I decided to wear my wetsuit despite the fact that the pool temps had warmed up to a respectable 72 degrees in the week before the race. I've never done a pool swim sprint tri with a wetsuit and given that I had just done a HIM the week before with the suit I felt that I could get the suit off quickly enough to not erase whatever gains I got from wearing it in the short pool swim. In the end I'm glad I did because I was very pleased with this time.

I passed probably 6-8 people in the pool and luckily didn't have to wait that much while doing so. My pool seed time was 4 min and I came in just under that, so a lot of people must have come in over their seed times.

nothing - very pleased with this swim

I wore my garmin quick release kit wrist strap under the suit and the sleeve got caught pretty badly, which cost me probably 10 seconds. But other than that this transition went very quickly.

find a way to not get my sleeves caught on the quick release wrist strap

After just a half-mile my friend Dave pulls up behind me and passes me. And from there on we managed to pass each other probably 6 times each throughout the leg. We were both having a great time - it felt like one of the many long weekend rides we've done in the past.

The residential streets were very wide, but the lanes were more constricted on Pleasant Valley Rd. I was with a group of bikes and we all just couldn't find a way to shake each other. I did try to keep 3 bike lengths behind the bikes in front of me and managed to do so most of the time. But I was worried that I might get a penalty in those situations where I was about to pass someone.

I pushed this as hard as I could and I was pleased with the 21.7 avg mph - my fastest to date in a race. I also like the fact that I seemed to be keeping up with or going faster than several dudes with far-above-my-pay-grade bikes. The engine counts :-)

Nothing - this was a good ride for me.

Got a calf cramp while getting my running shoes on. Luckily it stayed in check and didn't bother me later during the run.

Nothing - this went pretty smoothly.

Having rode the course on Friday I figured I would try to stay as close to 7min/mile on the first uphill and then try to bring it down under that for the middle section and hammer it home at 6:30 or so on the downhill finish. I was pretty much able to do this. I was hoping for a 5k PR (20:53) but I just missed that. Still very happy that the cramps stayed away and I was able to execute my plan.

nothing - this went pretty well. Fastest 5k in a tri to date, by over a minute.

Just got some water and cheered in my friends Dave and Sarah. Hung out with them until the awards ceremony once it was clear that we had all placed. What a great surprise that we all did! The guy who was #1 in the M40-44 AG won the race overall, so I got the first place AG award. Woo-hoo!

I liked that they gave age-group placers travel coffee mugs rather than a useless medal. I actually needed one anyway!