Bare chested with gloves on…a champion of athletic style since 1986.

The Summary:

The first race of 2015! After an early season bike crash, this was the first test to see where my fitness was. My left elbow was busted pretty good and I’d been swimming with one arm for about two months. It was going to be a tough one, but there were almost ten of us from Team Every Man Jack that used this race as a launch pad for 2015 so it was high output from the gun and I finished 8th overall with the fastest run on the day.

The Swim: (00:25:49) Terrible. But in my defense, I’d only swam about 6 times with both arms since January and it was a two loop swim that involved a run along the beach and re-entry. But that’s still a brutal time to see. Good news is it can only get better!

T1 another cold race, another abysmal transition – almost 2x top 7’s average. My circulation really suffers out of the water in cold races and I – yet again – learned plenty.

The Bike: (01:05:28) I spent the first half a mile trying to cram frozen feet into my shoes while pedaling. Even thereafter, my core and my legs were simply not responding in the cold. It wasn’t until almost the turnaround point on this out and back course that I felt normal. I attacked the rolling hills heading back in and averaged a higher power number than the first half as my body warmed up.

The Run (00:33:49) With the fastest run on the day by about two minutes, I tried to recover as much ground as I could from Nemo-ing the swim and freezing during the early part of the race. The run felt good, especially after my feet thawed out two miles in…!

Thanks – All sponsors of Team Every Man Jack, HITS for putting on a great race, all volunteers and supporters! Next up, first Ironman 70.3 of the season at St. George – and a lot more swimming with two arms.