Working hard or hardly working?

S - 16,400 yards
B - 300.0 miles
R - 33.9 miles

Time - 24.5 hours.

There are two things blog-worthy from this week.  Well, maybe three.  Or maybe none are blog worthy and I am just serving as a juicy temptress? Everyone loves a juicy temptress.

Anyway, thing numero uno that was "remarkable" was that I recently purchased a super awesome swim snorkel, more commonly known as a "dorkel." Now, this awesomely yellow snorkel plus my super vibrant B70 trunks definitely make me LOOK more awesome than ever before. Hopefully, I AM more awesome.

Anyway, this week has had me working on some very specific things.  Brian emailed me my schedule with the caption that suggested "Time to work on that jacked up left arm of yours" so I would say I got the message loud and clear... The snorkel helps me work on head position and (hopefully) left arm position.

I hoped to take these newfound skillz with me to the 2mi open water swim at Lake Latta on Saturday but unfortunately my 16+ mile run the night before meant that the swim was not an enjoyable execution of awesome but more like a dogged process through which I had to progress.  Jenny beat me by 5 minutes.  That is unacceptable. Although, she has been swimming a lot more volume than me lately...Damn you more is more!! Damn you!

We also took a trip to the mountains on Sunday.  Cold, chilly weather all the way up 181 led to an absolutely gorgeous day.  I was a little sad for myself since I chose not to do Beech Mtn when everyone else did but I rode strong for the entire 6 hours and maybe riding Beech would have meant I died a slow death at the end...who knows...

Pet Peeves

I would describe myself as a pretty even-keeled guy.  My moods are not particularly volatile and even if I'm annoyed I generally maintain a pretty even strain.  I am not particularly confrontational.  I have buttons that can be pushed but I'm generally more of a button-pusher ;)  but pretty much only among friends.

Now there are a few pet peeves I have with regard to riding bikes.

1) Not pointing out hazards on the road.

This one should be obvious.  Road hazards are, by definition, hazards.  Potholes, dead animals, large rocks, wood, people, etc.  The list goes on and on and all it takes is a simple hand gesture.  This is especially necessary in group rides.  It's like using a turn signal while driving.  Guess what? The turn signal stalk is there for a reason.  It's super easy to use! (video NSFW)

2) Not taking a pull when you are active on the front of a group

Alright, first we must ask ourselves this one - extremely important - question: what is the POINT of a group ride? In my opinion (and keep in mind: this is just my own opinion) a group ride's point is to achieve the stated goals of the ride. Well, duh.  Here are some goals:

Tuesday night ride @ IOS - Steady, fast paced group.  Usually single paceline.  Your turn comes on the front and you put the pedal to the metal.  Separations can occur at various points along the route but generally it is just a high threshold ride around the airport.

Thursday "the Drop Ride" - 95% roadie group.  As a consequence, this ride is ridden like a "roadie" ride.  Frequent bursts at 120%+ as attacks occur and almost active recovery when nothing else is happening.  The goal is to drop people or drop yourself.

Saturday/Sunday "group" rides w/ friends - Generally each person has intervals or if not, the goal to just hang on to those doing the intervals.  Pretty simple.

Now, if I take a hard pull and move over to the left and wag my right elbow, that is the universal signal for the person behind you to take their turn.  If you're on the front/near the front or you are responding to attacks by jumping on wheels then you should be willing to pull through.  It doesn't matter if it's a pull to simply get back to the left.  The WORST is when someone pulls out to the left behind the person on the front who pulls off to the left, automatically creating a gap to the person behind them and forcing that poor soul to cover two bike lengths during their move.  Anyway, the heart of the matter is that if you're active on the front of a group you should be willing to pull through.  No matter what.

Again, just my opinion.

One is a safety concern, one is an etiquette concern.  Both are just my own; I do not know if these same things are important to others.  I don't often (or ever) get my panties in a wad but I like to ride safe, I like to get my work in, and I like to have fun.  Those are my goals on each and every ride I do.

Over the Mountain'ing

This week brought with it some sweet, sweet training.  It also, early on Saturday morning, brought with it some sweet, sweet racing.  This week was the first somewhat "hot" week of the year.  On group rides we produced sweat.  On runs sweat was also produced.  This was somewhat foreign as it has been a long time since sweat has been seen during my workouts.  It has been a while since I have been showered with sweat from someone riding in front of me on the Tuesday night ride (thankfully).

