Since I've spent very very little time in the pool I didn't real have a high expectation for this swim. I'm not a strong swimmer to start with and not being in the pool for 1.5 months or so doesn't help. I'm happy that I allowed myself to just get over it and enjoy the $hitty swim, which I did!! I was in a lot of traffic - got hit and hit many people..nothing serious, but then you bob your head up to see WTF??? My sighting was off, I never really got plane and felt like my toes were dragging the bottom....total unbalance in the water...

Having health issues that stopped almost all workout activity for a couple months didn't help one bit....I needed more volume to do better, but I'm just Thanking God that I'm healthy now and am 100%!!!!! I can get more volume and time here soon...whew!! This statement will be the same for all three sports!

I was hungry at this T1 so I BBQ'd some hotdogs and ate a couple....Damn, this was a long transition...haha After the swim I was trying to talk myself up to killing the bike....I obviously wasn't in a big rush here!! haha....dunno why, just wanted to settle down after the swim and clear my head...It worked!

Practice transitions - put together a full game plan for the race that included fast transitions...I wasn't real concerned about my time.

I had a great ride today....awesome for me...I have been hell bent the last week to PR this bike portion of the race and hit my goal of 20mph.....I'm thrilled that I made that happen - and 20 months to attain that goal was okay by me...I started off at about 14mph!! I got clipped in okay, was confused why people weren't going crazy out of the parking lot....they were going real slow???? So I was looking down and seeing 16mph...and thinking...I can't go that slow...I need 20+. I rounded the corner out of the parking lot and floored it!!!! I hit about 21 mph pretty quick and went up and down a few small hills...I came up on a guy less than 1 or 2 miles and was riding behind him a bit (no, not drafting) I looked down and saw 19.1 mph and said to myself that I cannot let anyone pace me today - I must pace myself....I spun the cadence up to 100 rpm and blasted by that guy and shift to the next gear. This gear was a sweet spot around 21.5 mph or so and about 92-95rpm...This felt good and I really tried to stay around that area....I did slow down a bit for some small hills and turns....People corner very slow - I do not!! haha...I had some traffic in corners. Since I was wave 2 and slow in the swim - I passed a ton of people....I mean for me - a lot of people!! It felt good flying by bikes with special wheels, tri-bikes and other expensive fast looking machines..and all while my small engine was mounted on my Giant OCR1 $800 roadie....I love my bike!!! Speaking of fast corners - I went off the road in one corner and had to do a BMX bunny hop to get back on the road...that was a bit scary...But since I just had my bike re-fitted it is a bit twitchy with the new set-up...I'd forgotten that and almost wrecked. Surprisingly enough this didn't spook me a bit...I thought...good recovery Wilson, now pedal fat boy!!! The rest of the ride was awesome...I was seeing 22 and 23s during the last 1/2 of the ride...I knew I had some ground to make up for slow corners, hills and traffic...I was totally stoked when I found out I'd hit my goal!!!!!!! YIPPIE! The new set-up rocked...I spend about 2/3 or more of the time on the drops...that are way low now compared to before...no issues on breathing, knee pain or anything else..I felt like a beast on the bike today!!!! ME HAPPY!

Nothing really - this was a PR ride for me!!!!!

I have an excuse for this horrible transition time..haha...I got all ready and ran out of the transition area - ALMOST to the timing mats when some nice man said....."you need your race bib" -- $HIT, I had to run all the way back and get my race belt and then start the run...So that sucked big time!!! I actually laughed out loud at myself and said....there goes another slow transition!! haha

remember my race belt!!!!!

This was a HTFU run for sure...I killed myself on the bike - as planned. My calves were locking up big time..both of them - and it doesn't help to run uphill to start things off....I was in lots of pain and wondered if I should stop and stretch....I didn't, I killed the head demons and mashed on....I was nearly crippling in pain at one point and looked down to see how much further...I was only 0.44 miles into the run....!!!! UGH>>>>> MOTHER FOOKER!!!! I didn't stop and just grit my teeth and keep running...About a 1.25 miles my legs stopped hurting so much that I could hear myself breath pretty hard...yuk....I really had to HTFU not so slow down even more...I kept telling myself the week prior for the 5k race I ran an avg HR of 180....and for this run I was only in the low 170's.....why can't I push harder and hit 180 and find a faster pace...dunno....I couldn't ratchet it up anymore......that sucked. I even thought about not sprinting at the end...I was tired!!! haha... but I did sprint and sucked in 4 bugs from a 1/2 mile away cuz I was sucking so much air!!! All in all it was good, but very mentally challenging!

Back to Swim comments....need health, volume and consistent training to pull off a faster run!!! I can do all that!

I met up with my buddy Neil, who was cheering me on....(BASTARD).......we chatted some more, shared horror stories of the tri and ate!!! It was a nice end to the day!


My recent health issues and lack of volume and consistent training killed me....But, I did pretty damn good in my opinion making this happen at these speeds...I'm not disappointed one bit with my performance based on the last two months...I have lots of supporters both at home and on the web that kept my spirits high and willingness to get better!!!! Oh yeah...Hilde, on the bike portion as I was going down some inclines/hills....I said to myself..."Hilde doesn't stop pedaling on downhills, either will you"!!!!


I love everything about this race, volunteers are friendly and awesome, star spangled banner, pledge of allegiance, great food, great spectators and just lots of small Tri fun!!!! Highly recommend this one!