I was over in Stevensville last weekend and the water was great. That is no guarantee that the lake may turn over btw now and then. I also rode the bike course and I must say, except for a 5-10 mile section where the road commision recently put gravel down, the course is very nice and smooth.

Looking forward to it.

I'm hoping for some cool weather, as I perform my best in the 50's - 60's. I was out on the bike course last Sunday and it was great out. 70's and a little cloudy. The bike's got enough hills to make the run tough, especially for a flat lander like me.

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"What the mind can conceive and believe, the mind and body can achieve; and those who stay will be champions."

We have about 500 athletes signed up for the First Annual Steelhead Triathlon! Over 1,000 volunteers from the local community are ready to work the race. See you all in Benton Harbor/ St. Joseph on Sept. 14th. Z

A buddy of mine did the Lighthouse Triathlon in Grand Haven today (just North of Benton Harbor) and the lake Michigan temperature was 52 degrees-- The weather patterns changed and all the warm water was blown out to the middle of the lake. Doh!

52 degrees is swimmable in a full wetsuit, but your face, hands, and feet will not be happy the first few hundred yards.

On the upside, the air temperature has been beautiful all week.

Just talked to the Coast Guard in Benton Harbor - water temp was 62 this morning! Weather will be nice all week - with good luck we should have 64-66 water temp on Sunday! Z

Hey Marc. Who put on the Windmill? I never heard of it. I was in South Haven for the Lighthouse Triathlon. The water was 54 degress, so Kenny shortened the swim to just 375 meters. :-( I was done in just over 4 minutes, so it was no big deal.

Hi Eric. It must have been the Lighthouse Triathlon. I edited my post to correct it. Not sure what I was thinking. My roommate said you won that race. Congratulations!

Man you're tearing up all the multi-sport events in the Michigan area. My first race this year was the Willow Duathlon (I may have challenged you for the win but the 10 minutes I gave up to you going into the bike proved costly as I followed the group off course and never recovered (Sarcasm intended)). I've been following your race reports on Transition times. Sounds like you're having a great year, congrats.

How long have you been racing, and what's your competative background before triathlon? Seems like you come out in the lead a lot from the swim, and often put time into people on the bike, but you run too fast to call that a weakness.

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"What the mind can conceive and believe, the mind and body can achieve; and those who stay will be champions."

Thanks Jack. It really has been a great year for me. After Willow, Tom Demerly asked me if this year was going to be "Eric Fernando's year." Little did I know that is really was going to be my year. :-) Too bad about your race at Willow.

My background. I swam from a very young age and all through high school (Seaholm) and college (Lehigh). I was decent, not All American or anything. I stopped swimming after college, but started inline skating. I did well at a number of the original Grand Prix Series inline races. I got a mountain bike and ended up racing that for a while. My first multisport event was the Alternative Triathlon at Island Lake, I think in '96. It was a swim/inline skate/mountain bike event. I didn't swim before the race, but still did pretty well. I decided to start running to do 'real' triathlons the next year.

I became, in Tom D's words, an 'overnight sensation' in '99. I was doing really well, with some top bike splits and was fortunate to qualify for Kona at Mrs. T's in Chicago. It was my first IM, my first ride over 100, and my first marathon ever. I got food poisoning on Thursday and suffered through a very long day. This year, I finally get a chance to go back and redeem myself. :-)

Biking has come pretty naturally, not so much with running. I've been working with Michael McCormack for a few years now and been making steady improvements. This year I got serious about my diet and nutrition and peeled off 15-20 lbs. which has helped a lot. My running is still my weakness (relative to Joe Deighan et al), but it's coming around slowly.

As the originator of this post, I too must commend you on your outstanding season, Eric. (and curses that you joined my age group this year).

Nearly every weekend I see you running as I'm finishing my bike and I'm normally impressed with your times on the swim, bike and run. But I guess if you must you could call running your weakness but only because you've got Michael behind you.

Great job in the grand prix series.. you'll see my name about 6 places lower..

Also, good luck at IMH. Will you be at the Steelhead as a spectator?

Thanks Charlie. I'm still getting used to the new age group. ;-) Looks like you had a strong consistent season, great job.

It's really frustrating for me to be running faster than ever, but still give up 30 seconds a mile to Arce and Deighan.

I won't be at Steelhead, I have to finish off the 3 Disciplines Multisport Series at Stony Creek. Gotta love that free lifetime entry to all the events. :-)