Not a good swim for met. Standing there with my buddies chatting when all of sudden you hear..."30 seconds....boom". No warning about upcoming start. Got out okay, but just could not get in a rythymn and swimming straight was a struggle. Swim is usually good for me and not big issues. Strange. I went out right at the start and it was almost as rough as IMCDA. Did great around the bouys.

Shouldn't complain too much. This was two minutes faster than last year.

Transition is on boat ramp, so running or jumping on bike is not going to happen. Contemplated on jacket for a bit because not sure how cold it was going to be. Walked out of water to T1 so that took time.

Pick it up slow boy!!

Right out of T1 is the windy hill to get out of Bennington Lake with speed bumps. Saw about 25 sponges from aero bottles. Me and my buddies all taped ours and it worked great. Course is out and back with the out being almost all a gradual uphill and into the wind. Pushed it pretty hard, but had to downshift on one gradual downhill going out because the wind was blowing so hard. Should not be suprised with the wind because there are wind farms down there. The reward for the out is the coming back. Gradual downhill and averaged well over 26mph. Top speed was 37.7 according to computer. Moved up 14 spaces on bike. Last 1.5 miles is climbing hill to get back into Bennington lake. Bike felt good though I thought I had crushed my time from last year, but only 1 minute faster. Sure the wind had something to do with it. Never dropped to small chainring all the way out.

Go harder. Wanted to catch my one buddy....never quite did, but did keep my other two buddies from catching me. One caught me right at the end as I heard...."Geesh, I have been looking at your ass for 12 miles!!" The woman next to me almost fell over laughing when she realized he was speaking to me and not her!!

Dimount is coming down into lake area. No way to jump off. Have to trot down boat ramp to transition. Kind of a pain. Went back and forth on socks and decided to put some on. Took a bit.

Nothing.

This is where my clothing choice hurt. I wore a long sleeve shirt because it was cool and windy, but it warmed up and sun was out by run time. Not a big problem, I was just hotter than I needed to be. I did not wear a HRM, so I just went. Last year my HRM was high so I walked to get my rate down for a bit. Run was pretty good and I could have gone harder but I was just staying with some folks and trying to concentrate on my form. Left shin was a bit tight, but just kept going. Ate 1 GU and 4 e-caps. Got a swig of water at 2 aid stations. Pretty windy.

Not open my mouth as a bunch of leaves blow off the trees and almost choke as I inhale about 20 small leaves!!

Stood at finish and waited for my buddy completing his first tri. He actually got 2nd in Clydesdale. Used to play for NY Giants and is pretty big boy.


Went hard but not as hard as I could have. IMCDA is in 4 weeks and two big training weeks coming up so I probably held back a bit. Really would have loved to reel in my two friends that finished only 5 minutes in front of me, but that would have been really bad for them considering they are two age groups below me (M30-34).


This is a really good race and great for newbies. Some really fast guys from Pacific NW show up because it is early. I believe 4 of top 5 are pros, so the field is tough. Highly recommend this race though be prepared for wind. They have wind 365!!