A buddy and I did this race together (did our 1st tri together), so we both left the wife/ kids behind and headed out on Fri., which ended up being a good call. Spent from noon on Saturday on just watching t.v.. Never felt so relaxed and fresh. Forecasted to be high of 82 with 5mph winds out of the south. Ended up being 90 with 15-20 mph winds that came out of nowhere from mile 35-40 and on. Pro’s had zero wind since they started way earlier. (That's 99.99% of the reason why Raelart beat me by 58 min), besides the fact that he ran a 1:11 on a slightly challenging run course! Dam that dude can fly! Anyways here goes.

Swim- Triangle course of about 800-400-800. Plan was to hit the 1t 200 hard to pull away from the crowd and find some open water, then just relax till the turn, hit the 400 hard, then a mix of easy/hard on the way back in. Felt like I had a good swim through the first 1200. For some reason mentally I was thinking a rectangular swim and kept going to the right on the way back in causing me to zig zag about 4-5 times. Course felt a tad long too. Anyways, time of 32:xx 30/325 AG.

Bike- Goal was to go a consitent 225-230 watts throughout. Felt way too good on the bike and probably pushed it too hard the first 30 miles. It just felt comfortable. At the 1 hr mark I was at 24.5 miles. DAM I was flying! For this race I got rid of the rear bottle cages and used the downtube for liquid nutrition and used a self-made torpedo holder on the aero bars. By passed the hands-up stations at mile 15 and 30, but grabbed a water at 44. Total nutrition of 550 cals (approx.) of GenUcan and 40oz of water (prob should have had another 20 oz of water). At the half way point I was at 1:12 and headed for a 2:24 bike split. But that dang wind came out of nowhere and slowed us all down. From mile 35-48 I was in no-mans land and didn’t see anybody. Bike split of 2:29:xx, avg. 22.5 mph (PR for a HIM), 231 watts avg.. Pevious PR was 21.3 and 217 watts at BSLT. Off the bike I was in 15th place. Finished 9/ 325 on the bike.

Run- Tried three new things here at Austin (two by design). Set my run splits up to give me ½ mile splits instead of 1 mile splits (to keep me more honest on my pacing), no socks (ran the last two long runs sockless and no problems), used powerbar latte gels (forgot to buy gu in Dallas and expo only had powerbar (sponsor)). Plan was to take 1 gel at mile 54ish on the bike and then at 30 min and 1:05 on the run. Followed with coke and water at every aid station. Took that first gel and was surprised at how much it really tasted like coffee. The caffeine hit me 3 min later and felt awesome! Got passed twice on the run (1 was a pro, so that doesn’t count, and one was my AG). When the AG guy passed me I let him get a 10-15 yd lead on me and but kept him there (big mental breakthrough and not letting him get a way). Kept him at bay till the last out n’ back and started reeling him in. Couple of deep breathes and then blew passed him at 6:45’s for about 30-45 secs to break him mentally. Stated getting abdominal cramps at mile 9, but I fought through it taking big breaths and holding it for a few secs. Cramps only lasted about ½ mile. Last out n’ back was painful and I fought through it. I was laboring big time, big breaths in n’ out every 3 steps. I was working hard, but loving it! Going sockless worked well, although I started feeling the hot burning sensation around mile 11. Definitely will always use socks on a full. Run time of 1:38:xx. 7:29 avg. pace. Only mistake made was I should have brought salt. Didn’t expect it to be this hot! Ended up in 11th after the run and was 10/325 on the run.

Total time of 4:45:xx 11/325 70/ 1900 (including Pro’s).

While I didn’t PR on the run persay as my best run was Galveston, but then again when I look at Galveston it was completely flat and I totally sandbagged the bike and was running fresh and angry. Got the Vegas spot, but passed as Kona is the focus! My friend got 3rd ag (25-29) and beat my by 5 min. He was whooping my ass by 30-45 min a year ago. I out swam him and out ran by 5-7 min total, but he can hammer the bike for sure!

Total PR of 14 min (BSLT was previous PR) and a PR of 23 min from Galveston (previous PR before that). Not a bad way to end the season and set a new bench mark for 2012!

Out of competition season here I am!