I forgot to start the dang watch!!! I realized that on lap two and got pretty aggrevated. I had a 12 year old boy in front of me the whole time during the swim that would not let me by. I kept getting along side of him mid-length, but I couldn't pass him. I think he got a penalty for that, but I swear I had nothing to do with it. Otherwise, the swim went relatively well. I've been doing the "Beginner 1/2 Ironman" workout and my swimming has improved quite a bit. During my last timed 1500, my 500 splits were 7:05, 7:12, and 7:18, so I thought I could hammer a 500 in a shade over 6min. It's amazing what other competitors, race stress, and sleep deprivation will do to your "hammer" swim time. One cool thing about the swim is how close they had the pool exit to the swim finish. I think I walked a total of eight feet to get to the T1/T2 area.

Not too much. I really didn't think I was going to catch that kid, so I didn't even mention to him what the rules were to make sure he understood. The kid went to the junior olympics for crying out loud! Okay, he's 12, but still.

I went with the "no socks" approach with this one - at least for the bike portion. I have to say... not too bad. I felt like the transition was quicker, but there's still plenty of room for improvement. Some of the other competitors mentioned that I need to get rid of my chair if I want better T-times, but whatever. When I got to the mount line, I couldn't get frigging clipped-in, so I let out a couple of growls and after a few seconds I was on my way. It's amazing how short tempers can get when racing... at least mine was a quick fuze.

Try that deal with the shoes already on the pedals and rubber bands holding them in place. I heard that tri shoes make that sort of thing alot easier, so I'm gonna need to invest at some point.

The southerly winds kept to below 10mph during my ride, so even going into the wind wasn't too bad. I only dipped below 20mph a few seconds here and there, but I was over 25mph for a good stretch as well. Overall, it was a great bike. I rolled up on this guy in my tri club and we passed each other about five times each during the ride. Fortunately, I chose to break away right before the wind hit us and he couldn't catch up after that. This has to be the best 13 miles I've pedaled yet!

nothing.

I really need to work on this portion of my triathlon. I got out of one shoe, but I couldn't get out of the other in time, so I ran with my bike with one shoe on. Yeah, I was "that guy." Anyhow, I sat down once again and put my socks/shoes/race belt on in pretty quick fashion.

get used to running without socks during sprints.

I still need alot of work here, but I was happy with it nonetheless. When I took off for the run, I noticed my tri club buddy passed me in transition and was 100yards ahead of me on the run. Well, I wasn't going to let that stand. I quickly cought up to him and passed him at about the 1k point. I found my breathing to be pretty labored and my HR was probably through the roof, but I really wanted to get a good time, so I pressed-on. I think I dumped about four or five cups of water over me during the run to stay cool, but it didn't seem to help at all. I was passed by a 51 year old guy with about 1k left, so I dug down and gave the last 900 meters everything I had. My wife taped the finish and I passed the guy with about four feet to spare. Of course, he finished at 1:05:20, so I guess he beat the heck out of me, but it was the principle of it all -- noone likes to be passed! Dang ego.

I need to keep working the intervals... I think I might be on to something there.

Nausea... hugs to the wife... lots of drinks... stretching.


Maybe I over-did it on the bike, maybe I should have paid more attention to short runs.


The timing people botched things up quite a bit after the race. We waited around over two hours for the results before the RD got on a bull horn and told us to go home. Crying shame... my moment in the sun was lost.