Pool swim. Warm water. One guy passed me and then there were two clear lanes behind me. Thankfully smooth pool swim with no jam ups. I took my time and even did two laps of backstroke to help stretch out my back. Swim was a non-event as planned. Didn't quite remember to really stretch out my stroke like practice this week. Oh well. Not tired at all.

Nothing.

I just love all these options. Suit stuck on heels? What the heck is that all about. [Wetsuit, I know, but I got a chuckle out of it for a pool swim]. Anyway, other than the gravel on the feet, it went fine.

Just get faster.

Pretty good ride overall. Was in aero for about 1/3 of the route. Geared it fairly well. Best thing was that *NO ONE* passed me on the bike. Granted, it was a pool swim which spaces everyone out, but that is a first (and likely an only). I probably passed 15 people or so on the route. I didn't quite do my Garmin correctly, so I'll have to wait on my time, but I think it was probably equivalent to last year or maybe a tad faster. But I didn't push quite as hard this year. Partially b/c I was worried about the back and partially b/c I hoped to be stronger on the run this year.

Need to practice aero position on more curvy rough roads, but with the need for changing gears a bunch in the outer part of the course, I'm not sure it would have mattered much. Mainly just need to get out on the bike a little more - at least a really good long weekend ride.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I got off the bike, I changed shoes. I ran.

This segment felt so much better than last year. My back behaved... was tight, but didn't affect running. Only two people passed me on the run... both really young ones who went whizzing by me. Otherwise, held my own well... even moved up some. Probably passed 8-10 people. This was really a strange feeling for me. Was averaging low 8s on most of the run. Can't recall being at that pace before. The hill at the end upped it some, of course, but overall, my best run in a tri ever by a solid margin. Very happy with this leg and it made my race.

I probably could have picked it up a bit more coming back, but I was worried about dying on the hill.

Stretched and hung out and chatted with folks. Met a really nice woman from Lynchburg (Mary White) who knew the Egglestons who used to be an anchor at NBC29 20 years ago. I knew she looked familiar... LOL. Remember to ask MD about her Mom and Mary's Dad - apparently a romance in their 80s ;-)


Probably just not quite in as good a shape as I was a month ago and I could stand to lose another 10-15 lbs (was 200 this morning after breakfast), but overall very happy with my performance and my race strategy. This time, I felt more like a triathlete than a swimmer doing a triathlon.

I'll wait to see official time and my splits, but my overall time was about 3 minutes faster than last year and I came in under my goal time of 1:25. First time as an age-grouper and I felt competitive. Last year, my time would have put me on the podium for the AG. The field was stronger this year (and conditions were excellent).


As always, Angels Race is one of my favorites and I'll always plan on doing it. You race in memory of an "Angel" - this year I raced in memory of Pam and Connie, and in honor of Elizabeth, who I just found out was in the hospital with a mild heart attack. Get well soon, Eliz. Anyway, the town totally supports this race and the majority of people in the race say "good job", etc. when they cross your path on the bike and run. It is a really wonderful atmosphere. Thanks for another great race!

[Post getting the splits. My swim was slightly faster than last year and I was totally coasting. From here on out, no push on the swim. Did a little better in T1 than last year, but lost it on T2, so a push there. Improved about 1 min on bike, 2 on the run. Last year, I still was biking with cages, so my improvement there might have been all equipment. The run was the big improvement, but still by far my weakest. Now I'm up against the 150 lb lean guys... they can truck on the run. Guess I better get used to it - the difference between Master Clydesdale and Age Group.

2nd post race note. It was a much faster field. My VTS score actually dropped even though my time was 3 min faster - kind of a bummer. But last year's 1st, 2nd and 4th place finishers were 3rd, 6th, and 15th this year with roughly the same times. So that makes me feel MUCH better about my relative place and my VTS score (since that is based on the 5 fastest times). I thought perhaps the conditions made a bigger difference, but now I'm thinking that conditions were roughly equivalent, so my 3min improvement holds up. Anyway, the top of the field was really booking. Kind of feel bad for last year's 4th place finisher... he took a minute off his time and dropped 11 places. Yep, a much stronger field. I wonder if that is to be expected in all the races this year.]