Tritonman 2010 -SDAE member Michael Brown

Well, the first race is officially under the belt. I have to say, it was an awesome experience. Woke up about 15 minutes late (4:25 pm was the time I set my alarm for). But didn't let it get in my head, I knew I had my stuff together and could be out the door quickly. Ate a four egg omelet and some applesauce, which is a little light for me, but my stomach was a little weird from the nerves. Out the door at 5:15, got to the venue and got to work.

The weather was gorgeous, calm after the storm, so I was lucky in that respect... but unfortunately the transition area was an absolute mess. Ankle deep mud for all my friends! I picked up my race packet, anyone care to guess my bib number? 32 (my old squadron)! This must be a sign of some sort, of what I'm still not sure.  I got a spot right on the edge, 3 rows in. Got my area all set up, and made the decision to go with the flying mount despite the mud. Rather than running next to my bike through transition, I would have to carry it, but it was better than getting my cleats filled up with mud and trying to clip in.

By the time the start of wave 1 rolled around I was pretty fired up. I toed the line in the front of the pack, and when the start siren went off, I was off. I got out front of the thrashing pack quickly, and was in the lead at the first buoy. I was going pretty hard, but I ended up getting passed by about three dudes. Pretty sure I was fourth out of the water, and then ran up to the transition area (a little wobbly) and got the wetsuit off in no time. I grabbed the helmet and threw it on and then hoisted the bike and ran to the mount line. Inexplicably, I had my sunglasses in my hand rather than on my face. I had to weirdly put them on one handed, but as I got to the mount line, I set my bike down, and started getting speed for the flying mount. I got up to speed, took a deep breath, and leapt. I landed perfectly, my shoes slipped right on my feet, and I was gone. Very stoked T1 went so well, minus the sunglasses incident. As I started I must have bumped my computer, because it was hitting my spokes, so I reached down and fixed it, and then put my head down to try and keep up the pace.

The calm after the storm had passed at this point, so the wind was blowing pretty decently, but I managed. I was passing a bunch of people, and was pretty nervous about some of the corners, but it was going well. Then, all of sudden some dude on a badass bike passed me like I was standing still. Only four or five guys passed me on the bike, so I was pretty happy with that. The only incident worth noting was when I reached for my first drink of the race... without first coming out of the aero tuck. I am going about 23 at this point, my bars wobble pretty badly and I fishtail violently. Luckily I manage to get it under control, and there was no one else around, so I survived this rookie mistake. Think I will get a bike mounted hydration system for the next one. As I finished the 3rd loop, I slid my feet out of my shoes, did a quick dismount at a pretty good rate of speed, and promptly almost ran over some collegiate chick with her bike SIDEWAYS taking up the entire width of the dismount line. Idiot. I got around her, picked up my bike and got set for the run.

Getting the Vibrams on was interesting with mud caked around my entire foot up to the ankle, but I got them on pretty quick overall. As I ran out of T2, watch read 43:30. So much for breaking an hour, but I still felt really strong, and lit off at a good clip. I absolutely dominated the run, passing people every few seconds. No one passed me on the run, so I was pretty stoked on that. Felt very strong, high cadence/turnover, despite just crushing my legs on the bike. At about mile 2.25 I met pukie (just a lil) for the first time since starting CrossFit. Sorry Fran, the sprint tri edged you out. As I crossed the bridge to get back on the island, I started my kick, and crossed the finish line at a respectable 1:03:27 (by my watch.) My official splits: Swim: 0:05:59/ T1  0:01:13/ Bike + T2  0:36:17/ Run  0:19:59/ Total: 1:03:28.  This was good enough for third in the 30-39 age group, so I achieved my goal of making the age group podium.  The bottom line is this: as I lined up at the start line, I knew that I had my nutrition, sleep, and training dialed. I knew that with the CFE programming I had a huge advantage over every other athlete that was "logging the miles" over the winter. This programming simply works.  Now I'm just looking forward to cracking the top 3 overall...