(Goal: 24:30-25:00 Actual: 26:09)

The start got delayed 3 minutes becuase people were in the water and could not get counted in. I was one of the first to get counted in for this wave M 39 and under. I was in the second row middle for the start. When the gun went off I took 5 strokes and got my goggles knocked off by the guy next to me...sweet. That is the first time that has happened. I flipped on to my back and adjusted them but there was water in one of my eyes. I just went hard for about 50 strokes until I was clear a bit and then flipped on my back, drained them and put them back on..ok fixed. Other than the first 50 yards there was little contact. My sighting was good and I was right on the buoy line the whole way out. It felt like a really long way to that first turn buoy not gonna lie but it was a narrow rectangle. On the way back in there were not very many people in front of me. I was right on the buoy line and everytime I sighted I saw very few people. Not sure if that was good or bad but knew I was right on course. The sun was right in the eyes on the way in but with so many sighting buoys did not turn out to be a big deal.
When I hit the boat launch I looked at my watch and saw 26:00 WTF!! I was pissed but you never know if the course is marked correctly and was just going to move on with my day.

I have been thinking so hard about why I am not improving with my race times in the swimming segment. I have improved my Tpace in the pool dramatically over the last year and it is not translating in faster paces in races. With a T-Pace of 1:27/100yd for a 1000yd TT and a wetsuit swim I should be faster.
I am going to try to swim in open water more at harder paces to get that race pace feeling in open water.

A long narrow transition area and I was right in the middle. I got my wetsuit off very easily and quick and my helmet buckled fast too but the guys pedal on the bike next to me got caught in my spoke. It took about 10 seconds to free it and get my bike out. Ran out of transition with sprint athletes headed the other way equals a giant closterfock. I mounted and took off.

Not get the guys pedal caught in my spoke. I am going to inspect a little closer next time before I head to the swim.

(Goal: 1:05:00 Actual: 1:07:21)

Well this was where I was going to show big improvements this year right...blah! I took off and passed a kid playing with his shoes and took a couple of sharp corners before you get out on to Grand River Avenue. The roadway for the first 8 miles is chip seal and not real pleasant to ride on but it was in good condition for the most part. My HR was through the roof on the first mile of the ride and tried to get it under control before I started to hammer. I got settled in and tried to push and my legs would just have none of it. I have had several good rides leading up to the race at race pace but the legs were just not feeling it today. I was trailing behind 2 guys for the first 5 miles or so and tried to hammer by them and leave em but they would keep showing back up as we continued. I must have tried to leave them 4 or 5 times but they just stayed on my wheel. When you get to Riverside Drive is where the pavement changes and you can really fly. I love this section of the course minus the train tracks. When we got to the turnaround I was in the top 12 or so which surprised me since my swim was not that great. On the way back is when I hit a bump on the chip seal that loosened my arm pad and made it drop down to the base bar. I would pull it back up but everytime I hit a big bump it would drop back down so I was playing with that the whole way back which did not help things or my speed. I was starting to get really frustrated at this point.
I felt like I was working pretty hard on the way back in but was not dropping these guys which got discouraging. It was nice to get back to transition and see all the fans lining the street. It gave me a big boost to go out and have a good run.

I am not sure if my taper just sucked and I was not able to stay sharp for a good ride or what.
This was the last straw on my Profile Design brackets and arm pads. I contacted them and they are sending me new ones for no charge. That problem has been happening since I bought them..very frustrating.

Dismount went smooth and ran into transition. This was another long run and sprint athletes were trying to leave at the same time so another closterfock! I was the first bike on the rack so that always nice :). This was smooth. Took about 10 seconds at my rack and I was off to run out. I passed 3 or 4 people in transition.

Nothing..good here! Long transition times becuase of the long TA.

(Goal: 42:00 Actual: 42:49)

Ran out the chute decided to see what I could do. Well the first 2 miles were pretty painful not gonna lie. I felt like I was running way over 7 minute miles and just not feeling great. I took the only turn into the neighborhood and by the time I got back out to Thornapple I was starting to hit my stride which was a relief. I was taking a sip of water or gatorade at each aid station (mostly just throwing the liquid at my face and hoping it went in my mouth) and then putting ice on my head. I got passed by 2 guys on this run and they were both flying (low 6s). When I got to the turnaround there was really nobody on my heels. I would say I had a minute on the next guy so I just looked up the road and concentrated on reeling him in. We got to the short steep hill and I shuffled up that baby. I saw the guy in front had stopped to walk at the top and knew I was going to get him. I got to the 5 mile aid station and that guy stopped again and this is where I passed him. I had nobody in front and nobody behind for the last mile but at this point was just racing for the best time I could get so I kept going hard. I ran into the chute and finished hard.

I battled hard on this run especially the first 2 miles where I felt like hell. I did not reach my time goal here either but ok with my run.

Got in the river for 10 minutes...68 never felt so good. Walked around and talked with the Mens Winner and some other guys that finished in front of me.


Me! I will be doing more OWS at race pace to try to translate my pool times with OWS. I know I can be faster in the water.
The bike I am chalking up to just not my day but better believe I will be working really hard up to my next race.

Move on and put this one behind me. Keep in mind it is still a pretty good result but not my full potential.


Good first year race..love the venue. Need some work on the transition area and timing of the different events. The volunteers were awesome all day long.