Therefore the expectation for Saturday's racing was - at the beginning of the week - that it would be the first warm race of the year (in the NC series, anyway).  As the day drew closer, the forecast portended something a little less perfect: chance of thunderstorms. The percent chance of rain was relatively low, however.

Over the Mountain is somewhat more complicated from a logistical perspective due to its point-to-point nature.  Swim start, T1 and T2 are all in different locations.  Tim "Fergie" Ferguson and I drove up to T1 in the man-van where we picked up our packets and deposited our bikes while hob-nobbing with everyone we possibly could.  Tim also discovered, for the first time, the mountain we'd have to climb once we exited the swim.  I would imagine that this was a less than awesome discovery for him.  Given my racing experience at this race from 2010 I knew of this monstrosity already and had psyched myself up (or out?) in anticipation of it.

After finishing we headed over to T2 to set up our run stuff and get the timing chips while parking my van and hitching a ride back to swim start with Tim's wife Kait.  On the way to swim start a brief burst of strong rain wet the roads, our cars, some bodies, but NOT our spirits I tell you!! (cue dramatic music).  While putting on our wetsuits the sky remained dark and somewhat foreboding but we finished our due diligence and went to warm up a bit.

In these series races I like to make sure my mood remains light.  Too many people take this racing stuff WAY too seriously.  It's a 2hr local race.  Get over yourselves.  I obviously want to do well but you best believe I can have fun doing it.  So, to all those overly serious NCTS types: get over yourselves.  (no I'm not thinking of anyone specific here, this is more a general message).

As the "open" crowd made it's way to swim start the beginnings of my race strategy unfolded.  Here was my - obviously quite complicated - race plan:

1) Get out of the swim near the front
2) Get off the bike at or near the front
3) Run what was needed to win

Pretty heavy stuff.  Leading into the race I had scoped out the competition that was signed up and in my head I had one unknown threat with whom I was concerned: Tyler Jordan.  His bike and run combo at Jetton was very impressive so I knew on this tough bike/run course he'd be in good position at the end of the race.  I completely underestimated Derek, however.  I figured I'd catch him at some point on the bike and I knew that he wouldn't let me "go" so I'm not really sure what I was thinking.  The rest of the overall top 5 were all very close together so there was a lot of underestimation going on in my "plans."

Swim - 21:23 (2nd)

The swim start was in-water and the open crowd (of maybe 20ish?) lined up on an invisible line next to a marker/buoy type thingy.  The two fastest (known) swimmers in the field were Derek Kidwell and Mike Selle.  I figured Derek would be first out of the water and top off the bike so to confuse everyone (or just myself) I lined up on the right side behind Mike (Derek was on the left).  Right behind Mike...  At the sound of the horn we all took off at an expeditious pace.  After 100m or so I had moved left and latched onto Derek's feet, pushing someone else off them at the same time (I'm not sorry!).  This swim course has only one turn and at the turn I was still with Derek and could sort of look back to the right and see that we had a good gap (but not a big one) on the pursuers.

Derek would occasionally speed up at times and at times it felt slow but I knew that sitting behind him was a better decision for me than trying to forge ahead myself.  At worst, I'd emerge from the swim with him and less tired.  At best, I would emerge from the swim with him and more tired.  We continued on and with about 400m to go I looked back again and saw Selle about 25m behind us so I tapped Derek's feet and swam up beside him to try and "goad" him into increasing the pace.  It seemed to work as getting back behind him proved tiring and as we finished the swim together I looked back again and saw a good gap to Selle, who was alone.

T1 - 1:48 (10th)

T1 at this race is awful as it is a continuous climb.  It was raining on us as we exited so I thought to myself: "well I guess it's gonna be THAT kinda day, huh."  The only improvements I could make would be to feel less like death going up the hill and getting to the bike.  Wetsuit came off easily, helmet went on easily, I grabbed my bike...easily.

Bike - 1:08:44 (3rd)

Having ridden this course last Sunday I knew it pretty well.  The only change from what day would be the fact that it was raining rather profusely.  Derek had moved through T1 a bit quicker than me so I caught up to him and settled in to see what it felt like. After a couple of minutes I passed him and set what I felt was an appropriate pace.  My visor continuously fogged but luckily the Bambino's visor is magnetic so I could just pop it off, wipe it down, and pop it back on rather easily.

