the last two times i did this race i had the exact same swim time (30:53). Since swimming is my weakness, I joined a Masters team in September and was pretty consistent through the winter going 2-3 times a week @ 5:30am. So i was excited to see if I improved.

This was the roughest start i have ever been in in a tri. "Welcome to M40-45, kid" (BAM! kick to the head). hah. It was ok, though as I saw it as good mental conditioning for IMLP. I can't imagine 10X as many people in a mass start "wave". that's gonna be a treat.

I settled down and had a pretty smooth swim. I didn't draft off of anyone. still need to work on that.

Nothing. I am ecstatic with a 4+ minute improvement over my past 2 attempts. It made those cold, dark mornings in February worth it.

bike was positioned near the swim entrance, so this was a long run in the bike shoes.

probably would have saved a bit if i left the shoes on the bike.

i rode 50 hard miles the day before, so i wasn't sure what to expect on this ride. legs felt surprisingly good. thanks to gravity and physics i pass alot of people on the downhills, but the uphills even it out. i tried to really use momentum to my advantage and i think that helped. the ride felt like much less of a struggle this year and was just plain fun. Was 3:10 faster than last year, but conditions were much better this year (dry).
Gear: disk cover, latex tubes, aero helmet.
Nutrition: One bottle IM Perform and one Gel. Grabbed some water at the last aid station, but using those store bought plastic water bottles is more of a pain in the ass than it's worth.

not much. probably just not ride the day before. lose some weight. not grab H20.

still searching for my T2 podium. Was 7th in my AG. ran passed my rack and was a little lost. could have definitely gotten under a minute.

better rack sighting. 5 seconds faster and i would have beaten that Yoder punk's T2 split :).

i really felt the hills in my quads this year. brutal. but other than that i felt great. i ran 13.3 miles on Thursday, so i was happy with my recovery. Was a minute faster than last year.

nothing. i just tried to hang on and finish strong.

eat about 6000 calories. gee, i wonder why I am so heavy.


no taper.


I love this race. so much fun. especially the bike course. Took 9min off last year's time. Most happy about my swim improvement.