I went through the course and despite all of the swim training I have done I kept thinking this is really hard. Had not done much OW training in the last 2 years since I raced but sighting was good so I couldn't figure out why I was breathing hard and thinking despite my interest in doing the Olympic distance how happy I was to only have to go around this course once for the sprint distance instead of twice for the cancelled Olympic race. As I continued to labor and really look forward to getting out of the water I realized in looking at my watch how fast I was going (at least for me). I love my swim time but I must have really been pumped up because I think this influenced the rest of my race.

Slow down some and save HR for rest of race. Sighting was pretty good for the fact that I had not done much OW swimming.

Due to my ankle injury I still wear a brace which took some time to get on. I also wore two pair of sox on one foot due to a recent blister. Even though compared to other racers this is slow I think despite extra stuff I had to do I felt OK about this.

Not much

I just could not get my HR down but due to the shortness of the race instead of the Olympic I was expecting to do it worked out OK. I think due to going hard on the swim I got ahead of a number of people that I had no business being ahead of and they and their sweet bikes took it out on me. I got passed and passed and passed and passed and passed some more. I have a Mountain Bike that I put road tires on but no aero bars or clips on my pedals so even though this wasn't a bad ride for me in hindsight I was so mad about getting passed so much. This really wasn't that bad of a ride for me compared to my training but man - did I mention I got passed a lot!

Put a motor on my bike. I really feel like if I had a tri bike or just a racing bike the I could get my 16mph up to 18-19 mph. I am sure another 30-40lbs lost wouldn't hurt either. I did take it easier at the end to try and get HR down which did happen.

Just got helmet off, running shorts on, take a drink of water and off I go.

Nothing

I am not a runner and losing a lot of training time did not help. That being said I am amazed that I did this under a 10 minute mile. I never run under 10 minute miles. Again I got irritated at the number of people passing me but looking at the time and that I am still carrying 260lbs around I feel good about this. I never felt drop over dead tired where I had to stop and I never felt like I really could have pushed the pace that much harder either. One woman who passed me asked if I was running with ankle weights on. She was looking at my ankle brace. I said no but with all the rain we had during the race I felt like the water being soaked up into the velcro straps made it that way.

When I did races 2 years ago, I got to the run and had nothing at all in the tank. So much so that even on small races I struggled to even do 12 minute miles so for me in a triathlon to get under 10 minute miles - I am thrilled.

I had family there watching the race since my wife and I were in it. My wife started a couple waves after me so she was just starting to run as I finished it maybe 5 minutes later. They weren't expecting me so I come down the chute with them not there. I finish and walk over to them and just stand there until they notice me and they were quite surprised that I was done. I told them that I am just deceptively fast and we had a good laugh. Walked some and ate some pizza, watermelon.


Using too much on the swim and bike. When I went home last night I was so discouraged by all the people that passed me that I wondered if I should be doing this. After seeing the times today and thinking the whole thing through I feel great. I had a very good race for me and at some point I will get a racing bike, lose more weight, train harder and longer and perhaps become more competitive. Even though I had not raced for 2 yrs I follow this sport, read about it and think about what I might be able to accomplish. I felt great to race again and actually feel like the work I have put in paid off. I am scheduled and registered to do the Pleasant Prarie Oly in 3 weeks so hopefully the third time is a charm this year to get it in. Triathlon's are all about people that appreciate the value of enduring and that has what drew me into it and I am excited to continue that in the future. There is still a chance I might do a HIM in September.


These race directors it was apparent were really motivated to put on a high quality race to raise money for Children's Hospital. Mother nature did not cooperate and I felt bad for them. They did a great job and despite the difficulties with the weather I am sure that this will be a great race for years to come.