Loveland Lake to Lake

Well I had a great race! The weather never go as hot as projectedand not a breath of wind on the bike.

I was 16th out of 61 in my age group. Total Time was 3:03.51 (right aroudn my best ever in this race and 5 minutes faster than 2005 (2006 was an anomoly because of my DVT). The water was not as cold as past years and visibilty was good as were the course markings. My Swim time (15ooM) was 25:52 the 2 minutes up the beach to the transition area. Off with the wetsuit and on with the bike shoes and helmet (2:13 transition time). Then onto the bike, riding in the beautiful foothills outside of Loveland. We climbed up to the south eand of Horsetooth and came back on Harmony to Shields in Ft. Collins, which turns into Taft in Loveland. The view of the reservoir was beautiful and the sheep at Bliss Ranch were quite cute. Only saw one guy with a flat tire (I saw the piece of glass he ran over). All in all a good ride. A little trouble getting into my big chain ring (new equipment). My legs felt great. Kept my heartrate around 150 to 155, except on the downhills. My Bike time (30 miles) was 1:36:45. Then off with the helmet and bike shoes and on with the run shoes. Grab my hat, waist bib number and a goo packet to put on while I run (1:23 transition time). The run is a flat, out and back 10K, thankfully, with some shade in the neighborhoods to the east of the Lake. The view of the lake was great. It was tough to see the awesome triathletes already on their way back, when we were headed out. But I was in the 4th start wave. My legs got under me by mile 2 and I started to pick up the pace. I kept my heartrate around 162-165 and then finished hard the last 1/4 mile, up to 176 max at the end. My official run time was 55:37.

It was great to have Mom, Pam and Bill there to cheer me on. They were enjoying a day at the Lake. Our local legislator (Rand) and Kathy stopped by to see me swim, but then had other important events to get to. Thanks for all the support gang. It was a great race!
-Hez