Peanut Butter Duathlon

4th Place Overall, 1st Place Age Group
Today was a fantastic day for racing. 60 degrees and sunny. There were roughly 100+ racers.
Trail Run-2Mile
I started off fairly strong settling into about 8th or 9th place. I was having fun on the grass and dirt trails with a few rolling hills. The footing was treacherous mud and slop at times, but that made it more fun. At the 1 mile marker I was @ 5:53 pace. I did not think I was going that fast. I certainly have not run that fast since 08'. I was feeling decent though and I kept a fairly steady pace, easing off just a little to finish up the 2 mile first leg in about 12:30. This put me somewhere between 7th-10th place.
T1
Biggest disapointment of the day. Even though I practiced, the transition was just too slow. Then I must have set some sort of record for how long it took to clip into my pedals. 4 people passed me while I was fiddling around.
Bike-14Mile (Very Hilly)
Within the first mile I repassed the people who had passed me in the transition. I also passed 1 or 2 others. 1 person passed me after about 4 miles and I did not let him get out of my sight. For the next 8 miles or so I used him as my carrot on a stick. He was about 15 yards up on me and I kept him at that distance. With about 2 miles left, I decided it was time to pick up the pace a bit. I passed him and did not see him for the rest of the race. At this time I had moved up to 4th place but did not know it.
T2
This time I had a very quick transition. Nice and smooth. No wasted movements. I zipped up my laces on my racing flats and was off.
Trail Run-2Mile
All of a sudden I was completely alone. No one in front of me and no one behind me. I was starting to hurt a little. The mud, slop, and hills weren't so much fun anymore. I kept focusing on one quick foot over another. That was the only thing I could do since all of my competitors were either far behind or far ahead. I gave all I could and finished up the 2nd 2 mile run in 6:49 pace (12:38).
Total Time = 1:07:59
I was somewhat pleased, but I want more. I hope I can look back at this race as a springboard to bigger and better things.

PS- I must mention 2 other things.
1) IronCraig http://schlawin.blogspot.com/ had a strong showing today. Congratulations.
2.) The biggest news in triathlon. My 3.5 yr old son got a new bike today. The Red Rocket! He is psyched. He was riding it thru the house today like a terror. Tomorrow while mommy is at a wedding shower, we will be working on his Aero position. Oh yeah! He is shown above on his old bike.