I got to bed early on Friday night...around 10:00pm or so.

 I woke up around 5:15am without an alarm clock and was feeling fairly fresh. I was pretty excited about getting to race today...as it's been awhile since I've competed in a Sprint. I had a 1/2 bagel with peanut butter, and one packet of oatmeal around 5:40am. EJ and I arrived at the race site around 7:10am, which gave me about an hour to prepare, before my wave went off. I have to say...this was my first race in Georgia and the organization is nice, but the transition area has to be THE worst I've EVER come across...anyways...I set up my bike, got body-marked, grabbed my chip, and was off for a 1/2 mile warm-up jog. I then grabbed my goggles and headed to the lake for a quick 200 meters. It was now about 7:50am and everyone was preparing to get started. I headed out of the area and waited in solitude to get "my mind right." As 8:00am came and went, the race still hadn't started...kudos to the NCTS starting on time...so about 8:07, the race actually begin (the first wave). I was scheduled to go in the sixth wave, so I had about 12-15 minutes to kill. I hung out and watched a few guys from the first wave exit...and then "excused" my way to the front of my wave to get started.

I think I started out too hard on the swim today. I've gotten comfortable to longer swim distances and having the chance to get comfortable. For some reason, I felt like I had to swim harder and faster than normal...this wasn't so good. Around the half way mark, I started breathing harder than normal and I could hear my heart rate monitor alarm beeping underwater! Nevertheless, I made it through the swim and was told by EJ that I was 5th exiting the water.

The transition went smooth and I was off on the bike. About a 1/2 mile into the ride, there is a MONSTER climb of exactly 1 mile. I knew this and decided to ride it steady, but not too hard. I noticed people falling off the pace quickly...I assumed they tried to attack the hill instead of taking it in stride...I arrived at the crest and begin to lay the hammer down. I felt great, was riding hard, and the ride flew by! I was passed by only one guy...who was moving pretty good...my hats off to you buddy!

T2 went fine and I was off and running. The run course was rolling (hills) but proved to be a good challenge. I felt great and was happy with my progress...as every race is just another training opportunity!

I finished and was pleased to find out that I was 1st in my division. Congrats to all the other competitors in my division and the race.

I hung around for the awards ceremony because my buddy Roger Hand always gives me crap for bailing out on them...and thanks to him, I was surprised to find that all 1st place (per division) winners received a giant tub of Hammer/HEED supplement!

My average HR was 173 with a max of 186...yeah, I put out in this race!!!

 Thanks for reading!