The roads were very wet and the rain was coming down so it was important to focus continuously while riding.  We eventually made our way to the state park and about halfway through the bike Derek came back around me going up a hill.  I tend to not ride uphill as hard as some so wasn't surprised to see him make the pass.

There were times going through the state park (still raining) that I was legitimately on the edge of my comfort level.  I remember one specific moment on a long, sustained downhill left hand curve (gradual) where Derek was pedaling like crazy and I was just trying to keep up and we were probably going in excess of 40mph and I was debating whether or not to tap the brakes.  It's tough to explain what it feels like to be "on the edge" and in writing it sounds much lamer than it felt in real life but be that as it may - know that there were times that we were going really fast!

Once out of the park it was a little brighter due to fewer trees overhead but the weather was still less than ideal.  The next couple of miles were a nice preamble to Pinnacle Rd, which contained the "penultimate" climb of the bike course.  It was kind of a two-stepper and it was roughly 2ish (maybe?) minutes at VO2 power levels that wasn't too bad.  Derek continued to stay in front through the end, with the only interesting moment coming at a slightly sharp left hand turn where Derek and I took the turn faster than the lead motorcycle who - unaware of his positioning - almost took Derek off the road (most of the time the moto was a good distance ahead of either myself or Derek but through town it got close a couple of times).  I took out one of my feet a little early as I misjudged how close we were to the finish but other than that no big deal into T2.

T2 - :25 (1st)

Despite having what Story called a "slow looking T2" I actually had the fastest T2 out of anybody.  I emerged just ahead of Derek.

Run - 37:02 (4th)

I took the first part out very hard to get an initial lead on Derek that I hoped would remain.  My plan was to run as fast as I needed to in order to hang on for the win.  The course was different than when I did it in 2010 but it was much more interesting this way; briefly on the main road before heading off into the subdivisions of Kings Mountain.  Mile 1 came and went then mile 2 with a good bit of ups and downs and turns and volunteers and water cups.  Eventually the course went out onto another "main" road and was flat then downhill then uphill to the school and the turnaround.  At the turnaround I saw that I had a manageable gap on Derek and what appeared to be a good gap on everyone else although I could tell Tyler was running very fast; I guessed I had maybe :45s on him at the turnaround.

I would describe miles 3-4 and 4-5 as "lazy." I was working hard but I was overestimating the lead I had or maybe underestimating how much Tyler could take out of it each mile.  I saw a lot of friends on the way back in and I was complacent.  Anyway, at around mile 5 I looked back and saw Derek getting passed by Tyler and I realized that I was probably in trouble.  At each turn I took a peek back and Tyler was gaining at each.  It was at mile 5.75 or so that I heard him on my heels on a slight downhill.  He passed me just before the bottom and on the climb back up to the main road and on the climb put some time into me.  We turned back onto the main road and the finish line was only about 200m further and I did not have the gas to make a catch attempt.  I knew I had second place locked up and crossed the finish line.

OA - 2:09:21 (1st)

Now, I mentioned crossing the line 2nd but #19 Tyler Jordan was assessed a two minute penalty on the bike for drafting.  Whether or not he deserved it I do not know as I didn't see it personally but from what I've heard the group chasing Derek and myself had a lot of strong bikers and they were all fighting for position.  When you hear about it from two different people you tend to believe it.  Regardless, a penalty is a penalty and while it's not the way I would choose to win it moved Tyler into 4th place and myself into 1st.

To be honest, this race was a great example of a couple of things.

1) Racing in the rain can be very fun (this was probably the most "fun" I've had at a race this year)
2) Never underestimate local opponents
3) Actually getting better at swimming is worth it

To elaborate on number 3...

Many, many athletes have said things like: "I really tried to get better at swimming."

I call bullshit.

Derek and I had no drafting issues up front.  We were by ourselves on a nice clean course all day long.  The people behind us, however, all swam slower and sort of rolled up each other on the bike and were all fighting for position and the ability to be on the front.  A rolling course like that + 4 very strong riders can only lead to one thing: position/drafting fouls.

