I swam well. We were swimming into the sun so I just used the rocks on the side of the lake for sighting. Had to climb over some guy when I looked and saw where the buoy was... he was trying to hug the shore. I wanted to go in more of a straight line to the buoy.

Swam one of my better swims, so nothing to do except get faster!

Good transition... it was a long run from the water to the transition and I passed a good 10 or more people running from the water to the transition. I got excited when I saw so many bikes in the transition area. It made me feel really good about my swim.

The other thing I was worried about was my sunglasses... well they were in my bike shoe so I smiled when I saw them. Big relief.

The other thing that was different is at this race after you are ready to go on the bike you have to throw your swimming stuff (wetsuit, goggles, cap) into a bag. Did that quickly.

Same as the swim... good transition...

I rode really well. During the climbing sections I passed many people. The ride was actually 30 miles but I did 31.25 because during the gradual downhill after Usery pass I was going 32mph and did not see the turn into the Las Sendas area. (a lot of the faster riders missed this turn) Anyway I kept riding and had to go through a intersection that had just turned red and since it wasn't the course route no police were stopping traffic. Made it through after slowing to 15mph. Top speed during the bike was 41.8mph.

I rode really well, maybe making it through that turn would have helped cut a couple of minutes off my time.

This transition was neat. You stop and a volunteer takes your bike from you. You run into the transition area where they hand your bag to you. I opened my bag, switched shoes, put my helmet in, ate chocolate GU, drank from a lightly mixed bottle of Crisp apple clif shot drink and I was off and running.

Oh, put my race belt on... new thing for me since I have a nice race uniform now. It put it on easy, but when I turned it to put the # in the front the strap came out of the buckle. As I ran up the first switchbacks I was able to fix it and put it back on.

Oh, you get to sit on a seat in transition..... Very nice!!!

Practice putting the race belt on.

The run was fun but very challenging. At first the run felt like I was going to be alone and then I spotted 2 guys just after the first set of switchbacks. I quickly caught them and put some distance on them. Again I was running alone, but I had the thought of putting more distance on them in my mind to help me run faster.

Most of the run was tough to run fast though. In a couple of spots you could not run and had to lower yourself or climb. There was one spot where you get to moving down the hill and then see yourself having to jump to avoid a big cholla cactus. I hit a few trees and got a couple of scrapes.

A lot of running through the sand too. The challenging part was trying to find the path that was harder so you could get more push off.

Then I made it to where you run up a hill on the road and then go back onto a path that goes along the river. I did not know where to go and there were no arrows. After finding where to go I got to the next turn and the girl there did not know which way I needed to go... then we found it and there was a arrow that led to a path that then had 2 forks, again with no sign telling which one to take. I took the path to the right and ended up by the river on a path that came to a dead end. I had to climb a cliff to get back on the path. I then ran from there and finished.

From the 3 times I stopped to find where to go I almost cramped up.

Well... I talked to the race director about the markings on the course... I obviously would have been faster on the course. LOL

Bananas, water, a coke, a jump in the swimming pool and then 2 beers. They had Kilt Lifter out there.


Missing the turn on the bike and not knowing where to go 3 times on the run.


I would give it a 5 if not for the short comings on the marking. It is a great race. Very difficult and challenging. I enjoyed it.