Ripon Medical Center - TriathlonOlympic

At first announcement they were going to split the men into below 39 and above 40 and send us off in 2 waves. So I position myself right where I want to be with the "old folks" and then this changed at the last minute and they sent us all at once with about a 2 minute notice. Because of this, I was not standing were I wanted to be when we started and had to manuver around lot more traffic than usual. Basically started right in the middle of all 75 guys. Made me really remember that triatholon swim is a contact sport!

Then about half way through beating up traffic in this malay, my arms start to feel heavy. So as I am cruising, I start to wonder why my arms are heavy. Well, the 3+ hours on spent on the Jetski on Saturday afternoon come back to my memory. Smart!

Would have got in a better postion if I knew they were gonna send us out all at once.

Not ride the jetski for hours the day before a race.

Felt good coming out of the water, suit off and moving. Struggled a little with my left sock and shoe but never stopped moving.

Next year...no socks on the bike or run for Oly's and below.

Tough bike course route. Up a slow roller for the first 4 miles out of the transition and then at least 4 more "climbing hills" on the way out, so the same coming back. A few rollers thrown in there for good measure and you get the idea.

Legs felt ok on the bike. Just didn't have the juice today and I knew this by mile 5. I have been an athlete long enough to know that some days you have it, some days you don't. Today was gonna be one of those days. Thought about throwing up at the top of the first hill, but keep it down and just keep moving. I don't know if was because I couldn't breath because of my allergies, the allegy meds, or if the legs were just not there. So at this point I knew I wasn't going to compete today. So, I changed my strategy to keeping my steady pace and kept moving.

So I get back to my T2 and the 3 or 4 guys next to me have crap everywhere. Bikes laying on the ground, bags in the middle of the racks etc. No place to rack my bike so I just stuck it wherever I could at an angle, unburied my shoes and visor from under their crap - changed shoes and moved on.

Not setup by a bunch of jacka$$'s that don't know how to rack thier bikes when they are done. I mean really, how much longer does it take?

Toughest run course I have ever run in a tri. Up hill for the first 2.5 miles on dirt, gravel roads, and mulch paths. Brick training could not compare to this. Lots of people walking.

I had no legs for this run. However, I managed to run the entire course except I walked 3 of the water stations. One water to drink and one water over the head. Watched my HR pretty close and wasn't really worried about my pace because I knew there was nothing I could do about it anyway.

Came around the center at the top of the hill and saw the finish line. Pushed pretty hard for the last 1/4 mile and then rolled across the line.

Lots of people with bloody feet at the finish that were running in racing flats because of the gravel road, glad it wasn't me! Man that looked painful.

Nothing...I just need to keep working on my running.

Meet up with family, team mates, Jeff's family, etc. Grabbed some water, a bananna, and a bagel. Hung around with the peeps for about a 1/2 hour talking to people and cooling down. Met a Blazeman group out of Chicago and got to meet the one guys dad that has ALS and was there in his wheelchair, that was inspring. He told me I was the first person he has ever seen actully do the roll.

Packed up and headed back to the cabin for a day of boating, jetskiing, etc.


Mentally, in retrospect, I don't think I was ready for this race. The allergy attack and not being able to breath, staying at the cabin with 5 other families, being around Jeff's widow, it all kind of got to me. Then it only got worse when the arms started to burn during the swim and I knew I was going to be in for a long day knowing how hilly this course is.

This race was a Good learning experience for me. This was my first race ever that I wasn't on my "A" game physically or mentally. Now I know that I can HTFU and finish through it when needed. Maybe could have pushed a little harder on the run knowing what I know now.


Good race, but be ready for a tough course and don't wear racing flats!

Not my best race physically or mentally, but another good learning race for me.