Over the past 3 years I've worked very hard at swimming and the first 4 months of this year are an especially strong example of that.  My time at White Lake was not indicative of my improvement but this race served as a much better marker of where I am.  Had Jenny (or Jeff Murray) raced I would not have been able to hold their feet for the duration of the swim but I also would've known that they were not overall competitors (Jenny only because she is a lady and Jeff because he's such an astonishingly good swimmer).  I was able to swim just as fast as I needed to in order to be on the front.  I biked just as fast as I needed to in order to hop off near the front.  And while I technically did not run fast enough to hold on for the win (although technically I did win...) I'm confident that in a couple of months a 35' 10k will not be fast enough to catch me with a 2' deficit off the bike...

Poetry FTMFW

S - 20,700 yards
B - 282 miles
R - 26 miles
Time - 23.67 hours

There once was a triathlete named James
Who refused to go down in flames
He got a little sickly
Which made him a bit prickly
Then raced a race to win

The following week brought a great deal of training
So much that he was semi-constantly complaining
On his long rides he whinnied
And made fun of Jenny
All while trying to spin

The beginning of the week he was great at swimming
Even though he experienced very little winning
During each swim workout
He had little to no clout
Even though his new swimsuit was pimpin'

On a much higher note regarding things that float
The Aquatic Center meet-hosting was no joke
Dressed to the nines the water may've been dyed
UltraSwim 2013 was real bonafide
Watching Olympians competin'

Nothing says awesome like a big week of training
I never said you wouldn't hear me complaining
And while my run miles were a bit behind
The bike miles were quite the grind
And swimming is well, swimming.

The end.

No big deal, just Cullen Jones and Anthony Ervin about to battle out a 100m slugfest

2013 Buck Hurley Triathlon

I would be remiss if I didn't first mention and thank Jesse Walters for cluing me in on this race.  I had been planning on doing the May Day Biathlon (5k run 32k bike) and hoping to go for the course record (which would've been tough in hindsight given my sickness) but when I heard about this race I made the easy choice and signed up for it.  Despite the more expensive entry fee, the race was closer, it was a triathlon (always better) and it offered up pretty significant prize money.  $500 to the winner, and then $100 per course record (swim, bike, run and individual overall) made for a lucrative hour.  I made sure to tell people about this race, but only people who I figured couldn't beat me and take money away from me ;)

The only problem with this plan was getting sick last Saturday night at the training camp.  Sunday: very sick, Monday: quite sick, Wednesday: a little better, Thursday: a little better, Friday: worse and go to doctor, Saturday: better, Sunday: game face. On Friday I picked up a prescription for antibiotics (to ward off any upper respiratory infection which is what really worried me) and some prescription cough medicine (fun dreams!). I definitely felt better on Saturday but with packet pickup for a Ramblin Rose event all day at the store and just 3 of us working it made for a hectic day.  I also did not work out from Sunday onwards (with a mostly failed ride on Thursday not included).  In short, the only reason I was showing up to this race was because of its significant prize purse. I would definitely NOT have been racing were it not for that.  I did not feel good and I did not feel like racing.  But at times, we must reach down, grab our balls, and imagine taking a shower in endless amounts of cash (relatively speaking, for a pro triathlete anyway).  To give some perspective: New Orleans 70.3 (a big, but not HUGE race) offered $500...for 5TH PLACE.  That's almost four hours of work for the same amount I'd get if I won (for less than an hour of work).

Jenny and I drove up on Sunday morning, picked up our packets, set up our bikes and got in the pool to warmup when all of a sudden Ross and Tim show up, which totally made the day that much more fun.  Yay for friends!

Swim 300 yards - 3:39

The swim was relatively complicated.  There were only 7? lanes in total.  We'd swim down one length in the first, then flip under the lane lines and swim two lengths in each lane in all except the last lane.  The issue was the middle lane was really wide (2 lanes worth?) and they called it a passing zone but all it ended up being was a "confusion zone." I messed it up but with Ross and Tim waving me in the right direction after popping up with a confused look I got in the right lane and carried on, exiting and quickly moving towards the bike.

T1 - :28

Quick. Cold also.

