This is my first year racing in triathlons, and I have discovered that I'm an incredibly slow swimmer. I swam my first HIM, Timberman in August, in 48 minutes, and I was much better trained for that, so my performance here was not a surprise. This course seemed more crowded, and I didn't like the weeds in the shallow water, but otherwise it was fine.

Plan to work on my technique for next year, since this is why I am so slow...

Despite having gone prior to the swim, I had to use the bathroom again and decided to do it here, rather than tough it out on the bike. That, along with having to pack up my wetsuit because of the clean transition area rules likely led to my high T1 time.

The bike is generally my strongest event, and combined with my terrible swim pace, I'm used to passing a lot of people. I managed to jump 96 spots in my AG, so this race was no different. I'd averaged 19 mph at Timberman with all of the hills, so I was looking forward to this course improving on that. The first half of the course was great; I averaged 20 mph and felt great. Unfortunately, the second half was rough! The road was mainly paved with bumpy asphalt, and the wind had picked up and was largely coming in as a head or crosswind. Mentally, it was very tough, as I watched my average pace continue to plummet.

Short of buying a more aerodynamic bike, I'm not sure I could have done much differently...

I was very demoralized coming off of the rough second half of the bike course. That, combined with the fact that I fall apart running in heat, and it was HOT, I was not as motivated as usual to push myself through T2.

Generally, I'm a fairly strong runner, but unfortunately, that doesn't hold up when it's hot out, so I knew this was not going to go well. I ran the first 3M, but then walked for a bit before running out the rest of the first lap. The second lap was ridiculous, and it was a mix of running and walking. I was consuming ridiculous amounts of liquid, but I didn't care because I was so hot. Luckily, this seemed to help, and I pulled myself together for the final lap and actually began passing a lot of people.

I've been running for years, and cannot seem to get past crashing in the heat, so there's not much I could have done. I actually had a lot of kick left in the end, so I was in shape to push myself much harder if the conditions had been different, but you have to work with what you are given...

I was not in the mood for a chopped beef sandwich, so I just grabbed a banana and ice cream before heading out...


Rough roads, wind and the heat!!!


The race volunteers were great, and with different weather, the course would have been fine, so overall, a decent race, but I don't plan to travel all the way to TX to do it again.