OK swim, without the run up the beach, my swim was 1:36/100, so I am happy with that. I really wanted to draft off of Brooks for the entire swim, and managed to do so for the first 100 yards or so, but then I got gapped, and it was all over.....Had to manage the rest of the swim on my own

draft better

Felt smooth and fast. had very little issue getting into my shoes

I had a hard time getting into my groove for the first 4 miles, my legs just did not want to wake up and fire. Looking back, I probably need to kick more on the swim. After I was able to get moving I felt pretty good, but was never able to really get to the top end speed that I was hoping to get to. It looks like the enire field had a similar issue, maybe it was the fat that the humidity was 90+. I looked back a few times to see if anyone was there, and everytime there was one guy, and no matter how hard I pushed to try and open up a gap, he stuck with me....damn it!

I figured i didn't need it, but I took a gel about mile 11 so that I had something in me as I did not take one prior to the race. I was a little curious as to my stomach being able to handle a gel with the HR that I was pushing, but everything stayed down....score

I passed a few people right away, but never really saw many, then I realized that I probably had a better swim than most, and was close to the lead. knowing that Brooks left me in his wake, I knew he was a head of me, but I did not know how many others there were between me and him. i managed to pass the last guy around the ten mile mark, and figured at that point since no matter how far I could see, I was not able to see Brooks, that I was in 2nd. When Kevin and I came into T2, and i only saw Brook's bike, I knew that I had a shot at 2nd-4th OA

kick more on the swim so my legs are ready to go on the bike

Great T2. The guy that was riding behind me for the entire bike leg passed me with about 100 yards to go, and we came into T2 almost exactly at the same time. I out transitioned him by only 5 seconds, but it felt like I was flying through there

nothing, it was the 3rd fastest of the day, and only missed the fastest by 2 seconds

OK run, the first mile was 6:24, the second was a little over 6:30, and the thrid was 6:40. I knew going into the run that Kevin is a better runner than I am, so I really wanted to go out hard and hope that he took his sweet time in transition, but by about mile one I could hear him close behind me. All I could do at that point was continue to try and push hard and hope that I had more in the tank than he did at that point.

We got to the turn around point, and Kevin past me right after it. I managed to stay with him for a short period of time, but he did a good job getting a gap in, and i was at the point where my eyes were starting to cross, so I knew I had to dial it back if I wanted to finish the race standing up

nothing really, I gave it all I had and left it all on the course. I manages to hit a PR pace by 11 seconds/mile so as much as I want to say "I should have run faster" I am pretty pleased with this run right now

crossed the line, sat down, took off my timing chip and nearly fell over. I knew that David sarted 3 minutes behind me, and figured he would be coming in before 3 minutes had passed, and I was correct. He came in about 1:30 after me, so I managed to get 4th OA. It was at the low end of my hopes, but still my best OA finish by 5 spots, and my first ever Top 5.

After seeing my wife, daughter, and mom, I headed down to the lake and soaked for a few minutes to get the sweat off and to cool down


My fitness level, but I am pretty happy with the results. I plan on doing plenty of speedwork in all three discisplines this winter, in hopes that I can crush this race next year!


One of the other highlights of the race for me was having my daughter and my friend's son run in the kid's fun run after the adults race. Alexis is 2, but ran the 60 meters with the 3 and 4 year olds....she had a fun time and got some free ice cream afterwards, and got a cool ribbon she was proud of!