My award was a memory stick/key ring with nothing imprinted on it to indicate that I had been an age group winner. Oh well, I know I had a good result and best yet we had a great time in this last minute race!

I qualified for the Toyota Cup national championship race in Dallas being in the top 10 of my International Age Group, but as that's Chicago Marathon day I'll take a pass.

I happily crossed as the announcer spoke my name and home town. Job done! My watch said 3:04, with most of the overage past 3:00 accounted for by our creative extension of the run.

In terms of sheer enjoyment, it was my best marathon in a long while. But it's racing, damn it, not a stroll in the park! I want to race...

I am writing this because I know so well that when I publicly announce a goal (back myself into a corner?) I am more likely to achieve it.

Three races, two days, one podium. What more did I need?

Despite my so slow time, I was really happy!

Short story: Long group ride goes haywire due to crash, the wrong equipment and outriding conditioning. Long story, read if you want to learn how not to undertake a long group ride:

At Ironman Canada in August 2005 - my 6th IMC in a row - my front tire rolled off the rim while I was descending at 30 mph and I was launched over my handlebars

Mini rant: I'm kinda tired of reading articles by those who are "amazed" about older athletes who are competing mano a mano with the younger folks.

Boston Billy beat me by 13 minutes. That’s a sentence I never thought I would write. The key in the sentence is not that Bill Rogers beat me, but that he crossed the finish line on Boylston Street only 13 minutes ahead of my time.

In this writer's experience as a long-time marathon runner and Ironman, runners and triathletes who look for the quick fix and instant success don't get what they are looking for.

What part of triathlon do you like the most and why? The best parts are the rising anxiety on the beach, pushing the bike and passing people, and finding legs during the run. Picking one: the bike.

We were in adjacent lanes, swimming 4 x 50 free, toward the end of Masters, when I already had nearly 3000 yards in.

This morning in masters our coach/fellow swimmer Steve (he swam at Notre Dame - too fast for the rest of us!), had us swim the following "12 Days of Christmas" workout.

My running strategy was to make this a low key race and just run by feel. (I already have a Boston time for next spring.)

Competitive? Who, me? Wanna bet...?)

In looking at my 2005 training log to confirm if my swim times were finally back to their pre bike crash levels (it looks like they are), I recognized just how much less I have trained since I crashed.

Here's a mini race report, maybe about all I'll be able to come up with this year. If you want to know more, just ask.

How much faster, if at all, does a wetsuit make your swim?