The water was crystal clear, but I still had trouble picking up someone to draft off of. This was a fairly agressive group, espcially with the shotgun start. That was the primary problem. I was able to make myself some room eventually (sometimes you just have to be "assertive" to get people off your back). I managed to have a fairly good overall swim and still came out of the water not too tired or drained.

Includes 1 min for run from beach to transition. Not exact, but much closer than "official" splits.

Try to choose my rack closer to the path through transition.

Started out with a bit of trouble getting my feet in and was passed by a couple of folks. Quickly reeled them back in. Thus began a tough slog through the wind. I was trying to push without burning up too much leg energy. I looked down early and found my HR was at 161, which is LT for me, and backed off a little. The wind was primarily across the course, but gusted and swirled severly around the many beach high rises, so you were frequently hit by a sudden headwind, just like someone grabbed your bike, then it would push you into the road. This was a flat ride, but not very fast b/c of the winds.

I've found that the closer to the front I come out of the water, the tougher the race gets on the bike. I passed and was passed by a few, probably netted out very close to even. So, my swim is better, but less thrills by passsing a lot of folks on the bike now. That's a fair trade I guess, but means I need to work more on the bike.

The dismount line slipped up on me, and I barely got out of my shoes in time. Also, had to rack the bike twice to get it to stay right. Otherwise a very good transition. To get much faster I'm going to have to forego socks on the run. Not there yet.

Again, this time is based off my watch and calculations from my bike computer, with T2 time from official results. I truly believe it is a more accurate split than the "official" one, and is still slower than what I had from my watch initially.

For me, this was an absolutely stellar run. Easily my fastest to date. 6 months ago I couldn't run a mile, now I'm close to 7 min/mile at the end of a sprint. HR training works, don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

I came out of T1, nice and cool thanks to the weather, well hydrated, and having had a gel at the end of the bike. The first thing I noticed was that from the ball of my foot forward was pretty much numb. I had decided to give this run my all, and I did. I paid no attention to the HR monitor at all during run. After I got my legs under me I just started mentally chanting "quick feet, quick feet...." to try and keep a high turnover. I was looking for mmakbenton to come up on me somewhere, as he is a much faster runner than I am, and I was planning on using him as my run "rabbit." I actually passed about 3 people on the way out. Just after the turnaround I saw Mike - only about a hundred yards behind me. I "knew" I was doomed to be caught, so I started picking up the pace the best I could, and my mental chant changed to "run with your heart." I still expected to be caught, but was determined to prolong the chase as long as possible. Amazingly I passed one or two more people, and turned the corner to the finish without being passed by anyone else. In fact only a very few folks passed me anywhere on the run, which is incredibly atypical for me. I crossed the line, gave my name and number, turned around and there was Mikel He had been gnawing at my heels, but I didn't know b/c I never looked back.

I discovered a few things, for me, at this race. 1. I do much better in cool weather. 2. In a race the HR monitor can only hold you back, maybe important in a longer race, but not necessary or good at a sprint. It is cool to "run with your heart." 3. I can still run, I just need to train long. I did well here, b/c of the oly training this summer. I bombed on the run at my oly b/c I just hadn't put in the miles I needed, and hadn't built a true oly base yet. 4. Racing with and against friends provides just a little more motivation. (Thanks to the Benton wolfpack! :) )



Nothing, this was about as perfect a run as I can imagine at this stage of my "career."

Drank some water and gatorade. Cheered in a few other folks, including benton4 (2nd in her age group) and a friend of hers. Put on some wind pants and walked around chatting until lunch was reasdy.


I still have a base to work on, but I'm completely satisfied with my performance at this race. 2nd in my age group is much better than I hoped for.


This was the fourth in a series, and it seems the organizers either got a little complacent, or were just tired. Not horrible, just slack. The official results look accurate for total times, but are way off on the splits. The t-shirts were late and had a wrong date on them, etc.... Overall the race was OK, and participants said it usually is much better. I may do this one again next summer if it falls at a convienent time.