Started about 20 deep in line with my coach who can flat out move in the water (he swam 19 minutes) and sat on his feet for as long as I could, which was about 2.5 seconds. He motored away so fast I couldn't help but laugh a little. It was incredibly foggy on the water's surface for the entire race, so it was difficult to see a thing, and folks were swimming every which away. I couldn't see the first buoy, but on occasion I could see a white patch on the bank through the fog that I had spotted when we were standing on the dock. When I got about 50 meters away I could see that the white patch was actually a small group of spectators that were watching swimmers go around the first buoy - Bingo! made the turn and then just swam off into the fog in the general direction the Kayaks were pointing. Folks were swimming every which away, but I just kept following the the kayaks, figuring that from their slightly higher vantage point they maybe had a better view of the buoys. Bangity, bang, bang I got really lucky and seemed to hit every one of them spot-on, made the turn and made for the exit. Started near the front with the hope of catching some faster feet, but there were really none around. The week before the race I had decided to swim kind of easy, so I swam bilateral almost the whole way.



Anytime I see 24:xx minutes on the swim clock I am happy. So especially so as I have really only been doing maintenance volume for the the past 6 months. Swim volume is about to kick up for the rest of the season, so will interested to see if there is any payoff by July & August.

Cap and goggle off on the run, but did forget for just a second how to get my top off in one movement. Helmet on and shoes on and a quick run to the mount line. Hopped on and rolling quickly, strapped up the shoes after I got up to speed.

One of the fastest transitions of the day, so nothing really.

This is never a really fast course, but it is at least honest.mostly rollers, but decent little sustained climb back out of the hole at the turn around. This year it was a little sketchy as in order to get to and from the bike course from the new lake we had to jump up on a few sidewalks, and go through some pedestrian tunnels to get across a major highway. That slowed us down a bit, but no big deal as everyone has to race the same race.

On the first little descent I made sure I was up to full speed and back peddled a few times to zero out the offset on my power meter. As I did so my drive train got a little jacked up and I didn't know why, but I got it sorted out and hammered on. Got to the bottom of the descent and then looked down to check my power for the climb, and saw my garmin reporting "Right Pedal Sensor Missing" and zero power output. "Ah, well, no biggie - just hammer away and keep an eye on heart rate." Then I noticed my heart rate was showing about 130bpm, which if correct would be way, way, low for me - RPE was telling me it was in the low 170s. I have been using the new Mio Link heart rate wrist strap for the past couple of weeks and it has worked well, but this was the first time racing with it. "Ah, well, no biggie - just hammer on and listen to the legs.

This was an ok ride, and I caught a fair number of folks through the first half of the ride. There were a couple of guys that did the cat and mouse game that I usually experience where they pass me on the hills but then I roll by on the downs and flats. This went on until the long return climb, but after that I shook them off in the rollers. It was kinda weird though, as after that point there was no one else up the road and I was pretty much solo until I began to run in to the back of the sprint racers with a couple of miles to go. At one point I really began to think I was of course, so I was happy to see the sprinters! Up and on the last sidewalk and through the last pedestrian tunnel, then a good little run back to the finish. Feet out of the shoes about 100 meters from the dismount and a quick run into T2.



I think I did OK by RPE, but my quads did feel a little burn here and there. After the race I found that the plug on the right vector pod was torn off. When in the big ring and 11 cog the tolerance between the plug and the chain is really tight, and probably what happened was when I was back pedaling on the descent the chain bounced against the plug and tore it out. When you are pedaling forward it looks like this would not be an issue because of the way the plug inserts in the spindle - it only looks like an issue when back pedaling. Lesson learned.

Ran in, racked the bike, and only then realized that I was kinda chilly! Fumbled my shoes just a bit as my hands wouldn't work quite right, but no big deal. grabbed my visor, glasses, race number belt, and garmin and got it all on and together really quickly on the run out.

Nothing really, as again this was one of the fastest transitions of the day. I really like the 610 a lot better than my 310xt, but since it is not waterproof you can't swim with it, so I always have to grab it and turn it on/strap it on on the run - and would rather not have to do that. I may pick up a 620 - Jennifer has been using one since it came out and she loves it.

While it may have been a little chilly on the bike, it was AWESOME weather for a fast run. For the first mile it felt like I was having a tough time getting my legs stretched out, and my feet were all tingly from the cold - almost felt like they were asleep. Shook that off pretty quickly and got to work. I was fairly well in no-mans land, with none up the road. There were 3 out and back bits on the course though, so I could see I had a few of guys behind me that were making up the gap on the first two. That got me a little motivated and ultimately I was able to put a good bit of space between us in the last couple of miles. It was kinda weird though that I had no one up the road close enough to try and range in.



Might try out a new running computer before my next 'A' race - probably the 620 as I don't really like the form factor of the 910xt (already have a 310) and don't really need all the swimming functions anyway - just need the waterproof-ness.

Caught up with the coach and grabbed some food, then went off to walk and stretch out. Cheered on the rest of the Team Podium racers as they came in - even though this wasn't an official team race we had a good turn out.


Swim and run were both a little faster than I thought they would be, and transitions were spot-on. Bike was a little slower than I thought it would be, but I think that was mostly due to the wacky bits of the course. Would have liked to had data to see, but ah, well - so it goes!




This is always one of the best run local races, and Kim did not disappoint this year, even with all the stress of having to completely change the race venue in the 11th hour. She was even able to have the new venue printed on the T-Shirts and awards! I do hope it goes back to the old course though. I really liked the new lake a lot, but parts of the bike course seem a little dangerous, frankly. The run was great, but had the temps been "normal" it would have been very exposed - the old course is almost entirely on pedestrian paths through the woods, so it is always nice and shady.