking for, back into beach, get passed a few more times, but i am looking at my watch, I HAVE THIS, keep the pace, keep those legs moving, as i round the corner, there is all my friends and my wife, they had a cowbell and are rattling that thing like it is going outa style, i hear this and put on the after burners, i am in full sprint, there is the finish line, i have this it is mine!!!!!!!! full sprint through the finish shoot...PR BABY!!!! look at my watch 26:14 5K PR BABY!!!!! YYYEEESSSS FINALLLY!!!!!!! God am i fucking Tired!!!!!! Oh and i did not walk a step, i finally got my mind over matter, now i know i can do this.

lose another 20 lbs and gain 1 min mile faster pace. other than that 5K PR

went to hospitality tent, got water and some food, found friends and winners hugs high fivves and kisses all around. Went back to my friends and started cheering and ringing a cowbell for all the other racers and too see my friends that were behind me finish.


not much, i am leaving this blank, there is no reason to nit pick the gretest to date performance of my short Tri career


Thanx everyone for reading this short novel, it means alot to me when you do, i know it is long for a sprint..can you imaging NY next week or my HIM in October...thoses are gonna take a while, lol