I tried to find a decent place to start so that I wouldn't get swam over. Found a nice niche and got off pretty well. No feet to draft off of, but kept a good pace with the person next to me.

Started out with a breath on every stroke but slowed it down to every other stroke as I got comfortable in the water.

I rounded the bouy pretty easily and turned to see a number of clydes still behind me, which made me feel pretty good.

They had a giant inflatable guy at the end which was really easy to sight on and I thank the RD for that.

Nothing.

This was my first Suitless tri and it was nice not to have to fight with a suit in T1.

Socks and shoes on, bike off the rack, and I was off running the 1/4 mile to mount line. (Why was transition so far from the mount line?)

Nothing. I really liked having the bike hanging from the rear so I didn't have to turn the bike around.

I finally got my hydration figured out. Drank a whole bottle of water on the course and took on a gel as I was heading back in to sustain me for the run.

The hills were solid, but nothing close to the hills of Columbia. I did enjoy the feeling of spinning up the hills with a high cadence while seated. Especially as I go by people who were in too high of a gear and were struggling. The looks on their faces was priceless.

More hill training and more Musc Endurance training.

Racked the bike head in, off with the bike shoes, and slipped into the run shoes. Race belt and visor on.

Grabbed the open red bull and took off drinking.

Nothing.

This was the payoff. My primary goal for this race was to go sub-30 on the run. A secondary goal was to go under 1:30 for the race. I left on the run at exactly 1 hour and knew that I had both goals in my grasp.

The adrenaline was pumping as I took off on the run and I drank about 1/2 the can of Red Bull between T2 exit and when I hit the road. Had to dump the rest (I know, blasphemy) and carried the can in my side pocket for the first mile.

I tried to keep a solid pace and focus on my cadence and breathing for the first mile. I was following pretty well and only got passed by one Clyde and a half dozen racers total.

When I hit the 1 mile mark, I looked at my watch and about keeled over. 7:30 for my first mile. That crushed my previous best 7:49/mile. I knew at that point, unless I broke down, I was going to crush my goal. Now the question was, by how much.

At each water stop, I grabbed 2 cups. 1 for a couple of sips to keep the throat wet, and another to dump on my head.

As I approached the final 1/2 mile, I saw a calf with a 'C' on it, and realized that he was slowing down. I decided to light him up going to the end. I lowered my hips, came up on the balls of my feet, and dropped the hammer. I passed him like he was standing still.

I came sprinting down the chute and felt great. Even had enough sense to throw out a 'shocker' for my race photo.

Nothing.

Stretching and eating.

Signed up for a massage and hung around for the awards.


Conditioning and speed.


My primary goal for this race was to have a strong performance in front of my parents and sisters. I certainly met that goal and everyone was pretty astonished with how well I finished (including me).

I finished 13th out of a field of 38 and couldn't be happier. There is still a good amount of room for improvement, but I'm happy with my performance for now.