Waded into the water and peed in my wetsuit as soon as I was off the dock. A few seconds later the gun went off and it was time to swim. People seemed to be going in every direction and I was getting hit from all sides. I couldn't seem to find any open water so I wouldn't have to hit people myself. Maybe 200 meters in I got kicked in the face and my goggles came loose. Flipped over on my back to fix them and then went right back to work.

The pack had left me behind so I used a few straglers to sight off of at first. We were told to ignore the first marker bouy since it had drifted off course and just swim straight to he first turn. This threw some people off and I had to start looking up to sight on my own.

As I got close to the first bouy I started to catch a few people but was still no where near the middle of the pack. I had at least made it to the first turn without anyone from the second wave passing me. That didn't last for long. I headed for the next marker bouy and along the way was passed my people in the second wave as well as the lead women from the third wave, which included elite triathlete Andrea Fischer.

I had just accepted the cold by this point and had at least settled into a rhythm. I felt like I was moving at a good pace but just had no ability to keep up with everyone else. So I just relaxed and focused on my form while I waited to get to the bike leg.

Rounded the last bouy and had plenty of people to spot off of on the way back to the dock. The current tried to push me off to the right and I had to correct a few times but made it in one piece. Some Air Force cadets helped me out of the water and I was off and running toward transition.

Start more towards the outside of my wave. I think I could have done better if I wouldn't have lost the pack to draft off of when I had to fix my goggles. But the extreme cold was going to slow me down no matter what.

OMG! I did a good job of pulling my wetsuit down to my waist as I ran into T1 and didn't have any trouble getting it off from their. Sunglasses on, helmet on, I look down at my bike... MY FUCKING TIRE IS OFF THE RIM!!! THE GOD DAMN TUBE BURST WHILE I WAS IN THE WATER!!! How the hell could this happen?!?! Okay, fix the damage and get back to work.

I pried my tire back on the rim and used the last bit of CO2 in my canister to verify that the tube had burst. Okay, new tube. Took the tire off and got the new tube on. Put a fresh cartridge of CO2 in and screwed the top on. DAMN! I cross-threaded it! It didn't puncture the cartridge and won't inflate! Okay, unscrew it and try again. CRAP! It's too tight and my hands are frozen from the swim! I can barely use them!

Okay, now I'm in trouble. Hey, there's Henschied waiting for his relay partner! I run over and ask him if he has a hand pump. No luck. I ask the guy in transition next to me; he doesn't carry spare anything. CRAP! How the hell am I going to fix this?!?! I spot one of the race organizers and run over to ask him if there's a spare hand pump anywhere. He's got one in his SUV which is ten feet away! OMG!

He runs and grabs it and a minute later I've got a reinflated tire. I was scared to death that I was going to have to DNF because of this. I still didn't have a working CO2 pump but at least I could ride until I got a flat. Gave the pump back, grabbed my bike and got the hell out of the worst transition of my life.

The consensus is that my tube exploded because I filled my tires that morning at the race site. It was below freezing then and by the time I got out of the water the air was much warmer. The warm air expanded and thus burst my front tube. And I put alot more air in the front than the rear so that's why only one burst.

Lesson learned but it cost me nearly 10 minutes.

As soon as I crossed the timing mat and started to get on my bike I realized that I forgot to put on my socks in all the rush. I obviously wasn't going to go back now so this would be my first ever barefoot ride. Started to pedal and began to get into my shoes after the first turn. Turns out that my shoes are alot harder to get on without socks. My feet were freezing from the swim and it felt like they had swelled to twice their size. It took some extra effort to get them in and that cost me some time.

Finally got into my shoes and immediately passed two people. There's that feeling I've been missing so much! I had forgotten to swap my computer sensor onto my race wheels when I took my training wheels off the night before so I didn't have any mileage or speed data to go on. I did have cadence though and that was all I needed. I have no idea how fast I was going, but I was flying past people as I headed toward 306.

It didn't take long for the hills to start. I don't really get much chance to train on hills where I live so I was a little worried about what this course would throw at me. Luckily my off-season training had me well prepared.

We started climbing Devil's Backbone around mile 5. I dropped down to my easier gear and was able to stay in the saddle and keep a decent cadnece. At the top of the climb the road narrowed so that there was no shoulder and we had to share the road with traffic. Luckily this section was fast and I didn't have any problems with cars.

Made the turn onto 32 and was feeling great. My feet were freezing and I couldn't feel them at all, but I still felt great. Somewhere around mile 13 I passed up Dennis. This was a huge surprise to me because Dennis got out of T1 before me and he was a damn good cyclist. I pulled up beside him to give him my abbreviated tale of T1 woe and then I was off like a bolt of lightning.

Past mile 15 I hit a stretch of rolling hills. The hills were fine and I could move quite quickly over them, but my problem was traffic. I would see a slower cyclist ahead of me and slowly start reeling him in. Then a truck would pass me, get behind the slower cyclist and slow down because they couldn't pass him (traffic coming the other direction). It was driving me nuts! I didn't have enough room to pass the truck on the right so this slow rider was costing me precious time.

