As per my usual, I started well back in the pack as it was a mass start and I did not want to get caught up in the debris of everyone. This proved to be a bad idea because before I even hit the 1st buoy I was fighting for position and running into other swimmers every few strokes. But something has changed, in the past if I ran into someone I would come to a stop look around, wait for a clear path and then start swimming again. This time though, the bumps didn't even phase me, I kept on swimming and let the other swimmers do as the May. This continued on the 1st section, when I hit the 1st turn around buoy I went a little wide of the group and felt as if I was almost being towed around the corner, by the time I was to the other side I was already headed for the next buoy. This was when it really became rough and I had to fight for my line. Another swimmer was hanging right beside me, and kept wanting to go to his right, which was right into me. I checked my line and held tight, at one point I took a shot to the goggles and almost had them knocked off, but they only moved a little and allowed very little water in. I thought about stopping and adjusting but just kept swimming and it straightened itself out. At the 2nd turn buoy all chaos let loose. There was a large group from my wave still together, and I got a quick glance and noticed another wave starting and coming to the same buoy. I went closer to the buoy and this turned out to be a bad idea, with so many people at one spot I had to come to a complete stop and basically doggy paddle around the buoy. Once I made it to somewhat open water again, I quickly found my rhythm again and sailed through the next section. Once I came to the last turn buoy I realized I was on the inside again and after the last turn knew that wasn't a good idea. At this point I was able to get myself to the outside and was pulled around the turn again. For the final stretch everything went smooth, as soon as I was able to see the exit flags I veered off and made a straight line for them.


Not much, I managed to hold a steady effort and even almost caught a draft a time or 2. Stlll the discipline I can make up the most time with more work in the pool for training

Coming out of the water I had to hold up a bit as my breathing was extremely heavy. I still managed somewhat of a run up the hill and into transition.

Oh my the bike was fun! I came out of transition feeling good, and quickly went into the big gears. Once out on the course I quickly found my HR was going through the roof as it was holding around 160! At the last race, I did better holding around 150 and kept trying to bring it down to there. What I didn't realize at the time was that I was going up a slight incline with the wind in my face, but with the adrenaline pumping I didn't realize it and my HR stayed high. Finally around the 5 mile mark my HR dropped to 155 and I decided to try and hold it there and see what happens. Of course at this point the road turned completely smooth, with the wind at my back and I found myself cruising along around 25mph. During this phase I was quickly passing other competitors. The next few miles were uneventful, and then came into the only hills of the course, and really wasn't sure if they were hills. Going into the 1st I knew I wanted to be aggressive, and kept the effort strong going down the hill and carried this through and up the next hill. I continued to cruise past other competitors and felt that I was quickly making up for my slow swim times. At the end of the 1st lap, you have to go almost into transition and do a tight turn around. During this I came up on a slower rider and had some difficulties getting around him, once clear though I quickly went back to full effort and headed back onto the course for lap #2.
Lap 2 was for the most part uneventful, I had learned from the 1st lap that the 1st few miles were incline and by this time the wind had picked up even more, so I held my effort down as to try and avoid a blow-up. Best part of this lap was when I hit the back section where the road was smooth And the wind at my back. On this lap, I noticed my speed getting up to and over 27mph and surprisingly I held this up until I had to make the next right hand turn and even then was able to hold a pretty solid effort. At the end of this section I found myself a little distracted and thought I had eased up on intensity, my HR for he 1st time had dropped below 150 and was down around 145. I refocused and continued on, into the hills and past several more riders. Even at this point I didn't realize how strong of a ride I was having, coming back into the park I again came up on other riders. They seemed to be sitting up and slowing into transition but we were still a good 1/4 mile out so I went around and finished out the ride.

Lap Data (5 miles each)
1: 14:56 (AVG HR 159)
2: 12:33 (AVG HR 154)
3: 15:18 (AVG HR 156)
4: 13:34 (AVG HR (152)
5: 13:30 (4.77 miles) (AVG HR 153)

Bike Nutrition: 1 3 scoop bottle of infinit. Probably about 420 calories

Absolutely nothing, I found the gas pedal and pushed the entire time. Probably could have pulled back a bit more to save some energy for the run but wheres the fun in that. Having the fastest bike split of the AG is a great feeling.

This was quick and came in 10th fastest of all competitors. Coming into transition I thought about riding with my feet out of my shoes, which is something I really have never done in a race, or practiced for that matter. I waited to long to take my feet out of my shoes and lended up with one foot out of my shoe and the other still in the shoe. I quickly unclipped my other foot before I went down and wound up running into transition with one shoe on and one off. If anyone was actually paying attention to me they would of had a good laugh.

Heading out onto the run, I knew I was close to reaching my goal of a sub 2:30 race and wanted to keep the pressure on. But just as my HR spiked on the bike, it quickly spiked on the run, now though it was around 162 and inching higher with every step! I tried to control my pace but even though I felt I was easing up the HR rate kept climbing. Around mile 1.5 was where I went all in, I figured that if I couldn't control my HR I might as well go with it. So instead of just trying to bring it down, I switched to concentrating on holding an even pace. Around this same time I noticed a group of about 4-5 runners about 200-300 yards in front of me. For some reason I knew that they were in my AG and set out to catch up with them. Over the next 1.5 miles I would slowly close the gap and then lose what I had gained and this went on until the turn around point. Around 3.5 was where the difficulties started and the effort really started to sink in. My breathing was heavy and the burn in my chest was really starting to hurt. I held on until about the 4.75 mile mark and finally fell a part, I didn't see it coming and I didn't agree to it but for some reason my legs just stopped and the next thing I know I was walking. After a few steps I motivated myself to start running again. This walking thing happened 2 more times before the end of the run.

Mile Splits
1: 7:37 (AVG HR 162)
2: 7:47 (AVG HR 165)
3: 7:46 (AVG HR 168)
4: 7:45 (AVG HR 171)
5: 8:18 (AVG HR 170)
6: 9:12 (AVG HR 163)


Probably should have come out of transition at an easier pace, and I may have been able to hold on longer at the end. The HR numbers are through the roof and look more like a 5k effort instead of a olympic tri run. Also, I'm not sure if I may have ran out of fuel as I didn't take any form of nutrition outside of water on the run. If I had possible taken a gel around mile 2 I could have had enough gas left to hold until the finish. But that is just a guess and you will never know.

Found the nearest chair and sat down!


This race was fun, and as I slowly,climb up the ranks in these races they just become more and more exciting. I don't know what I will do if I ever actually reach a podium, because just having the fastest bike split sent through the roof! I can't wait for the next race.