USAT Elite Series San Francisco

My second attempt at draft-legal triathlon was much more successful and gratifying than the first. While my placing was only marginally better than the race in Monroe, this race had a larger field and I actually felt like I was competing the entire time - which is kind of the point.

Going over the plan with coach. Race. Hard.

The race got underway at 1 pm and as expected, it was a rough start. I was swimming on top of people for the first 150 meters and then wisely decided to swim around the fray on the left. Fortunately a large pack had formed on that side and I got myself situated at the tail-end of it. We fought the current heading back for the start of the second lap and that's when I lost contact with the pack. The next lap was uneventful as I lead a group back in.

Swim starts closely resemble cat fights all too often.

T1 wasn't as smooth as usual as my wetsuit zipper got stuck on something. I tried pulling up and down to no avail and briefly considered trying to tear the wetsuit off my shoulders. A friend who was watching the race said I looked like I was chasing my tail fidgeting with the strap. Fortunately, it unzipped and I got onto the bike course just as some other athletes were heading out of transition. A video of the incident probably would have been quite entertaining.

Going into the race, I never wanted to ride alone and quickly bridged the gap to a group of two ahead. We weren't very organized and I felt I could afford to expend more energy on the bike, so I broke away in search of the next group. Each time I'd connect with a new group, I'd go to the front and stay there, because no one else would pull through. I'd signal for someone to pull through, especially on the windy parts, but I got no help whatsoever. I figured that if everyone just wanted to sit on my wheel, I was going to try to make them work to do so. Sure enough, some of the athletes enjoying the ride weren't able to hold on.

Behind me, you'll see the elusive wheel-suckers. Heaven forbid they take a pull.

T2 was relatively normal, although I almost went out for a 7th lap; there was a bit of an error with the lap signage and bells.

The run course was a three-loop out and back. I ran with two other guys for half of the first lap, but couldn't quite keep the pace coming back in. Starting the second loop, I was starting to feel more comfortable and felt like I was running well. I made up some ground on the run, but not as much as I had made up on the bike.

My best impersonation of a T-rex trying to scratch his nose while running.

I finished 26th for the day and honestly had one of my best races effort-wise. I swam well, rode hard, and ran as hard as I could for the day and that's all I can ask of myself. Most importantly, I had a lot of fun racing. There are still aspects of my training that need fine tuning, but those gains will come with time, because the effort is there. The way I see it, I can only get better from here.