It was a mass start for all the du folks; men, women, old & young. Got up front, but let the fasties take the start line.

Went out fast and got into my race breathing and striding rhythm pretty quickly. Paced myself knowing I still had a few miles to go.

Goal was 14:00 (- :28)

Nothing, just the right pace.

It was a long run to the line in bike shoes, but I was 2nd in AG, and only missing 1st by 1 second.

Nothing. I have this down to a science.

The time goal of 1:00 was just a guess because I had no idea of the site layout.

Goal was 1:00 (+ :43)

Mounted cleanly and was off.

There was a north breeze blowing, so most of the ride was going to be an honest headwind and tailwind.

Fell into a good pace and pushed as hard as I dared. Given my lack of training fitness, I've been susceptible to cramping, so I had to go easy the first half of the ride.

Dropped into the small ring for the headwind sections to cruise at 17-18, hammered the tailwind sections at 27-28. The speed difference is still not enough to make up the time loss with fighting the headwind.

Passed and got passed, and the course got really crowded on the second loop with more triathletes out on the bike. Had to work at avoiding the draft and playing fair.

Drank ~20 ounces of G-Ade from the areobottle. Worked up a big sweat despite the nice weather.

Got out of my shoes a half mile out, came in on one pedal and hit the dismount line running.

Nothing. Rode within my ability.

Goal was 1:15:00 (+ 1:37)

Another long run to the back of TA. Rack bike, helmet off, shoes on, run.

Perfection. 1st in AG

17 seconds faster than the next guy.

Nothing; nailed it. Again.

Goal was 1:00 (- :11)

This is where I knew I would struggle if I was having an off day. I was hoping for 8:00/miles but knew it would be tough to do.

Started off OK, but started feeling the first cramping in both legs at mile 1. WTH?, I didn't think it would start that soon. Approached the first water station and walked through, drinking 2 cups of fluids.

Started running again and fully expecting the cramping to start in earnest, but they never did. In fact, it went away and I never had any more issues. I guess the literal change of pace, with the brief walk was all I needed to get the muscles working correctly.

Plodded along at an even pace, just trying to stay steady. Really dogged it through miles 2-4. Hit the stadium doing a lot better and never had to walk any of the ramps. Passed a young guy who was having to walk; of course he passed me back later once we got to flat ground.

Pouring sweat now; took a couple more cups of fluids at the intermediate aid stations.

I passed 2 guys in my AG during miles 5 & 6 who had gotten me on the bike and went all out for the last 1/4 mile for a solid kick finish. Managed to hold off a young guy closing in on me at the line.

Nothing. Ran the best I could.

Goal was 48:00 (+ 6:39)

This is where I failed the worst.

Walked around, wiped off with the cold towel they gave you, ate some pizza.

Waited until they posted the results to see I had placed 4th. If I would've hit my 2:19, it would've been good enough for 3rd, but 1st & 2nd were held firm by a couple of fast, old guys.

Once they opened TA, I packed up and headed home; another fun morning racing.


Lack of training volume; especially the bike. My run was just slow today.


A first class race with all the bells and whistles. No beer, but that was not the RD's fault; he had been restricted by one of the sponsoring entities. So I gave it a 4.