Bike 10.8 miles - 26:35

I passed someone out of T1 and a person or two pretty quickly before seeing a couple of dudes and a police car up ahead.  The course was basically a triangle with the first leg being a slight climb with a headwind then a right turn that was a slight downhill and tail/crosswind then a third right turn and a nice set of rollers on nice pavement.  It was pretty windy out there so I got blown around a little bit.  At the second turn I had caught the two guys in front of me with the fastest swimmer being in the lead and a relay guy in second.  The relay guy went to pass #1 and #1 just got right on his wheel.  I was only about 20 yards behind them at this point and I yelled at him.  This is a small race, yes, but seriously? The relay guy passed him and #1 moved over to the left to get on his wheel, obviously speeding up in the process.  So, my sense of self-righteousness enraged, I moved up to pass and looked over at #1 and asked if he was just gonna ride his wheel the whole time?  He looked at me like he didn't know what I was talking about and I moved on to complete the pass on both of them before finishing the first lap.

The second lap was more of the same, just passing people on their first loop and putting time into people on their second.  Mostly uneventfully I finished the second loop with what I felt was a comfortable lead.

T2 - :39

Had trouble putting on one of my shoes but otherwise no big deal.

Run 5k - 19:54

Do I look happy? I am not :)

I started out on the run and my lungs felt even worse than on the bike.  I wasn't really sure where I was going as there was nobody to direct me but foremost in my mind my inability to breathe deeply and smoothly.  I looked behind me after a little while and saw a young guy that I assumed was the relay runner who had made up what I could only assume was a decent amount of time in the first mile.  Luckily he faded throughout the run but it put what little pep in my step there was...in my step.  The second mile was mostly uphill (it took foreeever to get to mile 2) and the third mile was mostly downhill/flat and the finishing straight was nice and flat.  Perfect.  I crossed the line and nobody else was in sight.

Overall: 51:18, 1st, overall CR and bike CR

A good day at the office, with Jenny winning as well.  I was a little annoyed at my run time but it was fast enough to win by a lot I just don't like a less fit athlete outrunning me by a minute.  Were I healthy, I would've liked to get that one as well.  Oh well.

Why do we climb? So we can descend.

Other than to accumulate sweet TSS and 20/40/60' power numbers, the only reason I climb mountains is for the very great pleasure of going down the other side (or, maybe the SAME side just to mix it up!). There are few things more rewarding than a brisk descent full of adrenaline and high speeds.  In fact, I consider it one of the ultimate [frustrating] teases if a climb is not followed by a descent.  I hate that.  With a true and unbridled passion.  There are few things more spectacular than an amazing mountain road descent.  Case in point:

I imagine that the enjoyment of blasting down a mountainside as fast as possible is, more often, a young man's game.  The rush of adrenaline that comes with it seems to have a positive correlation with a lack of responsibilities or dependents back at home. It's only when you're down the mountain that you think back to the corner you took at 45mph and imagine what one little piece of gravel could have done to your 23mm wide tire at that rate of speed and cornering angle...

But I digress...descending is awesome, period.

More examples:

Ok, didn't feel like searching for more.  I guess I'll just have to make some more...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-49Qrmcfgzg

About 2:15 into this video is THE turn to which I am about to refer...

All that being said, sometimes you get a reminder of why it's dangerous to go down strange roads fast.  Riding with our group on Friday we were descending Hwy 80 off Mt Mitchell and Heath was setting the pace at the front, followed by me, followed by Brian.  On a straight lead-in (read: fast) to a blind, decreasing radius right turn (read: sketchy), Heath went off to the left having underestimated the corner; I was ok and stayed in the right lane upright; Brian's wheels (or one) slid out briefly over a bump before catching and then flipping him and his bike over to the left.  Without doing into too many details, injuries resulted.  Broken collar-bone and rib being the two main injuries.  Luckily, no head trauma.

Ride safe.

New Orleans 70.3

To make sure everyone can read and wow themselves over how, after this weekend, my triathlon hobby has come full circle let me point you in the direction of my FIRST EVER triathlon race report.  I've done so many since then (no big deal...) that it's easy to forget the past.  I never want to forget the past, partly because I was a history major but also because the past was still fast! Alliteration is awesome.

2009 New Orleans 70.3 - My first triathloning experience!!

I drove down (now we're back in the present; stay with me here!) to New Orleans on Thursday, lounged around on Friday, went to registration and pro meeting Saturday, and raced on Sunday.  Pretty standard race weekend just a bit more driving than "usual" (20 hours...yucky).

