Much faster swim wave this year compared to last year - this probably should have been my first clue that the field was much faster this year. I also still think that last year's swim was marked a bit long; all the swim times were a good clip faster this year. I think I probably swam about the same speed as last year, but perhaps a bit straighter.

2010: 17:40
2011: 16:33

Faster transition just due to running faster from lake to T-area.

2010: 3:15
2011: 2:23

Was a bit disappointed with my bike time. It was a big improvement over last year, but the exact same speed I did at Columbia, which was a longer and arguably harder course. Plus I felt like I pushed the pace harder here. Was really hoping to be close to 20mph but it just didn't happen.

Bike course was less congested than last year which was nice. Not sure if they spaced out the waves better or if it was just due to fewer entrants.

2010: 58:23 (18.0 mph)
2011: 54:15 (19.4 mph)

Ran past my bike rack (doh!), but even with that this was my fastest T2 ever. Elastic shoelaces have been useful here.

2010: 2:05
2011: 1:17

OK, the run. This was where my race fell apart last year in an overheated-bonk sort of way. The temperature was much more reasonable this time, which helped a lot, plus my run fitness has come a long way.

I was happy with this run - it is right about where it needed to be. By far my fastest pace run leg of a tri. Was kind of hoping to get under 30 minutes, but came close enough. Started to cramp up a little toward the end in my left hip.

Unlike last year where I got passed by roughly a billion people on the run, this really went much better. According to the stats, I slipped from #44 overall to #76 during the run leg, but that is a big improvement over losing 200+ spots last year.

2010: 40:08 (11:48/mile)
2011: 30:30 (8:58/mile)

Still need to improve the run leg. I really need to be down around 8:00/mile if I want to be competitive here.

Was happy with this performance overall. I had secretly hoped to podium in my age group at this race based on looking at last year's times. And sure enough, if I had posted this time last year it would have been good enough for 4th in AG. But the field apparently got a lot faster this year. Oh well, I guess I shouldn't worry about things I can't control, but was still a bit disappointing.

This was my first tri ever where I didn't feel like I was about to pass out at the end. This means that either: (1) I am finally getting the hang of this, or (2) I need to push harder on the run.

Total time:
2010: 2:01:30
2011: 1:44:56


Well organized race, as usual.