S.W.A.T. Jeremy Katzenberger Memorial Triathlon - Triathlon

Wading start. The wave was pretty wide spread, about 44 swimmers spread 20 wide with a cuople feet in between. So it was interesting to see where the tip of thw sword would form. I ended up around the 10th or so position after the initial haul a$$ start. I pretty muched stayed in that position most of the way. My buddy Pete and i were side by side for most of the swim.

Coming back after the far turnaround it was hard to see the last turn bouy. There was a boat there that I knew was close to being in line with the bouy so I just aimed for that. I also looked over to see what Pete was doing to double check myself. We both were doing the same thing turns out. One of those post race "I was hoping you were going the right way.....me too!"

Not much. it was an O.K. swim. I was hoping to go closer to 1:30 pace but not enough swimming volume this year to expect that.

A fast T1 for me. The run from the beach to the bike wasn't all that long though. Had the 4th fastest T1 of the day. It's funny because there's a picture of my friend Pete ahead of me coming out of the water with his goggles and cap already off. There's me behind him not even looking in the right direction with my cap still on and my hand on my goggles.

Look more like a seasoned triathlete for the camera......

Pete and I cam out of transition about the same time. There were 3 riders just ahead of us and going 3 wide of course. So once clipped in I looked back to see if I could swing left, Pete said go for it.

After those three there were a few more slower riders in the first mile or so then it cleared out a bit. The course has a few short rollers and lots of turns so it's hard to throw down a 22-23 mph+ bike split here, especially at my size (yes, I'm using my 195# as an excuse for not havnig the fastest bike split of the dsy, LOL). Pete and I stayed neck and neck most of the way, trading places taking the lead. I remember one guy pasing me at some point, but also remember passing him back. At l;east for a stretch he seemed to be averaging the same speed as Pete and I. But besides him I don't remember being passed by anyone else, neither does Pete.

As we approached transition Pete and I passed the young 15 year old phenom Smith girl, I think she had a couple minutes on us coming out of the water. She passed us back up as we dismounted into transition. She's a good runner so I knew she would smoke the womens field not to mention me. I was hoping Pete would have it in him to hold her off. She won her AG at Hy-Vee 5150 in Des Moines BTW, by a LOT.

I think I could have ridden a bit faster but there was some rubbing going on when I got out of the saddle. I think it was my rear brake pads rubbing against the wheel. I checked afterwards and nothing seemed to be out of place. Further investigation required...

Not sure, maybe mechanical check?

For me, this was a quick transition but the run from the mat to my bike was pretty short.

I'd have to watch a video of the guy that had a sub 30 second transition to tell you .....

Pete and I came out of T2 and I told him that he had at least 45 seconds on A. Smith and not to let him catch up! A. Smith was phenom girls father, both really good athletes. I knew I had no chance of holding off Smith so my goal was to hold off anyone else that might come along. After Pete took off I just settled into what I believed to be a pace I could hold for 3 miles. Smith passed me at around mile 1 or so, there was no staying with that pace. The run was pretty uneventful, I passed a couple guys along the way, also passed/said hello to Lyndsay, my friend Franks daughter who was part of his relay.

Eventually I turned the corner to head home, brought it in strong. There was Pete, beer in hand already.

Not much. Run was executed to the best of my current ability.

About 10 yards from the finish line there were kegs of Boulevard Pale Ale and Unfiltered Wheat. Nice!! I think I had 1 Pale Ale and three Wheats. I normally just want chocolate Milk but this being just a sprint I felt OK with the beer. There was an awards ceremony afterwards but we were needing to get back. Pete got 3rd overall, held off Mr. Smith.


I could talk all day about that .....


A very fun race put on by some great people. Hats off the Ryan Sutton the RD for making this happen. The folks at Weatherby Lake are great hosts, not all of them welcome the race scene with open arms, most do but Ryan does have some challenges to make this happen.

I look forward to participating in this race again.