After a minute of this I had had enough. I was passing on the left. I moved onto the yellow lane divider in the center of the road and started riding full speed. I slapped the side of the truck to let him know that I was there and the on-coming traffic was honking at me like crazy. I got alot of weird looks for that stunt. Around the truck, past the slow cyclist and down the road I went. This same situation happened 3 times before the day was over.

Near mile 17 I passed up my buddy Henschied who was doing the bike leg for a relay team. He had a good 8 minute head start on me and I still caught him. That should keep him from talking smack before a race from now on.

It wasn't until mile 20 that I finally got passed for the first (and only) time all day. A 43 year old moved ahead of me just before the monster downhill. I eased off to put some space between us in case anything happened on the ride down. I started out in aero but quickly realized just how steep this hill was and moved up onto my bullhorns. I felt my bike tweek a little as I did this and I started to get nervous out losing it. I managed to get down the hill just fine and without ever touching my brakes, but it'll take some getting used to before I can do that in aero (let alone pedaling myself to go faster).

Back on 306 it was a nice day outside. I was glad I didn't wear tights or a jacket or gloves today, but my feet were still freezing! Passed up a few more riders on my way back to the park enterance. Once I got off the main road I saw a cyclist running his bike! I slowed to ask him if I could help but he said he was too close to make changing the tire worth it. He was just going to run in the last mile and a half of the bike! Hardcore.

Results: This was a very hilly course, I don't trian on hills, I have practically zero experience doing hilly rides and I still managed to destroy this course. 15th overall and 1st in my age group. Now I just need a race with a flat course and good weather to really find out what I'm capable of.

Socks. My feet were FREEZING!

Slightly slower than usual. I dismounted slowly because of my cold feet. The transition area was very rough and running on it with barefeet wasn't very comfortable. Also had to put socks on here which I usually have done already.

Don't forget my socks in T1.

Started things off nice and easy. It felt great to have socks on and shoes that didn't have huge mesh panels over the toes. I could feel the prickling sensation all through my feet as they warmed up at last. I'm in the process of tapering for IMAZ so my plan for the run was to not let my HR go over 160. Regardless of how slow I might have to go. I didn't need to push myself today.

I had made my way ahead of the middle of the pack so the first lap of the run was fairly empty. Always a person a good bit ahead of me but that was about it. The course wound around the lake and I got to see Derek and Courtney as I headed out. Got passed in the first mile by the guy who was doing the run leg for Henschied's relay team.

By mile 1 it started to feel like there were rocks in my shoes but I couldn't tell if that was actually the case or if it was from my feet thawing out. I decided to run through it and see what happens. Before mile 2 we hit the aid station and then the big run hill. I increased my turnover and jogged up without another thought. Pushed my HR a little above 160 so I slowed as soon as I was at the top to get it back into range.

The rest of the loop was a nice slow downhill and I got to see alot of the cyclists as they were coming back in off the main road. Passed transition and the finish line and it was just one more loop to go, but this time with alot more company. I used alot of the people on their first lap as my pacers and kept things steady but comfortable.

By mile 4 I could finally feel my feet again and it turns out that there weren't really rocks in my shoes. Got passed by two guys in my AG just before the aid station but they were in the collegiate division. I decided to walk the hill this time and run again once I was at the top. As soon as I got there I was passed by another guy in my AG and unfortunately he was in the open category. Damn. "Oh well. I'm not racing today so I'm not going to even try to catch him." That was hard to tell myself.

Ran along the bike course for the last time and there were still riders coming in. Yelled a few words of encouragement as they went by. Then Dennis finally caught up to me again. It was about time. I had been expecting to see him before the day was over. We talked for a second as he went by and I told him I'd see him at the finish.

Rounded the last few turns and the finish line was in sight. In the last few hundred meters I got passed by a girl and when I saw her age on her calf I realized it was my friend Ashley. I sped up to chat with her for a second (and to cross the line before her) and then my first tri of the season was over.

Overall results: I got 5th in my AG but only missed 3rd by 3 minutes! Without the meltdown in T1, not only would I have had hardware but I wouldn't have be far from 2nd. Oh well. I've got bigger fish to fry. IMAZ will be here before I know it!

Nothing. I wasn't trying to push myself and stayed in control as guys in my AG passed me. I enjoyed the view of the lake and had fun.

I was handed a Texas flag, drank a bottle of Gatorade Endurance and met up with the other BTers after the finish. Haley was waiting just outside of T2 for Laurie so they could run together. I checked the results, put my stuff away in transition, grabbed some food and hung out while we watched the rest of the BTers finish.


Equipment failure. That burst tube and jammed CO2 cartridge cost me 10 minutes.


Great race. The water was freezing, the bike course was rough and hilly. I had a blast! I'll definitely be back next year.