Passed quite a few people the first 150m. Then I got behind somebody that I just couldn't seem to get around. Tried at the 150m turn and again at 200m. Finally just gave up and drafted. Got my heart rate down nicely.

Forgot to start my watch. Oops. Guessed that I did about 6:15 or so. I was pretty close.

Other than starting my watch, not much. I took it pretty easy once I decided it wasn't worth the effort to pass. Time was a little slower than my goal, but nothing major.

Hit a nice blast of cold wind upon exiting the pool. That was great.

Nothing.

Seems repetitive, but this was my best bike split ever. Faster than my pre-race goal, so that's a bonus.

Was worried about being cold on the ride with the wind and not-so-warm temps, but that wasn't a problem. The Javelin tri suit dried in no time.

Wind wasn't as bad as I feard it would be. With the shape of the course, the wind was only in my face on the shortest stretch. Imagine a trapezoid or rhombus (nerd alert 2!), the E/W legs were about the same length. Wind was a crosswind there. The S leg was the longest, and it was with the wind. Nice. I dropped the hammer on that part and zoomed. Actually had the Rocky music in my head - Gonna Fly Now - when I was on that stretch. The N leg was the shortest, and it was uphill, so having the wind in my face was just gravy.

The only times I got passed on the first lap were by about 10 "fast" riders who were on their second lap. Ah...there's nothing else like the sound of a disc wheel coming up behind you. Otherwise I passed quite a few folks. Some moron was watering their yard on lap 1. Wind was kind enough to blow the water directly onto me. Nice.

Lap 2 I kept passing people. Finally got passed by two people on the next to last turn. At that point I was just cruising, getting my legs ready for the run. I'd see them again shortly.

Make sure to reset my computer. I had no idea what speed I was going other than doing it in my head based on my lap times and distance (nerd alert 3).

The one hill took more energy than it should have each time.

Other than I want a new tri bike. VIP is doing all she can. Maybe some new, lighter wheels would help? VIP needs to drop a few pounds. 26 is too heavy.

Got my helmet and shoes off with no worries. Tried to get my running shoes on and had issues. My right shoe that I had tied earlier was too tight. Rather than be patient and untie the thing, I put my foot in as best I could and stomped until it went on (smart, very smart). Due to the square dancing routine I was putting on, forgot to take off my sunglasses.

Make sure running shoes are loose enough to get them on.

Yeehaw! Passed the two folks who passed me on the bike, then I just started picking folks off left and right. Once I passed somebody, I moved on to the next person. No mile markers, so I guessed I was about a 7:30 pace. At the end of the first lap I got passed by some young punk (20 year olds are young punks now? well, you do hit 30 in a few months...maybe you're right). Other than him, nobody passed me.

Started to get tired when I passed the pool but kept pushing it. Not all out, probably about an 8 RPE. Finally hit the track for the last stretch. Muscle memory from high school came back, so I ran the last 300 pretty hard, not all out, but pretty hard. Caught a couple more folks before finishing.

Nothing. Best run leg ever. Less than a minute from my 5K PR 2 1/2 years ago. I was trying for 7:30 miles, I hit 7:20 miles.

Walked to the car and then to the transition area with Steve to get some clothes and Endurox. Then we headed back to the track to see Marcy and Shannon finish. Posed for the BT team photo (forthcoming from Marcy), checked the results, and headed out.


Set a Sprint PR by a minute and a half. I could complain about forgetting to start my watch, having the wrong swim time down and getting behind some slower swimmers, forgetting to reset my bike computer, having shoe issues, and so on, but why?


The weather was not great, but my race was. Made some dumb early season mistakes, but overame them. That's about all that needs to be said. Great way to start the season with a new Sprint PR.