All age group males started together in a single wave. I placed myself in the front but didn't bolt off the line to reach the water first. The race had pretty easy water to swim in. I felt like I was moving well, but could tell that a lead pack was moving ahead. I did a good job of following another swimming for the second half of the first lap through the end of the second. Starting the second lap is always a mental pain! I thought we were more middle of the pack, but looking at the results I guess we were somewhere off the back of the front and at the lead of the middle.

I don't think I like my wetsuit. I'll be looking into getting a new one to start next season.

This time must not include the run to transition. Normally the run to the top of the beach seems long, but this race had us run up another city block. They recommended bringing flip-flops of shoes. I brought an older pair of run shoes and passed 2 or 3 people who didn't take the advice.

Feeling like I was behind getting out of the water, I hammered the bike. The course was mainly flat, but had some twists along the coast that made it fun. Toward the end of my final loop I caught up to another rider that was finishing up. Since there was no one else in sight I decided to just hang behind him for the last mile.

The dismount line was at the bottom of a hill. I slipped out of my shoes before the downhill and cross a leg over my top tube toward the bottom. When I jumped off my bike I must have also slammed on my front break. My bike bucked up like a bronco and I struggle to get it back down. Ran a little bit and noticed I lost a shoe. I stopped and yelled back, but a volunteer had already grabbed it and ran it over while I was at my rack. Timing mats were at the entrance and exit of T2. I had the fastest age group transition of the day.

The run was an out and back on a coastal path that we were sharing with joggers, tourists, and dog walkers. It wasn't marked and I didn't have any other racers in sight, which gave it a weird feeling like I was just doing a fast training run while wearing a number. A couple miles in I started to see runners coming back in. I counted out my overall placement, but everyone was out of reach. At the turn around I saw that rider I had come into transition with was only a few strides behind. I kept my steady pace and he stayed behind for a while until deciding to put a move on with about 2.5 miles to go. I picked up with him for a bit, but he kept widening the gap on me. I talked with him at the finish and he said he knew he couldn't just get with me, but had to really go for it. And go he did.

Free massage and some food.