Besides the enjoyment I have from the unexpected early season successes God has granted me this year, I'm especially blessed that my girlfriend, Cheryl, is able to be here to support me. After just enough warm up running biking I stretch and say a prayer. The anthem is sung. A moment of silence is had for assistant race director, Billy Harmon. I review my story from last year to get a plan. I warm up swimming and then join the 3rd wave ready to go.

Swim

The bag pipes go silent and our race starts! Sprinting into the bright sun, sliding through the water on slick neoprene. Jockeying for good draft positions. My buoy turns go smoothly. On the long stretch behind the island I find someone's toes to tick to. Calm deep breathes. Feeling really good. I pull wide trying to pass. Someone else is on my toes. We battle back and forth to the shore. Cheryl says I'm in 8th place.

Bike

Friends are cheering. The wetsuit slips off quickly. I pedal off, determined to move up to 3rd. All out. An experiment to see hard I can go and still run. The heart rate will be high, but it's only 16mi, and I've been holding higher heart rates better each year. I pass guys but they keep coming back. It's great racing! But it hurts. Under heavy breathing I joke with a G.G. Tri Club guy who goes by me again, "We're making this awfully hard on each other". With 2mi to go I make a move and pass the 3 guys, including one on a bike like mine, "nice bike".. "you, too". But then a car shows up, stuck behind a slower rider. I try to go alongside and get forced into the dirt. Bad judgment, and the guys catch me again, but I soon regain position and finish into the transition.

Run

I'm feeling good, the back is only a little sore and soon goes away. I'm thinking I'm in 3rd and hunting for Mark Cosgrove. I target and pass different runners but they're all 25-29 (the wave ahead of me). I give encouragement and continue seeking Mark's fast feet. It's hot and I drink and it doesn't bother me. It's exciting to see 5:40 miles, but the heart rate in the 180's is a little scary! But I want to see what happens. Achilles feels great. I'm praying and thanking God for all this fun I'm able to have.

Then I see him coming back from the 1/2 way point, "Good job, Mark!". He's about 30sec ahead. At the turn I psych up and challenge myself to catch him. It's getting very hard. I'm hoping for the finish, but encouragements from friends coming the other way help a lot. Then I hear the "real" Mark, "You got the win, Troy", going the other way! The guy I'm chasing only looked like Mark. But I already committed so I continue after him. He wasn't in my age group either. Is it possible I'm in first? I finish almost 2 minutes faster than last year and I accomplished my goal of going faster on the bike (by 2 min).

I was first overall by 11 secs and I was thrilled to be able to win this local race against some great talent. And this is very boosting for my qualifying attempts coming up soon. Thanks for reading and I hope to send some more stories soon :)

God Bless!