The water was awesome, at least compared to St. Anthony's conditions last week - with a little bit of chop on the way out. I found some clean water after the first bouy and a good pair of feet to draft off. I didn't feel like pushing the pace much, so I settled in and just followed the guy in front of me the rest of the way.

Push a little more on the swim to make up time for the 1/4 mile run from the water to T1.

Got to T1 with HR elevated from the soft sand run. Wiped sand off my feet into shoes, helmet & glasses. Ran out of transition and onto the bike.

Nada.

This two loop course is all too familiar to me. This is the same course I ride every Saturday. Since going out on the first wave, the first loop was empty of competitors. At the start of the second loop the rest of the Olympic & most of the sprint competitors were out on the course. The heavier traffic meant more people to watch out for.
I felt pretty good on the bike, legs weren't as strong as I would have hoped they would be. I got the impression yesterday during my workout, that I was not going to have the same 'snap' in the legs like in St. Anthony's. There was a bit of a head wind at certain parts of the course. It was more of a nagging windy condition than downright pain in the butt.

Nada.

Into T2 grabbed running shoes, racebelt, visor & 2 fuelbelt bottles of HEED in the back pocket.

Nada.

Got out of T2 and onto the run course with at a good steady pace. I forgot to mark the mile splits during the run. Anyways, the first loop went by quickly but it was getting toasty. Once I started the second loop I knew it was going to be a little tougher. The heat was getting to me and my HR was high. At this moment I started to understand the 'damage' to the legs the sand run, the 4 bridges, the 4 momentum killer turnarounds on the bike & St. Anthony's had done. At the 5 mile mark, I started to feel the onset of a cramp above my left knee. I am familiar with this sensation because it is the issue that plagues all my races in warm conditions. I guy in my AG passed me and looked back to see if I would respond. I couldn't. I did not push the pace, but slowed down. I figured it is better to lose a few seconds than to cramp and lose 5 or 10 minutes.
I finished the run with a respectable time and a great feeling of accomplishment.

Nada.

Not much. Light stretching and walking around looking for the rest of my buds.


I was not as recovered from last week's as I thought I would be.


This race venue is challenging. The weather & bike course make it tough. I had a great time doing a double with the fellas - Billy, Kiko, Alfredo and Alfred.
Congratulations to Mimi for a first place finish in her AG and Ivanka with a 4th place in the AG.
Also, Alfred switched to the Clydesdale division and took his AG in the under 40 200+. Alfred, stay chubby and you'll take home more hardware.
Billy and Kiko had a tough day. Billy, way to hang in there and dig REAL deep all the way to the finish line. Kiko, there is no shame in a DNF if keeping on is going to lead to injury.