My three motto's for the day were:
1) I've got great gear so use it!
2) Everyone is in the post race raffle
3) Today I must go hard
Things started out pretty interesting - there was so much fog that you couldn't see the swim course turn buoys from shore. There were lots of swimmers that didn't navigate well and even crossed the course and ended up swimming into the returning field.
Other than the fog conditions were calm and water temp was 72 (which prevented the elites from wearing wet suits - they have their own rules at this race and it is not a USAT race but lays claim to the MN State Championship Triathlon) My swim was pretty typical despite a couple brief vectors off the most direct line.Transition was setup to heavily favor the elites on T2 (see the times) but relative advantage was equal within each age group. I was excited to try the new toy that they guys down at the shop set me up with this week (Zipp Sub9 with powertap)
They told me I had to go fast if I bought this wheel. Fast it was - I had a PR bike split - averaging 240 watts hitting a peak of 544 watts on one of the bigger hills. My bike split was 24.1 mph a real breakthrough split for me - and the best part of the bike result was that I outsplit CY on the bike (and she was having a good day winning the race for women and finishing within 20secs of Becky Lavelle's course record). 
My recommendation on the Sub9 is "find one, form line, order one".
I came off the bike feeling pretty good and slipped on my new kicks (Asic Hyperspeed2 - very light and fast) I knew I had been flying on the bike so I was worried about how much I had left for the run.
Turnover with the light shoes was good and I was feeling pretty strong - at about mile 2.0 I passed JR (super biker in my AG) so I knew I had a shot at a podium spot which fueled me to keep the pace going - 
around mile 3.5 I caught up to Elite F - JL and she powered up and ran with me to the finish line - nice rally JL! I ended up running 6:33 pace over the 5.23 mi course and capturing a second place Age Group spot.Besides the wheel on CY's recommendation I worked hard on hydration all week leading up to the race - I think it paid off as I didn't get the classic dehydration symptoms that usually hit me during the race. I also used a profile "between the areo bars" drink system instead of just a bottle and finished it all plus took a gel on the bike. It was awesome to actually feel good throughout the race.
Good day overall - despite a strong women's field I only got "chicked" by CY.
(Vic - thanks for the great Pics!)
