So, I'm in the second wave, the first following the elite wave, which is 30-44 men's age groups. I've positioned myself right up front at the water line so that I can have some clear water in front of me to swim in. Before the start the race director comes up and mentions that he'll announce one minute left until the start, then 30 secs, then 15 secs, and finally the airhorn will go off. After the 15 sec announcement everyone is standing there, relatively calm, when out of no where some moron behind me shoves me forward with his forearm. I almost fall forward into the water. I straighten myself out and then give him a quick "what the heck is wrong with you" glance. The start was imminent, so I didn't have too much time to dwell on this idiocy otherwise it may have riled me up some.

I got out to a quick start with little contact. I was red-lining it for the first few hundred yards to make sure I got clear of the masses before I settled down into a pace that I could maintain until the swim finish. Almost immediately my goggles fogged up, so I knew sighting was going to be a challenge, particularly swimming into the rising sun. But I've also finally concluded that I have absolutely sub-par sighting skills when it comes to OWS. Potential drafters beware, I will not lead you to the promise land that is the triathlon swim finish. My only saving grace was that I had two bodies just off to my left that I drafted/followed the whole length of the swim. Both were matching my pace, so I was in luck.

The swim out seemed to take forever but was relatively smooth. The trip back home on the other hand was a tad choppy as we a diagonal wind coming into us. But I caught a good breathing rhythm and I cruised back into the beach still riding in with my two swim pacers. On the way in I had too pee, but despite all of my focus this was not happening for me, not at the pace I was going. Anyway, my fingers hit sand and up the beach to T1 I go.

Nada. Perhaps remember to rub a layer of baby shampoo on my goggles to ward off any goggle fogging.

2010: 23:28
2011: 22:42

14th OA coming out of the water.

My transition spot: right by the swim exit + The bike exit: at the other end of transition = long run with bike.

Wetsuit came off easily enough. Had difficulty getting my helmet on. Fidgeted with this for too long. Strap adjuster in the back needed to be loosened.

Before race, make sure helmet is race ready to be thrown on my head.
Very average T1 time, relatively speaking. Disappointing.

2010: 1:47
2011: 1:49

18th OA coming out of T1. Lost 4 spots.

The bike. Oh, what can say? There was really nothing of note that occurred here. I didn't drop my chain on the long hill climb (like I did twice last year) so I had that going for me. There was a decent wind coming out of the south, but nothing too horrible. We were riding behind trees and neighborhoods going into it, so it didn't seem too bad. It did make for a pretty sweet tailwind on the long, flat straightaway heading north. Also, I set my bike computer the night before, and for some reason it had trouble reading any speeds over 30 mph. Slightly annoying. Should've went with the Garmin instead.

I have no hard splits to back this up, but I suspect that I was faster on the second loop just based on my speeds though the tougher sections of the course. Perhaps due to holding back on the first loop to see how I felt and how I would handle racing on the bike, particularly on the uphills.

I need more work on handling turns and corners. Pretty slow and non-aggressive today. Took things a little cautiously.

2010: 1:14:03
2011: 1:13:36

78th OA after the bike. Eighteenth to 78th. Ouch, but not unusual.

After some practice this spring, I'm finally comfortable slipping my feet out of my shoes before reaching transition. No flying dismount as the dismount line was a little crowded. I felt good about my T2 time. But again, like T1, very average time overall and this disappoints me.

2010: 1:18
2011: 1:14

78th OA after T2. No positions lost.

Be faster.

Just focused on keeping calm and holding everything steady for the whole run. I was trying to avoid my usual habit of tearing out of transition too fast for my own good. There were a few fellas that did this and they blew right by me at the start, but I passed them right back a mile down the road. Course was a little wet and sloppy in spots from the rain the night before, but nothing worth making a fuss about. Overall, all I can say about the run was that I was consistent. I put my head down and I just ran. It was too hard to tell which fellas were in my age group since sprint course and long course folks were intermingled, so I just went about my business. I did have some flashes of hamstring cramps appear briefly, but they held off for the race. This fact alone almost makes this a good run by itself. I walked one aid station, but only to make sure liquids went down my throat and not down my shirt. At the end I kicked into high gear and finished strong.

Start my final kick and push to the finish earlier. I think I had little bit left in the tank at the end that would've allowed for a faster time. Otherwise, nothing. Pleased with this run.

2010: 47:54
2011: 44:00

57th Overall finish. Gained/made up 21 spots on the run. Did not get passed by anyone who was behind me off the bike.

Picked up some food, then I remembered I really had to pee and had to since the end of the swim. This was the first time I needed to pee and tried to while racing. But despite all of my concentration, I just couldn't make it happen during the race. So we took care of that issue. Then I sat around, chatted and ate bit. Then headed home.


In short nothing.
However, I'm becoming more and more convinced my bike is limiting me. Despite my aero set up, and my time spent in the saddle, my triple-crank road bike doesn't seem be allowing me to be competitive as I could be. Trust me, I know I still have work to do and room to improve on the bike, but I'm under the impression that based on my competition and what they ride I'm missing out on some free speed and that they hold a competitive advantage over me.


Well run. Solid volunteers. Good course. Awesome finishers medal (this year's medal is double the size of last year's). The entire race day event went smoothly. Pre-race communication has some room for improvement. Website was out of date for a while, despite early email blasts to sign up for the event. The bike course changed a couple of times without any notification.