Started out right on the inside line at the front. I had no idea who the swimmers were in the race so I just picked a straight line. I often stay off the inside line to avoid getting crowded in but the first turn buoy wasn't for 350m so I knew things would be opened up by then.

When the horn went off, I went into a strong steady pace right away and watched for anyone going hard that I would need to stay with. There were two people going about my speed to my right with the farther one going a bit faster. I drifted slightly right in case I needed to jump on their feet.

About half way to the first buoy I saw a giant jellyfish go by me on the left - the tentacles must have been 10 feet long. My only thought was that it's gonna suck if someone runs into that!

One of the other two leaders dropped back a bit and I moved up beside the left hip of the other guy to draft a bit. After about a minute of that I started pulling up beside him (not intentionally). From there he seemed to slowly drift back, possibly having gone out too hard? I was first to the turn buoy - the second one was only a short distance and after rounding that I took a peek behind me. There seemed to be 4 of us and then a gap to a bigger group. I kept the pressure on and half way to the next buoy I took another look behind me to see if I was just towing the group along or what. I seemed to have about a 10 foot lead on 2nd and 3rd was just a bit behind that. At that point I decided I was going to go for broke and try for the $50 swim prize for fastest swim. I wanted to make sure I had a lead going to the beach as the last thing I wanted was to swim the fastest but to get beat to the timing mat by a faster runner! After rounding the last buoy I took another look and seemed to have a safe gap. I kept up the effort to the beach and ran up the beach to the mat in 1st.

I worked harder in that swim than I normally would but Shane has nicely whipped me into pretty decent swim shape since I got back from France and I felt confident that it wouldn't hurt me.

Nothing.

After the race one of the officials said that after the buoys had been placed it was measured at around 850 rather than 750 so if that's true, I had a 1:22/100m pace which seems about right based on the effort.

What a disaster.

They didn't actually have T1 and T2 splits. I just took the difference from my bike time on my computer vs the official results.

I really need to work on the execution of getting my wetsuit off quickly. The last two races I've screwed it up. By the time I got to my bike I hadn't even gotten the flap off the zipper and opened up. I was just didn't do everything smoothly and felt like I was floundering. Easily lost 15-20 seconds here for no reason.

everything

After exiting the water in first and then screwing up T1, I started riding in 3rd place. I quickly got my feet into my shoes and down into the aerobars, popping out a couple of times for tight turns. Once on the highway I moved back to 2nd place and lapped my computer so I would have good lap power data to pace off of - goal was 255-260w. The out part of the course is a very slight uphill - just enough to throw your speed off and make you wonder if you've got a brake pad rubbing or something.

First place was about 15-20 seconds up the road by this point and seemed to be pulling away from me slightly. I was holding my power right around 260w and felt good. These types of courses seem to suit me well where I can just put my head down and get in a groove. None of this turning and climbing shit. ;)

Somewhere around the 4k mark I was passed by a guy and immediately (but legally) followed by another. When the second guy went by and slid over I decided I would try to stick with him and see how that went. Lo and behold if I stuck to my power plan but parked in a legal draft position, he didn't pull away from me. We also started to catch the first guy that had been pulling away from me. We ended up going by him around the 8k mark. I stuck with my rabbit for the rest of the ride back to T2. At times he pulled slightly ahead of me and I could notice the effect on my power so I would get back closer. I was paranoid about not drafting so I was careful to not get close, I suspect I was a full bike length farther back than I needed to be. This is the first race I've ever had the opportunity to stick with someone like that and get a legal draft.

We got out to the turnaround point and my lap power was 255w for 37.2 km/hr, not bad for a net uphill. The return leg was obviously slightly downhill (duh) and I'm not sure if my guy was getting tired or if the higher speed was giving me more of a draft benefit but AP for the return leg was 234w at 44.2 km/hr. I considered passing him but I'm not sure that I would really have gained anything and it might just have been that we would trade places and he would just get towed back to T2 behind me!

I got into T2 in 3rd place OA.

http://www.strava.com/activities/168667454/overview


I *could* have pushed the return a bit but I'm not sure it was the right thing to do.

Another less than stellar transition. Given the size of things, this should be more like 30-35s I think.

I racked my bike, slipped socks on (such a rookie...) and shoes, grabbed my watch, visor and.... my sunglasses are nowhere to be found. I figured they were just knocked off to the side somewhere so I took off without them.

I dunno - move faster. Do some running sockless so I can skip the socks.

I left T2 still in 3rd place but about 200 meters into the run a pack of 5-6 guys ran by me like a pack of wolves. The race was paying to 5th place ($300 down to $115 I think?) and they were all going for it. I had zero chance of going with them.

I basically ran the whole time just pushing the pace with what I had for run legs. The first section was on a gravel trail that was a bit soft and sort of sucked the energy out of your legs. Not a great way to start out! People later told me they ran on the grass beside it.... duh.

After the pack went by me early, there were only 3-4 others that passed me which was nice. I had no idea where Gaetan was but figured he wasn't too far behind. I was hoping to be able to beat him to the line again after our race last weekend. In the end he finished one place behind me but the gap was almost a minute. He ran a 17:42 (including transition) - damn! It's a good thing sprints aren't 6k runs. :)

http://www.strava.com/activities/168676690


Not have a bad knee and sore foot in the last month so I could so some actual run training.

Minimal run training in the last month.