Time based on my Garmin data - timing mat was closer to transition, so will be different than official result. Had a few minutes in the water between waves, so got my head acclimated to the cold and paddled around to warm-up the swim muscles. Felt good from the start - didn't struggle or get out of breath. Started at the front of the pack but a bit to the outside to let anyone faster get away without too much contact. Started catching the slower people in the previous wave by the first buoy. Couldn't really find anyone to draft off. Siting and navigation felt great - worked on my new OWS siting technique and it kept me straight. Didn't concentrate too much on my stroke - my weird right hand motion we found on video analysis last week seems to be being re-programmed by muscle memory. Anytime I paid attention to it, it didn't seem to be present and I didn't need to correct. Did work on rolling and extending during the middle of the swim. Overall a little disappointed with the time - would have liked to be about 20-25 seconds faster.

This was the one leg of the race that I felt comfortable on, could probably have pushed a little harder. Need to continue refining my stroke to get this leg faster.

Felt ok coming out of the water - exited with someone else from my age group, and immediately passed him as he looked a little wobbly. We had a little bit of a run to transition due to weather-induced changed to the transition area- I didn't all-out run as some of the surfaces were slippery, but didn't get passed by anyone on the run into T1. Had my helmet, goggles and top of suit off easily before getting to the bike. I took a quick seat to take off my wetsuit legs - my new lubing strategy must have worked because it was the first time I didn't get stuck on my heels!!! Slapped on my helmet and glasses, fumbled with helmet strap a bit, stuck my race belt on and ran out of transition. Unfortunately the center of transition was being churned into a mud pit. I still haven't mastered mounting the bike and getting into my shoes well, so I put the shoes on at transition and run in them. Some mud got in my cleats and I had a little trouble getting clipped in on my left foot. A little slow getting up to speed due to traffic, a narrow road and potholes.

Hmmm...honestly went pretty smooth. Could have tried running away from the center of the transition aisle to avoid some of the mud.

I came out ready to lay it down on this course, and probably tried too hard and didn't have quite enough respect beforehand for the hills and overestimated what I could do on this course. Effort felt hard from the beginning, but I was happy with my speed so I kept pushing. On the first small climb I had some sense that I wasn't going to be able to push this out as hard as I wanted. I was mowing down slower people in the previous waves, but had yet to spot anyone in my age group. A few miles in I got passed by one other racer, we traded back and forth a bit before he got in front of me for good - I noticed he was definitely faster on hills than me. I settled in on the hills and ground them out as hard as I could without red-lining. Downhills were good, although I was a little conservative on turns. Big fast downhill after the last climb that I finally through off caution and hammered down the turns aero.

Sleep and recovery - I'll discuss that more below. Potentially I could have backed off a little at the beginning, but I don't think it would have improved my time. When I previewed the course 2 weeks ago I did the hills slow to stay with my fiancee and give her moral support as these were some of her first decent climbs on a bike. I think it gave me a false sense that they were fairly easy - I should have attacked at least one of them to see what race effort was going to feel like. Again, a bit disappointed with the time - actually my slowest bike average since I got my tri bike last year - even slower than my first HIM last fall :-( Update - my Garmin said this was 15.34, race website says 16...if it was 16, my average was over 20, which makes me happier.

My best flying dismount yet - totally smooth, the highest speed I've dismounted at yet (meaning not almost at a deadstop) and running smoothly as soon as I hit the ground. Found my spot quickly, had bike racked, helmet off, shoes on and glasses changed...and then paused for a second because it all felt too fast - I think easily my best transition in my 13 races so far!

Nothing different, honestly. Waiting to see the splits among racers to see how it ranked, but it may be my first transition under a minute.

Tried not to go out too fast - wanted to get into a good cadence and rhythm and felt like I did that. Once I hit the trail and realized it was downhill, I stepped it up a bit as I knew I would be slower on the way back. Passed the one person who passed me on the bike just before turn around - turns out he was a pro mountain biker - explains why he was so good on the hills on the bike course, but couldn't run as well :-p We both had similarly flashy tri-suits, so felt an instant kinship. The way back was a grind - tried to focus on keeping my cadence and working my arms well, but was definitely losing focus. Once I was back to the flat, I knew I was close and decided to turn up the volume - could see one racer in front of me and wanted to give a shot at getting him, but he was too far and had turned it up a bit himself.

Again, rest and recovery. A little disappointed with this time, too, was hoping to do about 10-15"/mile faster.

A little stretching, some food, a big kiss from my dog and fiancee :-)


I had a crappy week of sleep leading up to the race and an overly long day at work on my feet the day before. I feel like my training and taper were fine, but was definitely mentally tired and not quite physically recovered to perform at my full potential today.


Great race - very well organized, supports a great cause and had some activities for spectators, too. Organizers adjusted well to some changes due to weather - the area transition was supposed to be in turned in to a marsh due to the heavy rain we've had the last few weeks. Volunteers staffed every turn and every area on the bike that needed some extra caution. Bike course is fantastic - besides the initial road at transition, the roads are smooth, its beautiful and the climbs make it a challenge. The addition of the elite wave was nice - gives the really good people a way to directly compete against themselves, and increases the chances of regular age groupers like me getting some hardware :-) Definitely a great way to start the season, and I hope I can fit it into my schedule next year.