Having done this triathlon last October, I pretty much knew what to expect coming into this morning. I ran through my race plan the night before and was pretty sure I had everything ready. I went to bed early and wasn't nervous at all, so I slept amazing. Apparently, I didn't set my alarm, but still managed to wake up around 6:10, so I still had plenty of time. I made a strawberry shake and brought an orange with for pre-race fuel.

I got to the Academy and setup my transition spot. Right away, I spotted three other friends who were doing the race, too. Fortunately, most of us were all set to start the swim at the same time, so we had a nice little competition. After chatting with them for a bit, I finished up my transition spot and made sure I was ready for a quick get-away on my bike.

I went inside to get relax, stretch and watch the start of the other swimmers. We ended up sitting for more than a hour before finally going down to warm-up a bit and hop in line to get our timing chips and ready for the swim. Around 9:50 I finally jumped into the pool and was off for my swim. I was a little surprised how easy it was. I couldn't really gauge my speed, but I could tell I was swimming faster than anyone else in my lane or the one next to me. I quickly finished up the 800 yards (32 lengths) and wasn't short of breath at all. I checked my watch and finished in 13:30, which was only 10 seconds off my goal pace.

In a pretty good mood, I made the long walk/run up some stairs and outside to my transition area. It wasn't nearly as cold as I expected, so I left the cold-weather gear in my bag and just put on a windbreaker over my tri shirt. I tried to put on my helmet, which had fallen off my aero bars because of the wind. During the fall, the clips on the back that loosened it up got jammed, so it was way too small. I ended up snapping the clips off the back and doing a little surgery just to get my helmet to fit.

I grabbed my bike and ran out to the beautiful, and very hilly, bike course. It was the first time I had used my aero bars, so I tested those out fairly quickly and found that they were pretty comfortable. I made the climb on the first hill and then tucked into aero position for a long downhill. I kept that position through Stadium Boulevard and to the base of Pine drive. Once at Pine Drive, it was all uphill from there. I have ridden that course several times recently, so I knew what to expect. It turned out to be about what I was used to, so I didn't struggle horribly, but it certainly wasn't fun.

I completed the final downhill and rode back to the transition area where I got ready for the run. I quickly threw on my running shoes, took off my windbreaker and grabbed one last drink of water. With my IT Band issues, I knew I was going to have to take it slow, so I started out on what felt like a 10:00 mile pace. I passed a few people here and there and got passed by a couple as well. At the first mile marker, I crossed at exactly 10:00 and that's when the pain kicked in. I said a short prayer that it wouldn't hurt anymore than it did at that point and for much of the rest of the run, it was just a lingering pain. However, I got to the last half-mile and my knee was killing me. I didn't want to walk, so I managed to do a running/gimp thing to the track. Once I got there, I was able to speed up a little more for the lap around the track and across the finish line.

I forgot to check my watch right away and my results weren't posted, but I finished around 1:52, which was 8 minutes under my goal and about 18 minutes faster than when I did the race last fall. It was a pretty good race, but every time I race this year with IT Band issues, I continue to wonder how I would do if I didn't have to run so slow and with so much pain.