Yesterday was my 3rd race in 3 weeks and I definitely wasn’t looking forward to waking up at 4:30 am again. I wasn’t in a huge rush to get to the race as I heard that we would have a PacBikes’ (team I race with) rack but apparently we didn’t so Chris and I set up next to each other. I thought that was smart as I knew that his bike would be gone which would give me plenty of room to get my wetsuit off and have a quick transition. After spending 24 minutes in the water I finally made it ashore along with some fast women and slow 24-29 year old dudes. One thing that got me riled up was that somebody had tied the balloon that i had on the rack to my bike so that when I started running with my bike along came the balloon. I ripped it off and proceeded to get a slap in the face from the headwind that I wasn’t expecting. Two weeks ago a group of us rode the course and at the start was a very nice tailwind. Oh well, I buckled down and managed to get the bike course done in 1:03 which rocks considering I was having shifting issues. As soon as I started the run I could tell that it was going to be tough. My lower right back area started cramping (as it did last week also) but thinking that all I had to do was run for sub 40 min. then it would all be over. I proceeded to get the first 5 km done in about 20 min. and then everything went to shit. My stomach started cramping and the miles never seemed to end. A couple of older (35-39) guys passed me and I tried to keep up but at mile 6 I figured out that the race wasn’t almost done and started to have some “wall” issues. It was supposed to be a 6.2 mile run but due to mismarkings, the final distance was closer to 7.4 miles. The run ended up taking me 48 min. It was really awesome seeing friends on the course and I really pushed myself to not only catch up with my Chris but also not get caught by Jim or any of our fast pacbikes women. In the end I finished the race in 2:19 which was good enough for 9th AG, 61st OA. I look forward to having it all come together at Vineman. 
Pretty nasty swim as it seemed like when I would take a breath, I would breathe in fumes. Bike was very flat but not ideal for 23 miles of being in the drops as I’m not used to it which meant a very sore bum and back. Run was easy and boring. 
Overall, great race organization with lots of volunteers, aid stations, and sweet awards.
On June 7, I competed in the Anchorman Sprint triathlon which consisted of a 3/4 mile ocean swim, 9 mile hilly bike, and a 4 mile trail/road/sand ladder run. There were only roughly 150 participants of which about 80+ were men. This is really one of those races where I wish I could swim faster. The swim wasn’t as well organized as you would hope which resulted in some people missing the last buoy and reaching land before they were supposed to. It seemed like everytime I breathed on my right side I saw somebody running on the beach prematurely. Instead of cutting a line straight for the beach, I decided to make my way around the third buoy which seemed to take an eternity. I don’t think my swim time would have improved much but that could partially be why I ended up around 66th out of 80+ dudes. Once hitting land, we had a long 1 mile transition run in which I probably passed 15-20 people. Some people chose not to have shoes waiting for them and paid for it as the gravel was not feet friendly. The 9 mile bike is literally over a hill and back twice. I knew the course well and had been doing quite a few hill repeats in the weeks leading up. I passed a lot of ppl which made me feel good and also seeing so many familiar faces during the ride as it was 2 loops was encouraging. Probably the biggest encouragement was Andreas, another guy on the Pac Bikes team, coming up from behind and telling me to start pushing it. This was I was starting my 1st loop and him his second. The bike went quick in 30 minutes which was good enough for 6th fastest time. As I started the run I was nervous about my calf as I had cramped it during a training run a few days before. I decided that I would just push myself and if it cramped, oh well. Lucky for me, I was very familiar with the course and decided not to take it easy on the sand ladder. This proved a smart move as I caught up with a few guys during the last 2 miles. My time of 31 minutes was the 4th fastest time on the run. Overall, I was 14th and 2nd in my age group. There were some organization issues with the race but overall it was great to see so many friends racing and cheering. I look forward to seeing how I do this weekend in Holland, MI at another sprint triathlon. Hopefully the shorter swim, longer bike and run work to my favor although I will be renting a road bike instead of bringing mine.
Wildflower became a ‘lessons learned” experience for me. Even now, as I sit on this cushy seat I have to make sure I’m in just the right position so the chafing in a place I’ve never chafed doesn’t get aggravated. So first lesson, Always put bodyglide down there… Which brings me to my second lesson, Don’t ride a new bike. Now keep in mind I rode my new tri bike 3 times before racing but what I left out is that the 3 times equaled something like 40 miles. So you see where this is going. I won’t bother talking about my forgetful swim of 38 min. And no, I didn’t go that slow just so that the pretty ladies could catch up with me… they would anyway. So back to the bike. At about mile 25, I noticed a clinking noise and couldn’t figure out what was going on. I find out right about the time I took a drink as when I put the bottle back in the rear bottle cage, it slipped a bit. I stopped, tightened the bolts as tight as I could with my fingers and was off. At mile 30, the noise came back and I got off trying to figure out what to do. Five minutes later, I was back on my bike sans rear bottle cage which I had masterfully hidden in the tall grasses just past the big 30 mile sign. I would later learn that they come pick up the sign and so had to run up and down the road trying to find my brand new bottle cage. Thank you Son and Xavier for the help
Onto the run. I got off the bike and spent my transition praying that I my chafing wouldn’t bother me on the run. Once I started the run, I felt ok and proceeded to try and pass everybody that was in my age group. Around mile 4 Tom, another Pac Bikes athlete, zoomed by me and I decided to try and keep up with him. I decided this would be a good strategy as I remembered Chris Lieto being passed by Macca during IM Kona a couple years back and being amazed at his determination. What I forgot is that he didn’t keep that up for very long and ended up finishing a bit slower than he would have liked. From mile 6 to 13, it’s mostly a blur in which I remember running by the GGTC cheering section and trying to muster a smile but also giving a sign that said I’m done. After that I remember seeing Dahlz, another PacBikes athlete, and hearing that I was almost at the top. What I didn’t know is that I had to go down the other side and then back up. My only goal by the end was to get to the medical tent as my head felt like it was going to explode and the great nauseous feeling that occured everytime I put something in me. The highlight of my race had to be finishing, going straight to the med tent, and having the lovely Serena tend to my needs for an hour or so. Being offered an IV has never sounded so sexy. Afterwards, I started to feel better and Pablo and I went out to scour the campsites for young single women and free beer. Of which, we got the latter
Overall, I look forward to bettering my 5:37 PR at Wildflower. This was my first official half IM distance so I’ll hopefully better it by at least 30 min. at Vineman.