But I'm not a little bitch.

This could be close to my last blog post on this blog ever. That's right. It's gonna be shutting down.

And getting replaced by something much, much bigger and better.

You'll just have to wait around and keep checking back to see what that much bigger and better actually is.

Anyways, so I know the picture is blurry, but that's because I'm going so fast. So fast that the only person who had the time to snap my photo was the the person with the good reflexes but the crappy camera. Way to go, kung-fu cameraperson with the disposable Kodak.

This race was a chance for me to test out my speed and swallow a little intensity pill before the big Ironman on Sunday the 22nd. Part of me thought it might be stupid to go race like a madman the week before Ironman Coeur D' Alene, and the other part of me thought, "What the hell...remember the days of the Bud Light series and the retro Scott Tinley and Dave Scott who raced every weekend, you little bitch."

So I raced.

Entering into the elite wave, which was the first of the day, I smeared Greyhound Juice all over my body as a test and threw my B70 Helix on. The swim was a bit ho-hum for me coming out, and I didn't really snap into action until about halfway through. Sometimes that happens, and it makes me think I need to warm-up longer, or just smear some freaking hair on my chest before the starting pistol. Geez.

Swim: 20:55, 11th overall

The 40K bike was, as was the case in my previous two races, friggin fantastic. I smoked the entire field, except the ultimate winner of the race and my good friend Roger Thompson (who must've had more air pumped into his tires than me). Thanks to Specialized for the Transition Pro.

Bike: 0:56:58, 2nd overall.

I came out of the 10K run knowing I had to put some time into Roger, and completely oblivious that there was another guy behind me who didn't start in the same wave as me, but had swam like 18 minutes and change. I think he rode a JetSki. I ran a 38:13 (yes, the course was slightly long), ended up with a total time of 1:59:19, won my division, and go tthird overall - beaten by Roger and some hairy Grizzly Adams looking dude who somehow swam despite all that hair on his face (Jeffrey Hendersen).

For my physical prowess, I received a medal and a yellow flashlight made in China. Damn, why did I not stick to tennis.

This was one of the bigger races in the Northwest race series, so I was happy with a 3rd and now I'm resting my legs for Ironman.

Hey, a huge thanks to all the sponsors listed on the right side of this blog. Please check out their pages and give them some business. If I had to give a particular shout out to anyone in particular for this race, it would be TN sunglasses, because I don't want to tell you how many people I rode by out of the first transition who were wiping fog off their glasses from the swim water. You can check out the TN's on the link over there, somewhere.

Cheers,
Ben

P.S. Remember, could be the last post. The big announcement is getting close now.