Boulder, CO - The day began as the last few started out, misty, damp, and cold. Ideal conditions for a runner's race but not for a triathlon where you have to be screaming downhill at 50mph plus.

I get to the transition area at 6am, looking for a good transition spot. I find an ideal spot and settle in. The weather starts to clear up. We haven't seen the sun in about 3 days. That is very unusual for here. We see maybe 3 days of rain every two months. Looking toward the mountains, I can see the mist and fog just hanging there. Oh wait, it starts to drizzle again, the sun was just a tease.

The gun goes of at 7:30 sharp and I start swimming toward the first buoy 400 meters away. After the first turn we have about 800 meters until the last turn into shore. I get into this groove where I am just flying. I have no one near me for some reason. I missed the lead pack but I am ahead of the second pack and sort of by myself. I am swimming well catching people from earlier waves 5 and 10 minutes ahead of mine. I come into the finish feeling strong, hit my watch, but I don't look. I am into transition in seconds and that goes very smooth. Looking over the rack is my friend Bob, who out swims me in the pool everyday. He was 3rd out of the water, so I was only 1:30 down on the lead pack, an exceptional swim for me. As he is leaving the transition, he says, "See ya in 30 seconds when your BLUE ROCKET goes flying by me." I laugh but I know it’s true, I can out bike him.

Right out of transition I catch my friend Paul who recommended the Kestrel to me while in Texas in June. Oh yeah he out biked MADCOW by 10 minutes there. I yell out to him "Hey Paul, I got a Kestrel!" He looks over and says, "You BLEEP, now you will really crush me." Once again I laugh but think, yes, technology is a good thing. Once out on the road I catch Bob fairly quickly, and settle into the climb up to the base of Olde Stage Road, which will peak out at 6,700 feet. Paul is sitting off to the left of me and we are chatting in between breaths of sucking down air. He is training for Ironman Canada in 4 weeks and is in great shape. If I can stay near him on this course I will be happy. We start the climb together, but he drops me on the first half but I come back and catch him on the second half. What is usually an 11:00 minute climb is a 9:50 minute climb for me. We start the descent into the fog at 50mph. It was hairy so I keep my fingers on the brakes. There was some sand on the road and my recent fall didn't help my psyche. As I head back along 63rd, two yahoos who are drafting off each and one goes by me. I think to myself as I go to my highest gear, "You don't have to draft if you have a rocket ship like this." As I pass they sort of look over at me in bewilderment. I know they don't want to hurt this much so they fall off the pace. I wanted to break 1:10 on this course and by golly I am close. I hit the last turn at 1:06 with a mile plus to go. I hit transition at about 1:09:30; I actually did it! I was pumped. All I am thinking now is "Run well MADCOW, run well." I start the run with Jim R., he is the one who made some comment to me back in July at the Monument race about how wearing a wetsuit is stupid. So at the first hill I think, "How stupid are wetsuits now?" He is never to be heard from again. He is gone. He has fallen victim to the "You don't really want to hurt as much as the MADCOW do you?" I catch Paul at mile 1 and I am on my way. I hit the 3.1 marker in 19:47, which is 6:22 pace. "Uh-Oh", MADCOW thinks! That is not fast enough, I've got to pour it on. This is an out and back course, which is good to size up the competition. I wanted sub-39:00 and that was the goal (By the way - "Failure is not an option."). I start back and I see this loudmouth guy from Ft. Collins who started 5 minutes behind me. I had at least a twelve minute lead on him, so taking away his 5 minute wave difference we are talking 7 minute lead for me. This is a guy who used to beat me by five minutes. Boy has the MADCOW turned the tables. So I end up running at a 5:50 pace the last two miles to end up having my best ever run split at The Peak. I look at my watch and I had a super race!

Look for more MADCOW stories in future editions. The names used were changed to protect the innocent.