Sunday, August 5th I did the Branbury Classic Triathlon in Salisbury, VT at Lake Dunmore. This was only my 7th Olympic distance ever, but it was my 4th year in a row doing this event. This race has a lot of meaning to me: I was born and raised in Brandon, VT (the next town over). I would spend my summers swimming, boating, and working at Lake Dunmore. Along with that, I did my first sprint triathlon at this location 4 years ago in 2008, I was hooked ever since! I feel like most triathletes have that must-do race every year, whether because it’s near their home, was their first race, or they like to compare their times from previous years. Well this is my must-do race for all those reasons. Here my splits from the 1500m swim, 28mile bike, 6.2mile run event over the years: 2009 – 2:42:15 – Swim 29:26 – Bike 1:20:55 – Run 49:09 2010 – 2:41:07 – Swim 26:08 – Bike 1:22:20 – Run 49:39 2011 – 2:30:50 – Swim 25:15 – Bike 1:16:09 – Run 47:23 2012– 2:14:29 – *Swim 18:23 – Bike 1:11:50 – Run 43:03 Swim – “1500” meters* – 18:23 Since this was the 4th time doing this triathlon, I don’t listen to the pre-race announcement anymore, rather I go down to the water and get my swim warm up in before the 8am start. Walking towards the water, I surveyed the buoys and noticed that the far left turn buoy seemed much closer than in the past… this could be a fast “1500m” swim! At 8 o’clock, we’re off! I felt really good in the water, I was even calm enough to be able to count places at the second 180 degree turn buoy… I was in the top ten with more than half of the swim complete! Once out of the water I glanced at my watch, 18min!! Either I had a propeller attached to my wetsuit or my instinct that the buoy was short was correct… turns out that the swim was about 200-300 meters short. T1 – 0:41 (Last year 1:18, Two years ago 1:57) High risk, high reward. I decided to try my hand at a flying mount for the first time in a competition, well my version of the flying mount (I’m afraid to try to land on my seat so I run alongside my bike, hop a few times on my left foot, throw my right leg over, plant my right foot on my shoe held up by a rubber band, pedal a few times, then sit). It may not be the smoothest or prettiest looking mount but I don’t have to stop and I haven’t fallen… yet (knock on wood). Back to race day… everything went well until I tried to slide my foot into my shoe. I was struggling, therefore, I was looking down for a long time, and next thing I know, I’m 5 feet off the side of the paved road in a grassy, rocky shoulder! I keep my composure and pedaled carefully back onto the road. After taking a huge sigh of relief, I finally get my feet in my shoes, the straps tight, and I’m off to take on the 2 loop, 28 mile bike course. Bike – 28 miles – 1:11:50…23.4mph This is by far my favorite bike course! It’s a 14 mile loop (that we do twice for the Olympic distance) that consists of long, flat straight-aways, rolling hills and one 0.5 mile climb where I drop down to the little ring. Like always, I’m breathing heavy from the swim and within the first few minutes a couple guys pass me. It’s tempting, but I let them go. This is a longer race and I want to save my legs for my weaker discipline, the run. Run – 6.2 miles – 43:03…6:57min/mi. My taper, nutrition, hydration and bike strategies were all working and I felt great starting the run. My legs were a little tight, but I was confident that they would loosen up and I wouldn't cramp. Mile 1 – 7 min, Mile 2 – 14 min, 5K turnaround – 22 min … I was still feeling good and was determined to run a negative split on the way back to the finish. As I approached the turnaround, I counted: 1, 2, 3 … I was in 10th and I had been reeling in the 9th and 8th place guys on the way out. I caught the 9th place guy shortly after the turnaround and set my sights on the 8th place guy who I know well from these races. In the back of my mind I had a goal to beat him, and I knew my window of opportunity was to catch him on the run. (To put things into perspective; he’s as old as my dad, but he’s a very strong swimmer and biker but a weaker runner. I’ve never beaten him. At this event last year, he beat me by 9 minutes. Two years ago he beat me by 16 minutes.) Just after passing the 5 mile marker, I got within hearing distance of his metronome. I was intrigued. I’ve never heard one before and I wanted to get closer for a better listen, haha! I came up to his side with a grin from ear-to-ear :) We exchanged a few words of encouragement, and then I continued on ahead towards the finish. I was pumped! Suffering and exhausted but feeling great and completely in control. In the finishing shoot, I found my mom and gave her a high five. I crossed the finish line and waited for the competitor behind me. I congratulated him on a great race...what a race it was!! It was definitely my best race ever!! I finished 1st in my Age Group (a nice pint glass with my prize!) and 9th overall out of 119 competitors. I hope to repeat this performace with EFRT at Nationals in less than 2 weeks!! Results: http://coolrunning.com/results/12/vt/Aug5_Branbu_set1.shtml Pictures to come...