Just a brief retrospective race report from July 8th, 2012.

Halfway point of the bike course.

Starting area was the waterfront area of Pewaukee Lake, by the beach. Transition was in the parking lot by Attitude Sports and Brewers 2 Cafe.

Where I left my bike… but not where I found it later.

Water temps were pushing 88 degrees. Starting waves were spaced about 2.5 minutes apart, and the order was determined by when the racers signed up. I was wave 17. The weeds were really bad in the lake this year, which made the swim even more difficult. They made the course a bit longer to help get out past the thickest weeds before making the swim across parallel to the beach. So rather than 440 yards it was likely in the 550 range. I had decided to go without a wetsuit because 1) I thought it would help me with a faster transition time, 2) I felt that the suit was tiring me out from being too tight, and 3) the water temps were so high. In retrospect, I should’ve worn the suit.

If anyone is wondering where these photos come from… the one and only g (aka Gowtham) was out in the water snapping photos.

I was 13:22 coming out of the water. For those curious, no this was not first place. Roughly 7 minutes behind the good swimmers.The nice thing was that I swam easy and had lots of energy coming out. So I came sprinting out into the transition, ready for a fast T1!!!

Exiting the water, into Transition 1

T1 would have been better if my bike and gear hadn’t been inexplicably moved to a different area of the transition–or if someone had bothered to tell me about it. Bike course went good. Averaged somewhere between 23 and 24 mph–my best pace to this date and hilliest course to boot! The most fun part was a half mile hill with 130 foot climb where I passed about 75 people (every person that had been ahead waiting for a train to pass). Passed the last rider just before the crest. Exhilarating!

T2 was fine, since I knew where all my gear was this time. The run was nice and hilly. I thought I was going hard, but had a way too strong kick at the last 300 meters to be happy with it. Great finish, but had some left over. Somewhere around 6:23 per mile average.

Overall I placed 41. In my age group I placed 12, but I do know that 9 of the 11 who beat me were in the elite category. So that makes me feel alright! And just like the previous race, I did not get passed at any point on the bike nor run. Results are here.