Announced water temp was 84 degrees but it actually didn't feel that warm to me. Regardless, I was happy it was not a wetsuit swim.

As we lined up for the swim start, I looked over and saw a log floating near us in the water... and moving toward us. Wait a minute, that is not a log, IT IS A GIANT FREAKING TURTLE. And I do mean giant - the thing must have been 3 feet across. Had no idea turtles that big lived in Centennial lake. All of us nearby in the wave were a little freaked out. The turtle probably was wondering what the hell all these crazy humans in spandex were doing in his lake.

Swim went pretty well. Except I clonked my head right into a kayaker about 300 yards in. Whoops. Either the course in the lake or the map was wrong, because there was one extra turn buoy on the course (and one more turn than last year I think). But overall happy with time.

2010: 17:40
2011: 16:33
2012: 15:56

Just realized that those times make it look like I am getting faster in the water, but I don't believe that to really be the case. I am 100% sure the 2010 course was marked quite long, and I believe this year may have been a hair short.

For reasons that aren't clear to me, I stopped in transition to take a long drink from my water bottle. Duh, that is why the bottle is on the bike.

2010: 3:15
2011: 2:23
2012: 2:44

This was one of those bike legs where I just didn't feel that strong for some reason. Pace was considerably slower than Columbia Oly, and this is a shorter & easier course. At one point I had convinced myself I had a flat tire because I didn't feel like I was moving fast enough. But no, I am just a slug.

2010: 58:23 (18.0 mph)
2011: 54:15 (19.4 mph)
2012: 54:55 (19.1 mph)

2010: 2:05
2011: 1:17
2012: 1:17

Well I am nothing if not consistent here. Probably not going to get much faster.

This was a decent run I guess. Starting to get a little hot at this point. Was hoping to be more around an ~8:15 pace but I guess you get what you get.

2010: 40:08 (11:48/mile)
2011: 30:30 (8:58/mile)
2012: 30:12 (8:52/mile)

Basically the same total time as last year. A bit faster in swim & run, a bit slower in bike & T1. Mentally a PR would have been nice even if only by a couple seconds. But to be fair, this performance is probably indicative of the training I have been putting in. If I really want to start getting faster again, I need to step things up a notch.

Total time:
2010: 2:01:30
2011: 1:44:56
2012: 1:45:04

I really love this event. It is a great course, and the site of my first ever tri, so I like to go back to see how I stack up. But it is sad to see the dwindling numbers - 1400 in 2010, 1000 last year, and only 850 this year. I think part of that is because CTA keeping jacking up the fees, and it is quite expensive for a sprint. I think they would do better lowering the fee and pulling more first-timers into the fold.