While we were standing around waiting for the gun to go off, my feet started itching and I looked down and saw that I was STANDING IN AN ANT BED! This would come back to haunt me the next day, but fortunately I forgot about it as soon as the gun went off.

In general the swim was quite pleasant. I ended up with some pretty bad bruises from getting punched/kicked, but it didn't bother me at the time.

Nothing, except don't stand in an ant bed.

The transition area is in a grassy area not too far from the swim exit and bike start.

My transitions were SO slow. Part of the problem is that I was putting on double-layer socks, which I needed for the run to prevent blisters. It's hard to put those on wet feet.

The water in this county tastes absolutely horrible. There were two water bottle handups on the bike. You would think by that point I would be so thirsty that I could drink anything, but is still tasted just awful!

I was having some saddle issues, so I was never really comfortable on the bike. That definitely slowed me down some.

On the bike I had 125 ounces of fluids, and 920 calories in the form of 2 servings of accelerade, 3 servings of gatorade, a clif bar, and 2 packs of GU. I also popped four Endurolytes.

There was a gang of motorcycles that rode by at one point during the first half of the bike course. That wasn't exactly pleasant, but at least they didn't come too close to me.


More Endurolytes. I think have fixed my saddle problems with the Terry Butterfly Tri.

My bike split was a little slower than expected, probably because I was treating it as a joy ride.

I did not have my act together when I arrived into T2. I almost rode over the transition zone line, and then I almost fell down when I dismounted.

My other problem was that I was wearing an extra pair of bike shorts to partially make up for my saddle problems. I forgot to take them off, and ended up running part of the run with them on.

Everyone on the course was suffering from the heat. Just for comparison, my pace in this race was 11:30, and a few months earlier I had run some half marathons with a 9:20-9:30 pace.

I was really sick of gatorade by the end. I think next time I'll try more gel & endurolytes rather than gatorade.

Free post-race massages.
Pizza, cookies, etc. at the finish line.


The heat. Saddle problems on the bike.


This was a great race. First off, I just want to say that this was a great race. The volunteers were extremely encouraging and cheerful, the organization was great, the course was well-marked, and for once, the t-shirt is actually attractive and it fits me. Even the free pasta dinner exceeded my expectations. The swim course was a little short, but I'm not complaining about that.

I said at the beginning that it was 97 degrees, but that was with the heat index. I don't remember what it was without the heat index. It was sunny & humid.

Swag: t-shirt, a finisher's mug, the pre-race dinner, power bars and hammer gel.

There is a 24-hour Walmart Supercenter within 1 mile of the resort area in case you forget something. There is also a pretty good little expo where you can buy tri apparel if you forget that.