Since I was racing in the big guy's division, I was in the last start wave which turned into a pain. The first 150 yards were fine and then I started running into the people who started the wave in front of me. The next 2-3 hundred yards were spent zigzagging around and through people. Finally got some clear water just before the last turn buoy and the rest of the swim was fine. The water was nice and calm and relatively warm considering the lake temps around here this year. Time includes about 20 seconds of running up the beach to the timing mat.

Swim faster! Maybe sign up straight age group next year so I get to start with the first wave.

Wetsuit came of fairly quickly, helmet and glasses on, take off. Ran out of T-1, hopped on the bike, right shoe on quickly...then couldn't get my left shoe on! Lost probably 15-20 seconds wobbling around trying to get my shoe on. Dumb!

Get my foot in my shoe!

After I finally got my shoe on I could start going. Felt really good and had lots of energy so just went with it. There was a pretty good headwind on the first half of the bike, which is also a very slight uphill. So I was looking forward to that slight downhill with a tailwind on the way back and it didn't disappoint! It was pretty easy to hold 27-30mph for a good share of the way. The highlight of the bike for me came when I was passing a guy who is 19. As I rode by I heard him yell "50...are you kidding me?" You know what they say about old age and treachery son! The last time I looked at my computer, about 1/3 mile out of T-2, it showed an average of almost 22.9mph. Slowed a bit to get my feet out of my shoes and then got caught behind a slower guy in a congested area where spectators and parked vehicles made it dicey to pass. So I just coasted in behind him for the last 100 yards or so and let my legs chill out a bit. Very happy with the effort on the bike.

Not much, maybe pass the last guy coming into T-2.

Flying dismount, run to towel, rack bike, pretty standard stuff. I slowed down here though, and put socks on. I've learned from past painful experience that I need to wear socks on the run so I've decided it's worth the extra T-2 time to put them on. That, and I spaced on getting speed laces so lost time there as well. The way this transition is set up it should be about a 30-35 second T-2. Next year.

Speed laces

Saw Lisa and when I came out of transition and got a high 5 which was a good mental boost! Saw my son a few seconds later which was great too. My HR was clipping along pretty good coming off the bike and the old bike to run dead legs feeling was not fun but I wasn't going to give in and slow down. About 3/4 mile in, I started to recover and felt much better. Got up the small hill, enjoyed the downhill, and took it the last 1/4 mile into the finish. Crossed the line and looked at my watch and was really surprised to see by how far I'd exceeded my expectations for this race. I really didn't know what to expect after not racing for nearly 3 years. Got a little emotional at being back and able to race again in a sport I love.

I always feel I could have run faster after a race. This one was no different.

Felt really good afterward so just hung out cheering others into the finish, ate a little, and visited with friends who were racing.


I'm old!


Inaugural year for this race and the organizers did a great job. Can't wait to race it again next year.
I raced Clydesdale division and it was not divided into Open/Masters. So all the Clydes competed together. The guy who beat me is 11 years younger than I so I didn't feel too bad about that. Coincidentally, I would have finished second in straight 50-54 age group as well. Next week is a bigger race so we'll see how that goes.