I estimated 5 minutes conservatively. Went to the bathroom a few minutes prior to the start and then looked for my place in line. No one was in line. I think I ended up starting in the middle of the pack. I passed 15-20 people in a 250 yard swim. Considering all of the navigation I had to do, this was a really good swim time.

Start closer to the front.

I put my bike shoes in transition instead of fiddling with them on the bike. I feel like I get the time back. Pretty good pit stop for T1. Everything went good.

Not much.

Didn't measure the hydration tube from my speed fill so it was a little short. Temperature and winds were favorable for August. Wanted to go 20+ but just missed the mark. Got out of my shoes too early and had to fight up a short hill before heading into transition. Passed a lot of people on the bike course. I don't recall being passed once. Probably because I started farther back than anticipated in the swim.

Stay in shoes until I get to the turn into the complex.

When putting on my right shoe, the laces came undone so I had to retie the shoe. Cost me a few seconds. The guy next to me was sitting in front of my rack spot when I got there so that was another few seconds. Legs felt pretty good after the bike.

One of these days I will get a good transition where nothing goes wrong. This was not the day but really good in larger scheme.

Legs felt good coming off the bike. Started conservative to see where I was at. First mile was around 8:40 and seemed really easy. Maintained pace through the second mile. Cranked it up as best I could for the last mile. My running has been really good lately for me. The hot weather has not been problematic in the two races I have done in August. Strange since I felt horrible in July.

Start pushing the pace a little earlier.

Checked results to confirm I didn't place and then headed home.


Maybe spending 10 hours the previous day painting the house was not a great idea. I was pretty sore from that. I really entered this race wanting to place in the top 10 in the age group to get a slot in the Best of the Best in November as a late season race. Mission accomplished.


I only remember one aid station at the end of the road. The volunteers had obviously not done this before. The people and the station were beyond the turnaround by 10 feet or so and were not prepared to hand out water. All really nice but the organization of the aid station was not good. The road was open to cars on the route and many were really close when passing other bikes. The shoulder had a lot of debris to navigate. Parking was a long way from transition due to road work. It's a good venue with the stadium and that was nice.