I took it easy at the start. I didn't feel as bad as I did in the sprint. I tried staying on a good pair of feet at the start, but couldn't maintain the pace. It was weird watching the bulk of my wave just pull away like I was standing still.

It wasn't long until the next wave caught up with me. My private lake suddenly got crowded. Somebody obviously like my pace, because it seemed like the entire swim I had somebody on my feet. It was another aquabike participant.

The finish arch stayed inflated so I was actually able to see it as I was heading in. I agree with someone who said in their RR that they should have used the bigger Clif Bar arch instead.

The only good thing about the rain and overcast was that we weren't blinded by the sun when swimming east.

I hadn't really trained enough for the distance, so more yardage would have helped. But since I was treating this more as a long training day then a race, I can't really complain.

The wetsuit came off much better then it did in the sprint. I was able to stay standing through out the transition. I guess when I'm not so amped up as I was in the sprint, I can get the wetsuit off easier.

Having never raced this distance before I started out at a fairly easy pace. The first part of the course is very hilly. What was hard to get used to was the number of people passing me, and trying to stay out of packs. There was a lot of drafting going on, and people making illegal passes. I had passed one guy on the first hill, and moved back over to the right. He starts yelling at me. I yelled right back that he was supposed to drop back. A great start to my quasi-half iron debute.

I was very tentative in the early stages of the ride. I didn't know the course once it went off the route that sprint uses. I was never quite sure what to expect going around the corner. Marsh Hill was as bad as I thought it would be. I owe thanks to the guy who was encouraging people as we climbed the hill. He kept saying things like, "take it easy, you can do it. Only a little more to go." I was glad to have my 25.

When I saw the 10 mile marker I thought to myself "OMG I still have 46 miles to go?" Fortunately the course started flattening out so I was able to get my breathing and HR under control. I didn't have my HRM on, but I could tell how I was feeling.

I was inspired by these two guys in the 65-69 age group who I kept playing leap frog with on the bike. I sure hope I can be riding that strong in 13 years. The 1st guy eventually got ahead me for good. The other guy, and I continued to trade places during the latter 1/2 of the bike.

I tried to make sure I was drinking enough. I had my sipaway bottle in my water bottle cage, and my profile bottle on the aerobars. This gave me two hands-free drinking options. I actually managed to grab a bottle at one of the aid stations and pour it into my profile bottle. Thanks to who ever recommended a shower puff to replace the mesh. That really worked well.

As I got to around the 50 mile mark the sun had burned through the clouds. It was getting rather warm, and I was thankful I did not have to run. I was able to crank it up at the end. I had a lot more in the tank then I thought.

Drive the course before hand. On a short race or one that's not too technical you can get away not previewing the course. This course needs to be driven over to know what to expect after coming around some of the corners.

Walked around a bit, rinsed mud off in the lake, and made a bee-line to the massage tent. I wanted to beat the crowds.


Racing the sprint the day before. :) Not previewing the bike course.

I was not racing this per se, but after looking at the results and seeing that I was less then 3 minutes from top 5, I wish I had pushed a little harder.


Once again a great weekend from Keith Jordan and his crew. If I should decide to make the 1/2 iron plunge this would be the race.