I felt much better about this swim than normal. So, I'm a bit disappointed that my time does not reflect that. I was pretty relaxed overall even though it seemed I had more contact throughout than is normal. I did not left the contact bother me and after about 300 yards I was able to relax and get my breathing under control.

I felt good for most of the swim however as we got to the back 1/3 I felt that it was taking too long. I wasn't really fatigued, as much as it seemed I had been swimming longer than I expected. I was hoping to finish in about 28 minutes, so my intuition was correct. I was in the water than than I had hoped.

Improve my swim training. I don't think I am swimming hard enough in training so I'm not making significant improvements. I have heard several people report that the swim was long. That makes me fell about 1% better.

In looking at my transition time, I was much slower than many. I don't practice transitions...at all. Maybe I should and look at shaving 1-2 minutes off.

Possibly practice?

Last year this bike course killed me. It is where I learned I was not in triathlon shape. I was determined not to let that happen again.

Last year, during the bike I developed a pain in my adducter region and it got so bad that I had trouble pedalling. I was miserable. I haven't really felt that same pain again.

This year, I was determined not to burn myself on the first long climb. I stayed seated and spun through it, surpisingly passing up many people along the way. I really noticed that many people were grinding out with a really low cadence and seemed to be doing nothing but toasting themselves.

As I neared the turn around point, my right adducter starting to really hurt. Oh no. I hadn't felt this since last year on this same course. This time, however, we and the pain had a little talk. I successfully talked myself intoo beleiving the pain was just in my head and that I would revisit it after the run. And I did. I didn't feel it again.

The rest of the bike went pretty well. I spent more time in the smaller ring than I had planned to. I hammered the descents as hard as I could. I had several battles with other competitors.

While there is still much room for improvement, I was pretty satisfied with how the bike went. This course is tough for me because I think the climbs take a larger toll on bigger guys like me.

T2 went Ok. I took a Lava Salt at this point. Put on the running shoes and belt and was on my way.

Nothing, unless I actually want to practice.

The run went relatively well. A person that I was battling on the bike got out of T2 faster than me. She was ahead of me for the first mile and I eventually caught her and passed her. About mile 3, I was running up one of the big hills and was nearly knocked over by a huge cramp in my left hamstring...just like Topeka. I couldn't move it for a few seconds and had to walk. After a minute or so of walking and massaging it, I worked it out and it didn't bother me.

At this point, the lady that I had passed caught me. She stuck with me for almost the rest of the run. With about 1 mile to go, I increased my pace to try to lose her and another guy. As I was crossing the dam, my hamstring started to tighten again...I fought it for a bit, but could feel the cramp coming on and had to back off. Both of them passed me and for a moment I sulked. As we approached the final downhill slope, I kicked it and I was able to finish ahead of both of these competitors.

No much. More run training and conditioning is what I need.

After the race, I chatted with Jesse and the packed my stuff up.


More training.


I was eager for my rematch at this race. After finishing it, I am a bit mixed on my review. Last year, I thought the organizers were on the ball. This year, there seemed to be more confusion. Several little things bothered me:
- the price of this event was about $35 higher than similar events, just there were some missteps along the way.
- they ran out of size L shirts. Seriously...how does this happen? Unacceptable as far as I am concerned. The shirts are nice, but I can't wear it so it's a waste. Small thing, but annoying.
- At the finish line, there was water, but all the Gatorade was gone. Fortunately, I found a volunteer who scavenged one for me. Again, how does this happen? I finished middle of the pack...they should not have run out yet.
- I appreciate the main sponser providing snacks after the race...but for some reason tortilla chips and a tiny cup of pica wasn't very appealing.

Overall, I'm pretty pleased with my race. I feel like I vindicated myself a bit over last year's race. While my time was not what I had hoped for, I admittedly had a very hard time setting a goal time. Since each course is so different, with its own challenges, I think I'm learning to be able to evaluate each race on its own. For this event, when I toss the time aside and just evaluate my effort, I'm pleased. I probably raced to my fitness level. I know how I felt during the event last year compared to this year, and this year was much better.