Summer Open Triathlon

4th place again, second year in a row!

Swim was OK, I think the course was more legit than in '08. I've been swimming a lot more than I was last year, but haven't really put in the effort I know I need to reach my potential. Just need to HTFU and get out of bed in the morning and get slayed at Master's swims at FAC. Also only the second time this year that I've worn my Orca Apex 2 wetsuit (the first being yesterday for 15 min. at 24 Hour Fitness before work).

Run was good, 18:09 for the first 5k of the year is at least an improvement and I know I wasn't completely focused for the duration of the run, so improvement possible there. I've been pretty consistent the last couple of months with my running. Not getting in much volume, which I know would benefit me, but have been doing track/intensity every Wednesday religiously with Ryan Ignatz (1st overall today) and the CMS Get Fast Crew. Maybe need to up the volume just by a hair and attack the track sessions?

Bike not good. Should have been first into T2 by a comfortable cushion, instead was never in the lead until 100m from the bike finish and only for about 5 sec. Pete Mendes passed me through T1 and Craig Howie passed me on Lap 1 of the bike. Was able to hold on to Howie as he passed and when Ryan went by we all sort of stayed close and came in together. To have a shot at the win I needed to have a cushion going out on the run and it just wasn't there. The SRM worked perfectly but the feedback was not good. Let's just say that my average power when I went 2:14 on the bike at Harvest Moon Half-IM two years ago was higher than for the 12 miles of the sprint this morning! Need to get out and work on that, hurt a little more and more often in training.

The LOOK 596 was perfect, no surprise there. Actually a lot of people made comments about it and how well put together it was. I've certainly made more efforts on this bike than with any other to get parts, decals, and wheels that all match the frame. But that is just the sort of thing one does for fun when their job is to be a bike pimp for others!

Thanks as always to Powerbar for providing awesome nutritional products. After a couple of shots of espresso from the Nespresso machine, I ate a Peanut Butter Chocolate Performance bar for breakfast on the drive up to Longmont, washing it down with the new Sun Tea flavor Endurance drink. I'm addicted to that stuff! It tastes like a Snapple!

All in all a good first race for the season, just need to focus a bit more and I'll find my form and do what I know I'm capable of.