My first AG win

I raced in the Aquaman Dualthlon last night in tri cities. It was my first dualthlon and especially new to me with kind of a different format. It was a 2 mile run, followed by a 1/2 mile downriver swim, and then finishing with a 3 mile run. I traveled over to Tri Cities with a couple of local triathletes Javin, Laura, and Michael. This was Michael's 3rd time racing this race and it was very nice to be able to ask questions and get suggestions from him. We arrived about an hour early and had plenty of time to warm up, place our bags in transition, and listen to the pre race meeting. It was a very well run race and I really enjoyed the whole atmosphere of it.

We all started together and the first few hundred yards were pretty bunched up. I tried to stay somewhat close to the front pack but even from the start Michael was flying and I lost sight of him quickly. I tried to keep Javin in sight and pushed the pace pretty hard for the whole 2 mile stretch. Ended up with a 6:05/mile avg pace and finished the first leg in 12:11. I gave some ground to Javin but stayed right on the heels of the top female. I had my swim cap in my hand the whole time and when we came into the transition area I had it on my head ready to go. I quickly slipped off my shoes and put on my goggles. The swim was really fast, you swim almost straight out and then the current catches you and you can just fly downriver till you turn back in to shore. I caught sight of the top female again within the first few hundred yards and I swam off her draft and kept her within sight the whole time. I got out of the water in 11:12 and quickly got my shoes on and headed out for the last run. I somehow passed Javin up in the swim so he passed me just as we were heading out of the parking lot. I stayed right on his heels for a good while until we caught and passed the top female. I started to fade a bit then and let him go. Michael passed us coming back in while we were going out and yelled at me to go catch Javin haha I gave it a try but he was gone. I stayed close to the top female though and had her in my sights the whole time. When we came through the parking lot and started going in towards the finish I turned it on, and ended up sprinting past her in the final hundred yards. I finished 14th overall with a total time of 44:41. That time was good enough for my first AG win by almost 3 minutes which felt really good! Michael won the race and ended up setting a course record by racing a 37:33, so fast. Javin and Laura both took 3rd in their AG's and it was a good day for me and the rest of Walla Walla. Definitely would like to race this one again next summer.