I was worried about the swim from the respiratory aspect. I did not want to have a cough fit in the middle of the swim. I figured I would take it at an easy pace and let things fall where they did. That didn't stop me from getting up front for the start. I was second row on the inside and I used the technique Jessica Jacobs taught me at a tri camp in April - I got horizontal before the start to "claim my space" and sculled to get my body ready to go.

When the horn blew for us to go, I already had my space so I could easily start swimming. I saw and felt many of the women jump ahead of me and for once did not let that get to me mentally. I just kept my line on the buoys and swam.

Somewhere around the 2nd buoy (200 in) I came up on a girl who was swimming about my speed. I knew this because I could see her feet but I wasn't gaining on her. For really the first time in a race I focused on staying on her feet and drafting. It worked wonderfully. I was able to stay on her for about 150m. Once we rounded the turnaround buoy, however, things got congested and I ended up passing her. It was nice while it lasted.

I focused on keeping things smooth and steady and swam until my fingers touched the ground before standing up to exit.

Luckily, the cough did not bother me during the swim.

For the day I was given, I would not do anything different. This was a good swim for me on a normal day, so I was very happy.

As soon as I exited the water and was running to the bike, the cough started in. I did not want to get into a big cough fit, so my transition was fairly slow. I did opt to not wear gloves on the bike today so that saved me a little bit of time.

I probably need to do short rides without socks because I would like to do the running mount out of T1 someday.

After last year's race with horrible winds, today was about near perfect for the bike. Winds were under 8mph and probably closer to 5mph. I ride the course all the time in training, so I knew where I could hit it hard and where I may have to take it safe if the cough kicked in.

I left transition and hit it hard right away. I was feeling good and wanted to get speed where I could. I made the first turn which leads into a false flat and a little bit of a headwind. I did slow down a little, but not much, so that was a good sign. The only bad thing is that the course is not a closed course and takes place on 2 lane country roads. During the false flat a truck pulled out of its driveway and got behind a rider who was going about 14-15mph. A few cars were coming the other way so for a little bit there was nothing to do but slow down. When it was safe, I passed the truck and the rider and got on with my ride.

Doing the surge to pass the truck was probably a little much. I started coughing a little and knew I had the part of the course coming that would make me cough if any of it would. I made the turn at the Cele store to head into the rollers. I had already decided to go into the small ring up front for the first of the hills to ease into it. It did help, but during the first part of the rollers I had a cough fit. I thought it would really slow me down and cause problems, but I seemed to get one big cough in there that cleared things out and all of a sudden I could really breathe. I knew this was a good sign and decided to push as hard as I could.

I made it through the rollers and knew I was good. I passed several people and only got passed by a few. (The swim waves had started with men young to old and then women old to young, so I only had younger women behind me coming out of the swim).

I struggled a little again once I turned on to the false flat before the s-curves, but when I noticed my speed I kicked it up again. And once I got to the toll road, I let loose. I knew I didn't have much more to go.

My efforts paid off. I'll have to double check, but I think this may be my best bike split ever on this course (I've done the race 6 years in a row). I was very happy.

As always, ride more.

This was a little faster than T1, but still slower as running is what activates the cough.

I seriously thought about taking my feet out of my shoes before the dismount, but I should probably practice that first.

This is what hurt me today. In the long course, the run usually helps because I have a pretty constant speed and can maintain it over distance. But in shorter distances, I'm slow. And having been sick, I was very cautious today. I had done a practice "run" Friday night and ended up walking the majority and having major cough fits. I did not want that to happen today. I wanted to "run" the whole thing if at all possible.

I just kept my feet moving and trying not to take very deep breaths. Luckily it was pretty over cast and there was a slight breeze blowing in the beginning, so I wasn't getting real hot. I drank some gatorade and just focused on putting one foot in front of the other. One of my competitors (who usually beats me on the run every year) passed me about half a mile in. It was tough to watch her go, but I knew that today there was no way I'd keep up. Steady gets the job done and steady is what I did today.

I do need to work on the run more. A few years ago I was able to pull off about 8:30 miles in the sprint tri and now I can't get below 9. I know some of that has to do with training for Ironman and doing the longer slower runs. However, if I'm ever going to stand a chance to place, I've got to get my run into low 8s or high 7s. Not sure if I can get there or not, but I can at least try.

Crossed the finish and grabbed the water and cold towel. Stretched a little and found the group of friends who do tris with me.


Getting sick the week before the race and missing 2 days of work along with 3 full days of training. Although my legs did feel fresh from the forced taper. Ha!


This is my local small town race and I have done it every year that it has happened. I plan on doing it every year for as long as the race takes place. It has definitely grown in size, but is a very well run small race.