course was a bit different this year. Turn bouys were hard to see in the water because they were so far out. Race starter kept telling the waves to stay near the boats when you pass the pier (pack kept drifting right, then having to come back left to the bouy).... this helped a lot. After the turn, I got cut off by a boat that was floating in the water --a few of us had to make hard turns around the boat to get back into the main pack.... things were very crowded near the pier.

Time was a bit worse than last year, but I think the distance was longer/closer to the reported distance.

Goal: 15:24 Actual: 13:25 +/-: 1:59 under

Be more careful when I dove into the water. I never dive into the water at the start, but today I did. I then had to swim the 1st 200 with a goggle full of sea water. What was I thinking?

Forgot to hit the lap button when I left T1. Had a bad transition spot this year. Hard to find, no room to maneuver. Slowed everything down a bit. Had trouble getting left foot into pedal before the first hill. Also, I had to walk a ways from the water exit to my spot because it was so crowded with people. That sucked.

Goal: 1:40 Actual: 1:50 +/-: 0:10 over

Get to race earlier to get better spot.

Tried to push it on the bike a bit more this year. Ended up beating last year's time by almost 4 minutes.

Almost died on the first lap downhill. Came around a tight switchback in the shade. Road was still wet. The bike slid to the outside of the turn in about 0.00000036 seconds. Luckily, it regained traction right about the time I figured out what was going on. Didn't leave the road, but I could have.

There were LOTS of crashes this year. Saw the ambulance a few times and there were scads of people bloodied and bruised throughout the course.

I was passed by two people on the bike: one a guy in my age group that ended up beating me by a few minutes overall. The other was a woman that in any other situation would be considered overweight and out of shape. I had passed her on the downhill and she returned the favor on the long flat on the end of the loop. I was passing people easily doing 25mph. She came around me on her aero bars. I ended up passing her when the road started to bend again, but props to her for hammering on the open road.

I keep hoping to get average pace on this race over 15mph, but the hills and turns just keep that from happening.

Goal: 38:24 Actual: 41:30 +/-: 3:06 over

Be more careful on the downhill, push harder on the flats.

Back to the bad transition spot. Had to move people's things so I could rack my bike. Then had no room to get shoes on. Had to stand/sit in the sand to get stuff on. Ended up with lots of sand in the shoes, but didn't have any problem with it on the run (thankfully!).

The one good thing was that my transition spot was right by the bike entry/exit. Required no time to get there.

Goal: 1:28 Actual: 1:22 +/-: 0:06 under

Get there earlier to grab a better spot. Also, need to train without socks to get to the point where I don't need them anymore on sprints.

Mile 1: 7:55
Mile 2: 9:35
Mile 3: 6:13

There is just no way to prepare for this run segment. It certainly tests your will and your physical conditioning. It gets constantly steeper on the way out. By the time you turn, your spirit can be completely broken.

Was passed by probably 2 dozen people today. I thought I'd been doing enough hill training, but apparently not. My pace slowed to a crawl as I got to the turn around. When I turned, I tried to fly, but the legs were shot. Right hamstring was on the verge of cramping/popping. Left shin was screaming. Thought I might ramp up the final few hundred yards, but the legs wouldn't respond.

Comparing times, it shows that I was almost a minute slower on this leg this year. I should have been able to beat that time.

Goal: 22:44 Actual: 23:43 +/-: 0:59 over

Do more hill work. Do more speed work. Find more heart.

Eat some oranges, cheer on my fellow racers, stretch a bit.


Still missing speed work in my training. Plus, need to stretch more regularly. Tight hammie killed my final run.

This was my best race this year in terms of mental state. Was competitive and focused throughout (except for a few minutes there toward the top of the hill on the run).


I still love this race. It's hard, it's well organized, and it has a great atmosphere. It's a great year-end race to see how fit you are.

The roads are more and more potholed, which need to be addressed.

Going in, I wanted to get a top 10 finish in my age group and top 100 overall. I ended up 11th and 63rd overall. I'll take that as meeting my goals. If I hadn't bonked a bit on the run, I could have made both goals.

HRM: 1:54 above, 1:02:47 w\in zone, 2:38 below zone.


Overall Goal: 1:19:22 Actual: 1:21:50 +/-: 2:28 over