Would love to have this one to do over! Started front inside and rock and rolled, by myself. Having a great swim with zero contact and very good navigation. Rounded the return buoy and started having a very difficult time finding the sprint buoy, or really positively id'ing something on shore that says "come this way". Before the race started they told us that a few of there buoy's were actually stolen and there were supposed to be many more out there to help guide us. Could have used them, that's for sure. Had to stop quite a few times and breast stroke to try to get my bearings. All of a sudden other swimmers were catching up to me and I told myself to just slow down and go with them...the plan worked but I could have come in alot faster. Big lesson learned. Be ready for anything.

swim out in warmups and turn around, and get a very good look at what my return leg was going to look like, and find my sighting targets.

took some time here to put on arm warmers (yes I'm a wimp I'll admit it). Really really glad I did. But...as you can imagine it took some time for the nice stretchy felty material to slide over my wet forearms.

nothing.

Super happy about the bike leg and have been waiting for a good performance here all year. I was pretty cold at the start and had a nasty headache, which is unusual for me. I told myself to be conservative for the first few miles and just to try to get the engine warm. I seriously thought that if I pushed it here I would hurt my muscles, because they felt so cold. Gradually built up into a nice pace and passed a few people who were nice enough to tell me what place I was in.Gelled at mile seven. Volunteers on the course were great and the intersections were well controlled. Anytime I felt myself slowing down on a uphill grade I was out of the saddle and lightly dancing on the pedals...this did two things for me: Allowed me to stretch for a bit so I wouldn't stiffen up and kept the pace up. In past races I've held back a bit on the uphills thinking that a nice steady output would serve me well and set me up for the run. I'm definitely convinced now that I can move quickly uphill and not pay for it on the run. Not "hammer" the hills, not yet anyway, but move quickly up them. Drank about half of the water/infinit in my aerodrink...pretty cool day and wasn't sweating very much. I seem to do better with less water rather than more.

nothing.

First in group and 8th overall here, very happy with T2.

Nothing.

If all my runs could be like this I'd be very happy! Faster here by 1:30 over last year. Felt smooth and in control the entire time. Good posture and turnover. Barely any pain (the bad kind anyway!). Ever get that floating on air feeling...I had it. Like most of the race I was by myself for the first half, just saying hi to the volunteers and thanking them. On the second loop I was joined by the sprinters and the other olympic folks. Very flat course and very enjoyable. Got passed by two younger, "runner" types around mile 5/6, almost caught one of them back at the end..(four seconds). Fun run and feel I've got more to give, with more training I believe I can get faster.

Nothing.

Congratulated some fellow competitors and ran back out to the course to try and find my brother Rob. Figured an aid station that was in a section with two way running traffic would be a good bet. Made friends with the volunteers there and ended up helping pass out water and restock them. I saw Rob coming up toward the finish and ran with him for a bit, cheering him on. Grabbed some food, had a beer, cleaned out transition and picked up my "hardware". A good day.


I honestly have not been able to put in alot of training this year. My logs reflect that, most weeks I'm struggling to get in five hours or so. This winter i am planning on a big base, and next spring we'll start the hard stuff. Good stuff to come next year.


I'll be back next year looking to go even faster!