There seemed to be a lot of novice swimmers as they were zigzagging all over the place. Ended up just staying outside away from the group and just swam on my own. Didn't try to draft, until a little bit on the 2nd half. Even then I could really find a good person to use.

Get a warmup in as that always seems to help me swim better.

Had one of the fastest T1s of the day. Was only 3sec slower than a local pro and winner of the race!

Put my shoes on the bike and rubber banded them for the first time. I didn't like it. I am a bigger guy and trying to run and jump on the bike is just a big accident waiting to happen. Other than that it was a pretty quick transition. Time includes a long run up a grassy hill.

I am just as fast getting my bike shoes on and running in them with the bike as I am doing it with the shoes on the bike so just going to go back to that next time.

I put the wheel cover on my rear wheels yesterday and made the mistake of not checking my gears. I only had about half my gears so it was very tricky trying to find the right gear to ride in, And it was the middle gears, so I had my top end gears and slow gears but not much in between.

Other than that the wheel and helmet were very cool. I felt faster, but who knows. Can't hurt though right? Course was a tough one, a very hard steep climb right out of transition and it continues up after that for 5mi. Then comes a lot of rollers. The RD enjoys causing pain b/c he put the turn around right at the bottom of a steep hill, which means climbing right back up it. Way back was still the rollers but trended downhill so it was much better. I was passing a lot of people and didn't get passed by too many. I am happy with my time. Would have been better if all my gears worked!

Check my gears before the race!

Some mountain biker decided to rack in my spot, not happy. Wasted time having to move their bike. Other than that it went well. Got my socks and shoes on quick.

Nothing I can think of.

Decent run, not great. Legs felt worse than normal after I pushed so hard on the bike. Fought through it and just kept moving. A slower run is better than walking, I kept telling myself. After a couple of miles I found a pretty good rhythm and just kept that pace.

More evidence the RD likes to inflict pain, he found the one little steep hill on the run course and put the finish lane right at the top.

I still need to improve my run. For some reason my bricks I do in training go much better than in races. Maybe I am not pushing as hard on the bike like I do in a race. Just the other day I did 30min hard intervals on the bike and knocked out a 7:56 run pace. Why can't I do that in a race?

Chatted with a few friends then enjoyed a nice plate of BBQ!


My run training. I really need to ramp this up.


This is one of the better run races I have been to. I had always heard good things about Mario and this race and finally decided to try it out this year. Glad I did. Bike course is tough, but overall it was a well run race and very enjoyable. Having BBQ afterwards is a big plus in my book!