While waiting for a slow swimmer from the previous wave to finish, I was able to warm up in my lane. This helped a lot. The girl in my lane took off fast at the start and was several body lengths ahead before the the first 50. I maintained my pace and worked on getting into a good rhythm and getting my breathing going. At the half way point I picked up the pace a bit and tried to reel in the swimmer in my lane. By the end of the swim I was only a few seconds behind her. My swim time is estimated. I thought I had hit the lap button on my watch, but must have missed it.

Got to my bike. Jennifer's bike was gone. I knew she would be on the bike because she is a fast swimmer. Being in the last wave, there were only about 3 bikes in transition and some people from the first wave were already returning. This transition took for ever. I didn't have a towel to dry my feet. Consequently, I had trouble putting my socks on. Also, my gear was thrown about from all the other people transitioning.

Towel to dry my feet. Try rolling my socks so they go on easier. Try some powder in the socks.

I had planned to use this race as training for the Buffalo Springs Lake HIM next weekend. I had planned to ride in z 1-2 out and z 2-3 back in. Well, that plan desintegrated when I got on the bike. I thought "What the hell?" and rode hard the whole way. The monster head wind was a killer. I passed a guy with really nice Zipp wheels on the overpass/hill. Caught up to Jen about a mile latter. She has a nice, smooth spin. A few miles later one of the tubes in my Saddle Wing came loose. I rubber band the tube into a roll then strap it to the Saddle Wing. The tube fell right on top of my front derailer and crank. Somehow I stopped pedaling in time to balance the tube on my crank, reach down and pick it up. I put it in my jersey and continued on. I'm glad I had rubber bands around the tube. If not, I would have had a mess in my cogs. Once I made the turn, I cruised back to tranisition with the tailwind. Very nice tailwind.

Strap things in the Saddle Wing more securely.

Another slow transition. Had trouble racking my bike. Dropped my helment and had to chase it down the side walk. Took too long to put my shoes on. Started running and realized I still had a rolled up tube in my jersey. Ran back to transition and dropped the tube.

The guys who do really well at sprints have transition times of 30 - 40 seconds.

Correct everything above

I'm getting better at the bike to run transition. This one went smoothly. I concentrated on lowering my HR and getting my breathing under control. After about 5 minutes I was feeling fine and picked up the pace. I kept my HR in z 2-3 for the first half and then let it go for the second half.

I really expected Jen to catch me. I'm a slow runner. She caught me on the 10k run at the Buffmand & Squeaky Oly. I kept looking over my shoulder. Probably just not enough real estate in a sprint for her to catch me.

Not much. If I didn't have the HIM next weekend, I probably would have run the entire 5k in z4.

Joe Moya (Joe M) organized this race. It's been around for about 4-5 years and is part of the Southwest Challenge Series. It was a fun race. The run course is nice - all on campus and most of it on a paved running trail. I would do this one again. It was also great to meet up with fellow BT'ers.

Went to lunch after the race with Jen, Joe and his wife Sharon.