There were a couple of cool things of note:

1) This was my first WTC/IM event as a "pro"
2) I introduced myself to Andreas Raelert and talked to him for a bit outside the hotel just because I couldn't pass up the opportunity as he was walking by; yes I'm a huge dork but he was actually SUPER nice (the only German I know like that...just kidding Sebastian!)
3) Pros would not have to check in their bikes the night before, which was pretty awesome actually
4) New Orleans is a cool city; I'd highly recommend this race to anyone

Anyway, race morning came around and I got to transition to set up my bike when a USAT official came around, making me instantly nervous (kind of like how when a cop gets behind you on the highway even if you're doing nothing wrong you are still nervous).  Pros are subject to slightly different rules and requirements than AGers and I was about to be checked for compliance with one of them.  They checked every single pro for helmet compliance (i.e. having an official "CPSC" sticker on the inside of the helmet).  As they asked me for my helmet I realized I had never looked at the Bambino to see whether it had one.  As I was picking it up for them I knew that it did not and they said it did not and I did not argue.  I knew the rule I had just never considered that this helmet I purchased would NOT have one.  So, I uttered a four letter word not-so-under my breath and went in search of a replacement, since it was either that or not race.  Luckily, Adam's Bicycle World was doing the bike support.  My very first road bike (and I believe all my family's bikes except for my current ones!) was from Adam's and I've known them for as long as I've been an "adult." I walked over and asked if they had a helmet and Mark said sure and handed me a generic Giro road helmet.  Well, not quite the Bambino but it DID have a CPSC sticker (although they didn't check this one...) so that's what I was going to race with.  Definitely a sacrifice in aero and therefore time but there really wasn't another option. The only other issue I noticed was that my garmin 910 appeared to have no charge so I wouldn't be using that on the run, bother.

Put on the wetsuit, walked over to swim start and jumped in the 64.1 degree water (that's two pretty cold swims in a row...global warming much?!?) along with the rest of the pro dudes for a brief warmup before the countdown began. They told us to line up on an invisible line within the boundaries of the end of the pier so it was a pretty wide line and I was on the right side.

Swim - 26:38 (19th/23rd Div/OA)

With some time left in the countdown the entire left side of the field started and then the right side started as well, all before the RD said "go."  Oh well. Good job dudes.  I started out and was on feet for a little bit but they felt very slow so I moved around them to the left and continued on to the first buoy, which was directly into the sun (and I wasn't wearing tinted goggles...oops).  The swim course was a (on paper) slightly confusing design but it wasn't hard to follow in person.  Outbound into the wind and sun, inbound the opposite.  Once making the first turn the group ahead appeared to be taking a slightly leftish line and I sighted directly on the turn buoy and made my way towards it with expeditiousness.  After making the second turn I could tell that I was catching some people in front of me so carried on with my pace back into the sun.  The final turn came and I was moving up on the group's feet in front of me and once I exited the swim I was confident I'd had a good swim.  It's amazing how much "shorter" a 26' swim feels (there was no clock so I'm just going on subjectivity) than a 32' swim (i.e. at White Lake); it's a very noticeably shorter period of time.

T1 - 2:04

There was a rather long run to my bike, which was tiring, but once there I put on my borrowed helmet, and grabbed the bike to be on my way. This wasn't a very efficient T1 for me, but oh well.

Bike - 2:19:52 (21st/26th)

I headed out on the bike behind some other guy and held 10m to see what my watts would be like.  They were a little low but I could tell to pass they'd be too high so I resolved to settle in for a bit.  After a bit longer a group of guys came by and I stuck with the leader as he passed the two of us; again staying on my watts.  This guy rode the bike like a typical triathlete.  It was weird how all over the bike he was, how much his head was moving; it basically looked like he was riding as hard as he could (he got off the bike and ran a 1:16 haha...dammit).  If he worked on his position and quieted down his upper body he'd gain some serious time...

Anyway, I digress.  Two other dudes came and passed our group but they were riding much faster and I couldn't justify raising my watts that much.  So I resolved to ride my own race and just hope some of them came back to me towards the end.  All the way out on the first leg was a headwind so, hating my road helmet, I put my head down and just cranked out the power.

