GO! My race is on, felt pretty good starting out, got a couple of mouthfuls, but no sweating it. Really tried to go smooth and fast, but had no idea what my pace was. Picked up a little each lap and kicked harder than normal on last 50 meters. I crawled/layout getting out of the pool, thought I must look like a seal getting out of the water, totally bad form, but I didn't give a hoot. I pushed that last lap pretty good. Never swam a 50 meter indoor pool, probably was to my advantage since I do pushoffs rather than those fancy flipturns.

Swim is my strength so it pretty much always goes good. Nothing.

Long run around athletic club from pool to T1, all on hard cement. My feet were asking for that to be over just before entering T1. I'm not sure how those barefoot runners do it! Got to bike, put on garmin and turned it on. Put on sunglasses and helmet. Put on shoes and struggled to take bike off rack. (6/47 AG / 63/554 Overal)

Turn on garmin and set on bike mode when setting up transition. Or better yet, attach to my bike with quick release strap. Do I really need my garmin on the bike, I never look at it until after the race, I just like the stats?! Practice unracking bike.

Jumped on bike, guy in front of me was struggling trying to get his clips in and I got stuck between him and the race fencing, he apologized, I told him no problem, I got some practice on my poor bike handling skills. I passed him them after the turn and was huffing hard. I told myself, this day is about having fun, so I just pushed forward and new the downhill was not far ahead. Then after about a mile I realized I didn't start my garmin or turn it to bike mode, so I played around doing that. About a mile or two out is a big downhill. When I practiced on the course last weekend it was windy and I was pretty scared going down it, so I was nervous about this part of the course. Luckily no wind today, I got out of aero and into drops so I could get to brakes easier. Also, just at the bottom of the hill is a 90 degree turn to add to the excitement! I got up over 33 mph, not the fastest for sure, got passed by a tribike. Then after another mile or two comes the long hill (for this sprint course). I was actually passing people, which is not like me on the bike, so I felt more confident going into the hill. Passed a few more on the hill and got passed again. I kept saying save the legs for the run, but I also can't handle hills that well. Got up the hill, was going slow but steady to start, then felt good towards top, so that was another confidence booster, so I sped up to try and close out the last few miles of the bike course. I was waiting on Justin, my fast neighbor to pass me anytime during the bike course, but he never did. I felt good about that too.

Need to work on cycling technique, still feels like top limiter. Ride the course more and ride more hills. Push harder up the hill.

Struggled to rack bike a little, took off helmet, took off bike shoes and slipped on runners. Took a sip of heed, picked up race belt and took off out of transition. (25/47 AG, 255/554 Overall)

Maybe go through bike racking and unracking motions before race. Skip the drink, they were handing out drinks as you leave transition.

Started off feeling like I was carrying bricks! Just as I was getting out on course, I see Michael Harlow coming in to win the race, as expected. I barely got under 8 minutes on first mile, which was my "plan", but still wanted to best that. I was tracking on my plan then to pick it up to 7:30 for last two miles and get my average as close to 7:30 for the run as my best goal. I kept trying to pick up speed with leaving a some gas left. Checked my heartrate a couple times and was thrilled it was below 160 through first half. About 1.7 miles in I got passed by Justin my neighbor, it gave me a little extra boost, but I couldn't keep up with him. I passed a few and got passed a few times, but was feeling good to the end. Checked heart rate on last mile and was in low 160, again, nice and controlled, so I wasn't worried about that, so I just kept pushing and picking up speed until I got to hold about 7:07 pace for last mile. Crossed finish line feeling great!!

Need to do some bike/run bricks, definitely felt the fact that I haven't practiced this in last 3 months while I trained of my aquavelo. Push harder throughout. Create a more aggressive race plan?

Stood around talking to my neighbor and met some local Richmond Tri Club members. My neighbor picked up 3rd place in his AG. Found my wife and daughter and hung out. Went over to Richmond Tri club tent and had a brat, yummo. Then went for a couple slices of race supplied pizzas, those were good too. Checked results posted and was thrilled at my AG place, first time in top 10!


Practice (bricks especially) and bike leg as usual, but showed good improvement from all my recent biking for aquavelo. Lost a few seconds on transitions and should have pushed a little harder on run.


Great local race, will definitely do this one again.

http://www.fasttrackcoaching.net/timing/Results/2010-NAPIERS-TRIATH...

http://richmondsprinttri.racesonline.com/