I think I just had one of my best races ever. Seriously. I've really got to talk to some guys and get going on that Home Improvement for Triathletes© gig (yes, pktaxwench, you'll be a partner). Why? Well, let me tell you...

This was a bizarre weekend. Got up Friday morning, went for a run, then headed off to work. Took off early so I could take Mom to the airport. Since I had nothing going at work, I decided to take the afternoon off. I was planning on helping pktaxwench build some shelves that evening, so I went down that-a-way and got an early start. Glad I did. Anyhoo, got that project done Friday night. Saturday, I got to Boulder Res late in the afternoon and checked in. Ran into Dave at the pre-race meeting. Dave is a tri-buddy I met 2 years ago. We were both doing our first race and just sort of hung out, futilely trying to convince ourselves we weren't nuts. I don't see him during the winter, but always run into him at races. We got caught up, I got a short warm-up ride and swim in. Head home, have dinner, go to bed early. Normal routine.

I was up fine this morning, having slept a full night for a change. Had a light breakfast and headed back out to the Res. Got set up, marked and headed over to the beach. I had about 30 minutes to kill, so I headed over to the tent my coach's company had set up. Ended up seeing AJ (my coach) and chatted for a bit. Before I knew it, it was time to head down to the shore. Got the wetsuit on (MUCH easier to accomplish this year, thank you) and ran into Dave again. His mom was there, wanting to see what this addiction of ours is all about. Chatted for a bit, then hit the water for a short warm-up.

Swim

7:30 rolls around and the first wave goes off. My wave is next. We queue up, and five minutes later, we're off. Let me first say, I think this is the largest tri I've raced in, after St. Anthony's last year in FL. It was a bit of the "human washing machine" effect for the first 100 yd. or so. Would it kill you guys to clip your toe nails once in a while? OUCH!!!! Got past the first two buoys, headed for the third, when I noticed I was a bit off-course. Problem with these square courses is that this sort of thing happens really easily. Anyhow, re-sighted and I was fine. Swim was uneventful from there. I was out of the water 16:43 and 900 yd. (0.5 mi., according to the organizers) later. Into transition.

OUCH!! Bad pavement, BAD PAVEMENT! Get to the bike. Wetsuit, cap, goggles off. Dry feet. Socks, cycling shoes, sunglasses, helmet, gloves on. Grab the bike, quick swig of water, out of transition in 3:22. Need to work on that.

Bike

So, out of transition, I hop onto the bike and get out of the Res onto Jay Rd. From the get-go, I realize this is going to be interesting. There's enough people, especially TNT-ers and newbies, that a lot of drafting is happening. So, I've got to be careful. We head north on 36, and I'm keeping my speed up, passing a lot of individuals and groups. I'm careful, but there's one or two areas that are questionable given the sheer number of people. Thankfully, I don't draw any penalties. There's a couple of people that I'm playing with. I'd draw them in and pass them on the flats and slight inclines. Then they'd reel me back in and pass on the real uphills. I manage to leave them behind once we turn east onto Neva and hit the real flats.

At this point, I'm flying! Having an absolute blast, passing quite a few racers. The bike has always been my strong leg. Heading back in along the Diagonal, there's thankfully no wind to speak of. I check my average speed: 22 mph?!?!?! Holy s$%^!!!!! I'm heading uphill, so it's going to go down a bit. But, I might be able to actually keep that average over 20! Never done that. Get back in, and I'm feeling great. Don't even check my final numbers.

Cycling shoes, helmet off. Running shoes, hat, race belt on. Grab some water, head out. Grab a little more water on my way out. T2 time: 2:02. Not great, but not bad, given the large transition area.

Run

The run has always been my weak point. I mean, it is the last leg, so there's already a knock against it. Anyways, heading out, I'm feeling pretty strong. It's just a short 5K out and back along the dam. About 1/4 mile from the turn around, I see Dave (he went off 5 minutes before me). We holler at each other, cheering each other on. Grab some water at both aid stations. Just before mile 3, I get passed by another racer. That happened a bit on the run. Anyways, I'm feeling pretty strong, so at mile 3, I decide to sprint the last 0.1 mile. As I overtake the racer that passed me, I hear a *HUFFPUFF* "AH!" *HUFFPUFF* "S^%$!" I try and finish every race at a sprint, but it's fun to egg someone else on as well.

Final times:

Swim - 16:43, 473/1067
Bike - 47:46, 21.8 MPH avg., 430/1067
Run - 27:21, 9:07 min/mile 8:49 min/mile, 560/1067
Overall - 1:37:05, 9/31 class, 399/1067 overall

In the end, I'm VERY happy with this race. While I would have liked to have gotten the run under that 9 min/mile, I'm not complaining. I've come a little closer than I did today, but up until today, my best average on the bike was 18.9 MPH. So, I'll take the end results. Talked with AJ a bit afterwards. He gave me a few pointers that I'm going to start trying on my runs. We'll see how much that helps. Saw Kirk afterwards. Always great chatting with him. I'll be seeing him again at the Peak, 5430 and then IMMOO. For "The Gauntlet": 3 down, 1 to go. Next weekend should be great.

As for the rest of the day, it was rather uneventful. Had lunch with kilrathi_spook, talked to Mom, wished Poppops and Dad a Happy Father's Day, etc. I think I'm just going to take the rest of the evening easy now. Hope y'all had a good weekend as well!

UPDATE: Okay, so I'm an idiot. I was off on the math when it came to my run pace. I'm DEFINITELY happy with that pace...