Started out at the back of the pack because I didn't want to push the run too hard. You could see the seperation between the front, middle and back packs as we came to the first straight away. I kept an even pace and slowly started to work my way up.

By the time the first aid station came into sight I was right in the middle of the pack and that's about where I wanted to stay. My HR was already as high as I wanted it to go so I'd have to ease up just a bit on the second half.

Coming around the loop and back down the road you could see the short course leaders and amazingly the long course leaders heading out on their bikes. Now I couldn't wait to start riding.

Nothing. I didn't go too hard and that's all I wanted to do.

Nice and quick. Only 4 people were faster than me in T1.

Nothing.

Had a bit of trouble getting my shoe into position as I started to pedal but it only cost me a second or two. Got into my right shoes as we rode the first curve and the second shoe on the following straightaway. Shadow was yelping at all the cyclists as they went by and I had to laugh when I saw that.

Coming out of the park I had already moved up a dozen places or so and I had no intention of slowing down. The first u-turn came a little bit earlier than what I'm used to. This just meant that I would have to ride uphill and into the wind like I usually do. Just into the wind was much easier to deal with.

I kept my cadence nice and high and reeled in other racers one after the other. The main bridge was extremely windy but at least it was a cross/headwind rather than being completely against me. After the small hill at the other end of the lake I saw the short course leaders heading the other way. Naturally it was Ahmed (another local RD) in the lead.

Coming to the last u-turn I could tell that I was well into the lead group. I counted maybe a dozen cyclists ahead of me. This made for a lonely ride back into the park. I like to have someone to chase after. This time I had no one in sight. So my new motivating factor became putting time between me and the two guys in my AG that I passed along the way.

I waved off the bottle hand-up guys as I came back into the park. I checked my watch and I hadn't even been riding for half an hour. This was such a short race! Got out of my shoes once I saw the final curve ahead. Coasted in on one foot and made a perfect running dismount. At least I made up for my piss poor dismount at yesterday's race.

Bike Results: Only 22MPH but that was good enough for 5th place. I'm curious as to how I would have done without racing an oly the day before.

Proper rest?

I had a bit of trouble racking my bike. I didn't lift the handlebars quite high enough so they hit the rack and pushed it forward. I had to pull the rack back into place and then rack my bike.

Other than that it was fairly good.

Be careful not to hit the rack.

I pushed this run a little harder in order to hold onto my place in my AG. I knew there weren't many of us and I had passed two guys on the bike so I should be looking at hardware.

One guy was cramping up before we hit the first straight away and he had to stop to massage out the cramps in his calves. He ended up being the only guy I passed.

Before the aid station I saw Ahmed on his way back in and congratulated him on his victory. He didn't respond and I completely understood. The guy who stopped at the beginning was able to catch up and pass me as we hit the one mile marker. He wasn't in my AG so I couldn't care less if he passed me.

Heading back now I could see the MOP leaders hitting the aid station. It was nice to know that I had a solid lead on that group for a change. Wound my way back towards the finish line. As I approached the final curve two guys zipped past me. I thought about chasing them but neither was in my AG so it wasn't worth the extra effort. I just held my pace and comfortably crossed the finish line.

Results: 1st in my AG by more than 6 minutes and 14th overall! I did alot better than I thought I would.

Nothing. Maybe I could have been top 10 if I had pushed it, but I'll settle for an AG victory and a fun time.

Got Shadow back from Matt so he could go on his run. Filled my finisher mug up and rehydrated as quickly as possible. Then I walked Shadow out of the park to the main road. We watched the cyclists go by until the lead pack finally passed and then we headed back to see them run.

Saw Trey, Jacob and Jack (the RD) headed in as we walked back. The people working the aid station along the way were nice enough to give Shadow some water. That was a long walk for a small dog. Headed past the turn in order to see the long course runners.

It turns out that Jack is one hell of a racer. He's in his 60's but still smoked the bike course and didn't even look tired on the run. I told him to go do another lap on the bike as he ran past me. As Jacob got near I let him know that he was 2nd in our AG and there was a fast runner on his tail so he'd have to keep up the pace to get hardware.

Waited in the shade at the turn for the loop until I saw Trey go by. Then walked back and saw David along the way. When I got back to the transition area I checked the results and found out that I had won my AG. Then I looked over and saw that they had already done the short course awards instead of waiting to do them along witht he long course. Oops.

I walked over to get my gold medal and then went back to watch the long course finishers. It was a good while before the last cyclist came in but she got a huge ovation from the crowd as she made it to transition. I'm not sure if they were cheering her grit and determination or if they were just happy they could finally take their bikes and go home. Either way it gave her a nice boost.

I went back to grab some food and sat and talked with David for a bit. Then I packed up my stuff and headed home. Great day.


Lack of rest.


Very good race. A year ago this was my first ever multi-sport race and this year it was the long course national championship. Tons of fantastic athletes, a great course, great atmosphere.... I'll be back for sure.