It was a typical triathlon morning, but not really (I will explain later). Woke up at 3:50 am, ate my usual 2 whole wheat eggo waffles and banana. Got my gear in my truck and was off at 4:45.

7:15 am came quick. I started my warm-up with a 25 minute bike. I felt pretty good. When I came back, someone had the nerve to put their bike where mine was. I asked politely for them to move their bike over and she thankfully cooperated. I finished my warm-up with a light run and a few 100 yard striders. I was definitely ready to go.

It was 7:55am and we had 5 minutes to go. I made my way down to the Lake, jumped in, swam about 200 yards, did some quick bursts and was ready to start.

It was a chaotic swim. As usual, there were swimmers everywhere. Feet kicking, arms splashing, it was a mess. I told myself to hold my line and swim aggressive. Before you knew it though, the swim was coming to an end. Now it is time to go! 400 yard swim: 6:30

T1 started with a 200 yard uphill run up the boat dock. All the training is paying off here. I took an extra 20 seconds to slip on some shoes and ended up passing about 10 people going to the bike racks. Slipped off my wetsuit and mounted my bike. T1: 1:30

The bike started off with a little mess-up. The night before I polished my bike with some pledge. Well, I put some on my seat as well. As I prepared to do a flying mount on to my bike, I slipped right off my seat...OUCH! I slipped on my shoes and got going. Stupid, I thought to myself. Once I got going, I was riding good. Bent over in the aero position, I was flying. There were about 4 major hills that were challenging, but my short legs are good with those, so I didn't mind. 11 mile Bike: 34 minutes

T2 was fast and quick: 20 seconds

Here is my specialty. I was 6th going into the run. I spotted about 4 guys ahead of me on the run. I thought with a good run, I could catch them. At about mile 1, I caught one guy on an off road climb. Once we turned into the street (1/2 mile to go), I saw 2nd, 3rd, and 4th place about 400 yards away. I started to run hard. We turned the corner and headed to the finish. I caught one guy and the next two would have been caught if we had 1/4 mile left in the course. 3 mile run: 17:40

Total Time: 1:00.34
4th Overall
1st in AG

It was a good race.

Oh by the way.....it was the day of my WEDDING! Later that night was the time of my life. I married the woman of my dreams. If there was a perfect day.....April 19th, 2008 was it!