The swim is a shore-line swim, so half of us had a wade start and the other half had a standing in the shallows start. We had a 10 second countdown, and BANG, we are off.

The first 100-150 meters were rough. Definitely a washing machine fight. I had some full contact swimming, but with a few surges I was able to clear myself of the bad stuff. The hardest part was people trying to draft off of my feet and/or people swimming of the back of my legs. That would sink my hips/legs and I could tell my speed would drop. So, a few more hard surges and I was clear of the masses.

My navigation has really come along in the past few races where I am swimming pretty straight with min-navigation (I think my stroke is starting to even out vs pulling left). I still kept an eye on my navigation, but in this race I worked on drafting. After a few tips in a thread from The Captin, Doug (Brown Dog), and a few others I started working on proper drafting from the hip. I would get myself in position and draft along, cruise for a bit, but once I started to over take the individual I would surge to the next person and repeat. I did this until the final turn buoy to return to shore. Personally, I think this course was closer to 500 meters vs 400 meters, because when I came out of the water I did a time check and I was in the low 7:00 range. That would be about spot on for a hard 500 meter swim with drafting,etc. Definitely a strong swim for me after the first 100-150 meters. The rest of the 10 minute swim time was the run to T1, which is a long one.

As I exited the water I pulled off my goggles/cap, and started to peel the ear wax out of my ear. I was able to get it out with no issues, and I saw a trash car half way up the beach. Knowing the USAT rules, I knew I could not just drop it, so I held on until I passed the trash can and threw it in.

I could have definitely swam harder, which I need to do. A faster swim is the missing key to my race.

Still, in my recap I had the following:
- Solid overall swim
- Good navigation
- Good Sighting
- Solid kick
- Good drafting

30 seconds is my normal T1 time, but it should have been faster. Somehow, I got my finger stuck in the helmet straps, and it took me a second to figure that out. Nonetheless, I was happy with T1.

Don't get my finger stuck in the strap.

Came out of T1, mounted, feet into shoes, and up to speed quickly. Then, I started to find my gears. I quickly started to pass several people while exiting the park. I love the way they have designed the park, and it is pretty cool zooming out of it. Lucky for me I am near the front, so there are not a ton of other bikers around or it could get hairy, since the roads are pretty tight. I am sure the main pack of racers have to slow to navigate out of the park within the masses.

Nonetheless, I picked off two more riders on the first hill after leaving the park, and then the positions were pretty much set. I had one guy that I played leap frog with a few times. He would end up coming off the bike in 3rd, me in 4th on his heals.

After the positions got set on the bike, the only real position check I had was at the turn around. When I came upon the turn I saw 1st place rounding the church and heading back to T2, and then 2nd place right behind him. I followed the guy infront of me around the church and we headed back to T2. Everything was pretty uneventful for a while, and then I saw that stupid SUV limo that almost killed me last year on the course. He must live right there, since I this is the second year I have seen him. The odds are not that great to happen by chance. Anyway, he was going the other way, so he did not effect me this year.

On the only large decent on the bike course, heading back to transition, I was hauling azz. The masses were heading up the hill, and I saw several people walking their bikes, and most others struggling up the hill. So, I decided to cheer them on. I started yelling at them, GREAT JOB, KEEP GOING, etc. as I zoomed past. I hope they took it the good way, as I meant it, instead of being a smart azz.

After that, the normal grind back to transition. The only drama I had was right before I headed to dismount. A car was driving along the road where I needed to turn. I had no idea what they were doing, so I yelled out "what are you doing?". Lucky for me, a volunteer heard me and realized the situation, and stepped out to stop them for me, and I yelled that I was going left. I cut between the car and the cone, and then hung a right to go dismount.

I love this race for the dismount line. It is like a finishing chute, with people lining the street. If you do a flying dismount, you get all sorts of cheers if your dismount looks smooth. I heard one kid say "oh, look at that" as I passed. Yes, my ego grew a few sizes as if it could get any bigger. :)

Perfect dismount on the run, and I headed to my rack.

I should have mashed the peddles more. I did in a few spots, but I definitely had more in me.

I normally slow down more while dismounting, but not this time. I slowed enough not to bust my azz while coming off the bike, but I was in a full run as I dismounted. Ran to my rack, since I knew my bike would go under the rack I rolled it under and when I knew the saddle would catch I threw up the back end. It racked and I removed my helmet, and threw on my shoes. Grabbed my race belt and headed to the exit.

Nothing, I was moving fast and my transition took around my normal :35 or so, and then rest was running the rear exit at the back of transition.

Two things hindered my run:
1. Not being able to hear from the ruptured ear drum
2. My race number was flipped up behind me, so that was all I could hear back there.
For whatever reason, not being able to hear made the run that much harder.

I knew I was in 4th place coming out of T2, but I heard Steph call to me "you need one position for the podium". The run came out of the rear of transtion and make a U in the parking lot before heading out to the road. I could see 4th in front of me, and I quickly calculated his run speed. He was moving, but I knew I would have him shortly. I just did not realize how quickly I could catch him.

I rounded the corner to head to the road. He seemed a bit confused as to which way to go, since the out took a slight different path than the return. I pointed him in the correct direction as I passed. From there I hammered up the hill, and there was a guy (had to be someone's coach) and he told me I was 45 seconds off the lead, and that I was in 3rd place. "DO NOT LOSE THIS POSITION, YOU ARE ON THE PODIUM". I started to find my legs, and push the pace. I could see 1st/2nd up front, but the distance was just not decreasing. So, I turned my attention to holding off the two guys behind me. I knew they were close, but not being able to hear from the two hinderings above made this run more difficult for positioning.

The run course was rollers, so I found my legs and tried pushing the pace. Pretty uneventful on the out, and when I went to make my turn I was able to see the lead 1st/2nd had, and then I saw that I my lead on 4th & 5th was close. Much closer than I though. After seeing that I opened it up and started to push. On the final hill of the course, I started hammering up it. I rounded the hill and started down through the woods to the final .15-.2 to the line. I hit the turbo as I exited the woods, to make sure I did not lose the podium in the final section. I hit the line, handed off my chip, and took my finisher medal before I heard 4th place come in. That was close.

I could have pushed harder, but the gap between me and 1st/2nd was too large, so I focued on holding 3rd place, and holding 4th off.

I grabbed a gatoraide, and a water and went to the chute to cheer on the rest of the racers. Derek came in shortly after with a guy on his six. I was all sorts of yelling at him, before he realized I was not full of crap this time. He was able to hold that guy off to take 37th place. Other than that we drink more water, and cheered people on.


I can push harder, and I need to break that mental barrier to do so. My swim is getting there, but stills needs a bit of work to put me on top of the podium. However, I was still on the OA podium, so I am pleased with that.


This race gets better and better every year. They seem to tweak parts of the race each year to improve it, but there are still a few things that need to be worked out. They need more volunteers to work the course. A few more for giving directions, as that one guy seemed lost during the run. Plus, they had a great aid station on the run packed with boxes, and boxes of water, but no one to hand them out. It did not bother my preformance as I do not dring water on the run for a sprint, but the back of the feild needed water. That is the one main improvement that I saw.

Plus, this year they gave out awards, top 3 M/F OA, and three deep in the AG's. Instead of waiting until everyone finished before starting awards, they needed to start awards sooner. It was 2+ hours from the time I finished until they started.

Other than that, it is a great fun race and I will be back.