At the first turnaround I had seen all the guys ahead of me (there were a lot...haha) but could tell the last guy on the "group" ahead only had about a minute.  After the turn there was a sweet tailwind for a bit so my average speed went up a bit until we made the right turn and back into a headwind again.  I had another chance to count how many people were in front of me (and how close anyone was behind; there was only one or two guys but lots of ladies!!) before turning around and getting back on that sweet tailwind.  I appeared to be catching at least one guy so I focused on the normal stuff: drinking, cranking, head down-ing, wattsing, etc.

Once we got back onto Haynes Blvd and the final 5-7 miles or so I had caught and passed the guy I got onto the bike with and could see someone else ahead who I was just catching as we came back into T2.  It was a pretty lonely ride and it was a decent bit slower than I had expected with my watts (which were higher than White Lake) but I figured if I ran well it'd make up for it.

T2 - 1:10

Pretty quick in T2, no problems here.

Run - 1:25:53 (22nd/32nd)

Heading out onto the run I saw my dad cheering right before the road that "started" the run so that was fun but I could almost immediately tell that my run would not be like White Lake.  I'm sure I started off too fast, but with no garmin to verify that despite feeling not great my pace was good.  That confidence would've been most welcome, but it was not there so I had to rely on RPE, which was telling me in loud, annoying words that I was working too hard.  Unlike White Lake, where my legs felt cruddy but my breathing and HR felt great (and I had the KNOWLEDGE that my pace was good...so had that as a "fallback" per se) my legs felt good but my breathing and HR was very high.  The first 5ish miles of the run were all in a basically similar direction (west along the lakefront) and we had a slight tailwind and zero shade.  That made this feel very warm and there were some climbs as well (up and over a bridge to start the second mile, for example).

I honestly wanted to stop at mile 2, but knowing that my family was there and that I'd driven all this way to "race" and that nothing was really "wrong" with me (other than being slow) so I stopped being a little baby and just kept on running.  I stopped at a porto for a pee at mile 4 and a guy I had caught on the bike took this opportunity to get closer to me and eventually latch onto me by mile 5.  Another guy was with me as well at this point but there pace felt a bit high so I let the two of them go, although they never gained much distance.  A very fast runner also caught and passed me and then the other two but his pace was much too high so I stayed lonely.  To be honest, the run went by kinda quickly through about 8 or 9 miles.  I never really slowed down that much and I never really sped up at all either.  With 5k to go one of the guys that had passed me appeared to slow down suddenly so I decided that over the next 3.1 miles I'd have to take the opportunity to not be last place male pro! At mile 12 I caught and passed him and carried my way on to the finish.  When I saw the finish clock reading 4:15:xx I was definitely a bit disappointed   I had no idea what kind of time I was headed towards as the only thing I knew was my bike time but I was definitely (despite feeling pretty slow all day) hoping that the time would be faster.  Oh well, not today!

Finish - 4:15:37 - 22nd

I've always been about setting the bar high.  If you set the bar too low, you generally trip over it and/or walk into it.  That's not fun.  But I have honestly felt that (at least recently) my expectations have been pretty realistic.  There are no surprises on race day.  I know what I'm capable of.  My swim time goals are indicated by performances in the pool.  If I know the watts I get for a race I can generally make a pretty good guess on what my bike split will be.  And the same goes for run time.  Everything is based on things I have done in races and in workouts.  I see a lot of people write race reports that say stuff like: "I definitely have a X:XX IM marathon in me or an X:XX 70.3 half marathon or bike split or whatever and I laugh because NOTHING that person has ever done has indicated they are within the realm of possibilities.  I felt, realistically, that on a good day with no mistakes I had a 4:03-4:05 in me on this course.  But, 'twas not to be in 2013.

At first I was upset with my performance.  But, to have a pretty "off day" and go 4:15 isn't the end of the world by any means.  I'm not a big fan of the two half-ironmans in two weeks program and will probably not do that again for a little while.  I attempted the same thing in 2011 and had a similar performance (great run at first race - NOLA 2011, not great run at second race - WL 2011) differential.  Anyway, every race is an opportunity for a learning experience.  So, I'm using it.

First triathlon in April 2009 at NOLA, first professional IM 70.3 at NOLA in 2013.  That's cool regardless of the time.