It was a time trial start, but swimmers were required to sit on the boat dock and jump in feet first. No diving allowed. Every 5-10 seconds a group of 8 would go. I leaned forward at the whistle and kind of dove/jumped in so I landed feet first but falling onto my belly. This put me in a good position to just start swimming and I already had forward momentum instead of being completely stopped.

One of the benefits of the TT start is that there is less congestion at the start. This is helpful to me as I don't get too freaked out like I have in the past. On the other hand, it makes drafting very hard because the faster feet are already gone and it's tough to latch on to a new set if I get passed. I swam pretty decent and at about the 250M mark started seeing new color swim caps from the previous wave. At the 600M mark I was pasted by a new color cap and this guy was flying. This swim course is great because there is a bouey every 100M and each one is marked with the distance. This makes it easy to concentrate on "one 100 at a time".

Not much, just get faster. Execution was pretty much what I was trying for. In hindsight, I always wonder if I could have pushed harder, but overall it went well.

I ran out of the water and passed many people along the way. Many were walking and I was surprised by the lack of urgency on the part of many.

This was the first time to bike without socks (in a race) and the first time I've used rubber bands to place my shoes on the bike.

This allowed me to knock off over a minute from last year's T1.

I was able to mount the bike but had a little more trouble that I had hoped getting my feet off the tops of my shoes into the shoes. I spent about 15 seconds wobbling around trying not to get hit by anyone as I negotiated my foot into the right shoe. I had practiced this several times the day before to make sure I could do it, so I wasn't too concerned...but I knew the race nerves were making it a little more difficult. This slowed me down at the beginning, but even so I was off and going much faster.

Continue to practice getting my shoes in.

Overall, I'm pleased with my bike time. I improved nearly 2 MPH over last year and considering the change in the course, I consider this to be a huge improvement. I'm also pleased that I didn't blow a tire or wreck considering the course.

I started to tire a bit about half way through the first lap, but I think I warmed up a bit afterward and never had that feeling of "is it almost over".

Not too much. As bike fitness continues to improve, my time will improve. This course was *much* slower than last year's and my bike time was faster, so I think that means I was *much* faster.

My transition was pretty quick. I was at a far end away from the center row and actually went down the wrong row, but I don't think I lost any time because of it. My shoes had Body Glide stuffed in my known hot spot and I was off.

Nothing.

My run time was below my goal. Last year I ran an 8:28/mile pace which was/is far and away a MUCH faster run time I've ever done, anywhere. I've always been suspicious of that run time. That said, I had been doing a bit of speed work and had started thinking that I may be able to approach or beat this time. That was the goal. I knew it was in jeporady as soon as I started off. My legs were just not responding. Even though I didn't have my watch, I knew my pace was way off 8-8:30. I never found a good pacer that I could hang with and I started to get a little frustrated as I saw many in my AG pass me. I'm used to this, however, and know that this is my area to improve upon.

At about the half way point point I saw a lady who passed me at mile 1 up ahead. She seemed to be moving at a good pace. I decided to pace off her and try to pick her off. I timed her using a cone and realized I was about 23 seconds behind her. At the next landmark I was 25 seconds behind, and then 28 seconds behind. I was going the wrong direction.

At mile 5 I saw my TNT Coach. She spotted me and started cheering me on. I was on a loop portion so I saw her for a while. She ran with me for about a hundred yards and I stepped up my pace. My last mile pace was around 8:15 but as a whole I just couldn't get moving fast enough.

In hindsight, my improved bike time may have been at the expense of my run. I didn't feel like I had pushed it too much, but I couldn't get it going. Also, I may also have had too high expectatons of expecting a 1 minute per mile improvement over previous races.

I need to continue to improve my run fitness.

I crossed the finish line and received my medal. This is such a great event with all of the fellow TNT team members. I met up with my wife sister in law and we went down the run course to encourage other teammates. We stayed until the very end and cheered all of the other Mid-America racers.

We headed to the TNT tent and I got to talk with Dave Scott for quite a while. That was fun.


Overall, my run just need improvement. I'm making strides in every area, but this is still my weakness and my focus for improvement.


I love this race. Two huge disappointments, however tarnished the event.

#1 was the bike course. While it was spectator freindly, it was not athlete friendly.
#2 was that they ran out of medals. Only the top 30% of finishers received them. This is inexcusable. This race has many first-timers and people who were just trying to "finish". To run out of medals is unacceptable. I received one, and like it, but it would mean alot more to many people who had never competed in a triathlon before.

Overall, with the exception of these two issues, the event is great and fun.