USAT Elite National Championship

Here's how the race played out. I was pumped up and ready to swim hard. Got out ok the first 100m then got vised between two guys and out the back. Popped my head up and saw a group on the right and one on the left, I was in the middle. I should have picked a side and gone all in for the draft but made an error and missed the pack. Swam on my own the rest of the way and got out of the water wayyyy back. Got going on the bike and once I saw Matt Reed charging along in the lead I knew I had to lay it on or risk getting lapped out. I went for it hard on my own for about 4 of the 8 laps. Finally I was closing in on my teammate Matt Balzer. Coach Sean Wendt saw me getting close and advised Matt to sit up which he did (Thanks Matt!). That saved my day as I would have really been struggling after the early bike effort. Luckily too there were tons of people cheering me on which helped, especially since there were so many laps. Big thanks for the Practical Coaching crew for giving me a cheer every lap.
So back to the race. Got in with Matt and it was like we were training at the crit loop. We traded back and forth. Caught 2 guys and they latched on. Dumped 1 of them and the other fella, an Army guy worked with us.
Onto the run and I was hurtin the 1st lap. Chris Foster blew by and I could hang on the uphill but his leg speed was incredible and he was roasting all the downhills. Kept working but it was tough as I didn't have many guys around me. Passed a few guys to get into 22nd place where I finished up. Clearly not the best first ITU race but it cemented that I have to swim loads over the winter.