Actual time in H2O was 8:03/11 second run to transition.

I had not swam in about a month and I could feel it almost immediately upon starting the swim. I sort of struggled through this one but knowing it was a short swim kept me going. When I got to the beach I stood up and was dizzy. I sort of stumbled to my bike...

Practice swimming

T1 was not smooth. I don't know what my time was but it wasn't bad, I just stumbled through it... There was a long run to the bike mount and I had trouble getting on my bike. Once on the bike I had trouble getting my feet into my shoes. I have decided that it is faster to put bike shoes on in transition than on the bike.

Shoes on in transition, not on bike

Fastest bike spit of the day.

Although my average speed appears to be slow, I rode as hard as I could. The course had a huge climb and it was a very short course. Once I finally got my feet secured in my pedals, I started to hammer. About a mile in - at the turn onto hwy 6 - I saw Drew. I made a smart a$$ comment and pedaled down hwy 6 until the turn into the Singletree hills. At the first hill I started my climbing rhythm. I was surprised when some dude immediately passed me. I'm a cocky climber and I consider that my strength so when he passed me I just thought... If he is that good, let him go. Well he was a pretender not a contender because within a few hundred meters I reeled him in and dropped him like a republican politician! I hammered the hill to the top and then smoked the descent. Before long, I was racing down HWY 6. This was a very short bike course. The shortest I have ever raced; short but very challenging.

Well, not put the shoes on pedals in transition... other than that, I rode very strong. The following day I averaged 24.3 at the half Ironman so my avg mile per hour pace here is telling. This was not a fast course!

The bike course turns from the main road and onto the bike trail (the same one that finishes the Triple Bypass Ride). When I got on the bike trail I attempted to take my feet out of my shoes but, I was looking at my feet and I rode right off the bike path and into the grass. I had to power up a grassy hill and back onto the bike path. I then got my feet out of shoes and rode in.

Once in transition, I got my shoes on quickly and was out and on to the run course lickity split!

just leave my feet in shoes until the finish

I had the second fastest run (3 second off the winner's pace). This was not a good run for me. As soon as I started running I knew that there was a problem. My feet were so cold that they literally felt like bricks. I even thought that my insoles were bunched up inside my shoes. I just started running at about 90 percent hoping that my feet would thaw. At about mile two the numbness went away but pain replaced the numbness. My cycling friend Ciero rode along me as I raced to the finish.

As I said above, this race was a warm-up for the Boulder Long Course the following day. The idea was to go hardish, but not to injure myself. After the race I looked at my foot. It was swollen in the soft flesh on the opposite side of my arch. I was very angry with myself. This was EXACTLY what I did not want to do! Later in the day, the tender and soreness turned black and blue. I don't know what caused the bruising, but it definitely slowed me down today... and would again during my Half Ironman the next day.

Had some food.


foot injury


This is a pretty good race and a very nice venue. It is just in it's second year and with a racer limit of 200, has a nice hometown feel. Everything was pretty well done, but I did have some issues with directions. They either need to mark the course better or make sure that the volunteers communicate with the racers better.

The post race was very good with great food, but the awards ceremony was jacked. The forgot to give out overall awards until a number of us reminded them.

It was cool to race with my friend Drew. He completed his 3rd tri (all sprints), and is doing both Rattlesnake races (sprint/OLY) on Sat and Sun this week.

Oh, and it was nice to finish 2nd. I had the fastest bike/run combo again, but the 3 minutes that I lost on the swim was too much time for me to bridge. Familiar story!