Started off at a strong pace and sat around 6th place or so until around 10 minutes in, then moved up to 4th at the end when a few runners ahead of me missed the turn (the turn was explained prior to the start). Felt very comfortable throughout. At about 2 miles, got a sharp stomach cramp that took a lot of deep breathing to go away. Never bothered me again.

Not much. The 1st-3rd runners were rabbits and ran in a pack together.

The transition area is grassy and soaking wet from last night's heavy rain. So I ditched the normal plan of keeping my shoes on the pedals so my socks wouldn't get soaked. Didn't like running in my cleats. Felt like my helmet wasn't fitting right as I ran out and everyone started screaming at me that it was on backwards. It was. What a douche. Of course my wife was right there taking pictures of it. So I lost another ten seconds or so turning it around.

Put my helmet on right. Definitely prefer running with no shoes and mounting with shoes already on the pedals.

My goal was to really "hammer" the bike because I tend to lose a lot of time. Having rode the course a few times previously, I knew to ride hard on the first part of the course since there was a killer wind out of the south. I felt pretty good in general and constantly tried to push. But the first turn heading back north was like hitting a wall. Just did the best I could.
Was passed for the first time around American Furniture by another duathlete on a tri bike. The second one came just before Jordan Road. So I was really happy with this. In duathlon, I run ok but get killed on the bike so the fact that I held off some of these faster guys through most of the race was nice.

My average was about 18 mph and at first I wasn't very happy with this. Last season, I was around 20 mph. But the fastest duathlete ride was around 21 mph and it looked like the triathlon averages were slower than normal as well. So I'm hoping the wind slowed everyone else down like it did me.

Again, I kept my cleats on because of the wet grass. Still a good time here. The two other guys that passed me had about a minute and 30 seconds on me respectively and I left transition with the second guy. Fastest T2 for the duathlon!

Nothing.

Was a little worried because I felt like I'd rode harder than normal but I actually felt pretty good on this run after about a half mile. Moved to 5th place right away and then caught 4th place a few minutes later. The top three were literally over a mile ahead of me so not much more I could do. Worked on picking off other triathlete runners with the ultimate goal of catching this fast kid that blew by at the start of the run. Right hip a little tight but loosened up. No cramps.
Caught the kid with about 1/4 mile left as he was fading. Good, strong finish.

Still have more in the tank.

Walked around, stretched. Hip getting a bit sore. Hung out with the family for a little while at the playground and then we headed home.


Inconsistant training. Some recent bugs. Home with a sick kid all week had me confined to the house so I wasn't happy with my taper.


What I wouldn't give for mile markers on the run. Why do so many races neglect this? Shouldn't have to Garmin every race should I?

Otherwise, another well run race.