I was seeded 37th. After seeing some of the people around me I was hoping I had my seeding right. I didn't want to be "that guy" everyone had to pass. My first 100 was 1:27. I stopped at the wall to look behind me. The next swimmer didn't seem to be gaining on me so I felt better. The next two 100's were 1:30-1:35. I wasn't winded at all and was feeling great about the swim so far. Then about 375m I caught up with the swimmer in front of me. I went into the passing lane and was going to pass slowly so I wouldn't wind myself. Mistake. When we got to the wall I was a good 1/2 body length ahead. I looked up to see the traffic it was 3 swimmers deep and we were going into the last lane which was a little narrower. The swimmers in front of me we swimming side by side making passing impossible. "Take what the day gives you" I decided to get a good draft, but the were swimming pretty slow. I ended up breast stroking many times during the last 100. I figured that if I couldn't gain anytime, I could pump some blood back into my legs for the long transition run. I feel like I could have be :30-:45 faster

Most of the short course pools in OK are in yds. The one in my hometown is in meters. The OCCC pool is in meters. I think many of the people are unaware of the difference and give their estimated 500 time in yards. I think next year I will convert my meter time to yardage.

When I got to my rack, I noticed my bike was on the other side now. I said "What the H, oh well, take what the day gives you" I went to put on helmet and sunglasses, but they were on the otherside of the rack on the ground. Bah! I'm sure it cost me a whole 10 seconds to run around the rack to get my stuff, then run back around to get my bike.

I decided at the last minute to do a flying mount. Not sure why, but I'm glad it was successful. It could have been embarrassing otherwise. I stood up on my shoes and got up to speed before slipping them on.

What would you do differently?:

Rack my bike more securely.

First order of business, pass the guy in front of me. He had about 200 yards on me. After about three miles he had about 200 yards on me. Fortunately, he was passing a few people too. As long as we were passing people I'd just pace off of him a bit. I was thinking that at this effort level, I wasn't going to have any legs left for the run. Then I thought "So what, your run sucks anyways right now. What's the point of saving them" So I decided I was going to catch the yellow Kestrel. I wasn't able to catch him until just right before the half way mark. I had to make it a fast pass because we were starting our second loop and the course was getting crowded with people starting their first loop. With so many riders on the course now, I no longer had anyone to focus on catching. Then I saw a few nice tri-bikes in front of my and had to pass them. I put it in another gear and really hammered the next 1-2 miles. I was passed by one person on the bike and that was going around a corner at the bottom of a downhill about 1 mile from the finish. I recognized him as the swimmer who started directly behind me, and he was on a Cervelo with Zipps. Damn! I stayed a few bike lengths back from him until T2.

The course was advertised as 14 miles. My time was about 34:00 coming into the parking area. A little quick math told me that was close to 24 mph. I knew then the course had to be a little short. I wasn't averaging 24 mph with the wind that day ( I read that during the race the winds were 20 mph, with gusts up to 30 mph).

Flying dismount. Felt great. I thought my transition was pretty fast but looking at some of the other times I gotta work on this.

Yankz!

My heart rate jumped up immediately. I tried to slow down but HR remained high. My AT is around 150. My exercise induced asthma kicks in about 161. I was wheezing good so I knew I was working hard. Then I was passed by two runners. One of them was the one who passed me on the bike,the other was in my age group. I tried to hang on and keep them within striking distance. That lasted about 1/2 mile and I was just getting more anaerobic. My arms and hands started to tingle. I backed of just a bit and let them go. I started getting side stitches just before the turn around. At this point I was hurting pretty bad. My wife was about 20 yards from the turn around taking pictures. I didn't need any water but decided to get a drink to have a reason to walk a bit. I walked about 15 yds, exchanged a few words with my wife and began running again. That little rest is all I needed. I think my run pace picked up about a minute per mile. If my splits are right, the last half of the run was around 6:55/mile.

The run has historically been my best leg. It was the slowest 5K I have ever run. My olympic distance triathlon 10K pace used to be faster than that. I got a lot of work to do on my run, or maybe it's just part of getting old.

Not be injured and be able to train properly.

Went to cheer on my PV friend.


Injuries. 10 year layoff and currently nursing piriformis, hip, and IT band.


I learned a few things that I need to know for Sept. Good experience.

OFFICIAL RESULTS
http://www.onlineraceresults.com/race/view_plain_text.php?race_id=1...