My goal for the swim was pretty simple - I wanted it to go decently, and it did. My swim is my worst event, and I would describe my swim skills as adequately mediocre. I was expecting a 53min swim (~2:30 pace), and came in well below that, so I am very happy with the result.

I held towards the back of the wave, and waited about 30 seconds after the start to get moving. I didn't want to get plowed over by the fast folks.

Sighting for the second leg was a joke, even in tinted googles. The second leg went due east, directly in to the rising sun, so the best I could do was follow the splashes ahead of me and hope those folks knew what they were doing.

Towards the end, I did get passed by a few folks in the later waves, but that was pretty much expected.

Nothing. Very happy with the swim. A good result.

T1 went pretty well. Wetsuit got stuck on my heels, and I had forgotten to apply bodyglide to my calves, so oh well. I really should trip down my wetsuit just a bit on my ankles. I also put socks and shoes on and had a gel and some water. I tend to not worry about transition times, so it was as expected.

Good transition overall.

4,200 feet of climbing, including a 7 mile slog. There probably isn't 100 feet of flat anywhere on the course.

I ran a 50/34 compact with an 11-28 cassette, and it was barely enough. I did not put a food down, which is good, but beyond that, those climbs are just brutal.

Kept my heart rate in check since my powermeter wasn't cooperating for various reasons. I don't think my HR went above 162, which is high zone 3. My goal for the bike was to have a solid bike, and I did. I spent most of the race thinking about the run, with a focus on having a great run.

One thing I did focus on was to keep spinning, always. I was surprised by how many people stop spinning on the downhills, which seems silly as I think about it. Spinning helps clear the lactic acid from the legs, and it's an easy place to pick up speed. I might loose 3 or 4 places on the climb, from people who are working harder than I wanted to work, but I would leapfrog them during the descent, while maintaining a zone 2 HR effort during the entire climb and descent. I was able to spin out my compact crank on a few of the descents, but that just comes with the decision to run the compact. I spent probably 10x as much time in the 34x28 combination as the 50x11.

Gearing - the 50/34 and 11-28 - was appropriate for this course.

I was happy with it. This race was my first 70.3 distance race, so playing it conservatively was the plan from the get-go. I executed according to plan.

T2 went smooth, no problems. Getting my shoes laced took a moment, but I was happy with it.

The run went well. I was aware that the run course was hilly, but that really isn't a great description. The run course is either up or down, and never flat. I did walk up some of the steeper grades.

The goal was to negative split the run, which I did, with the 3 legs paced at 10:30, 10:10, and 10:01.

The *worst* part was the last hill, which comes right around mile 12. It's an absolute monster, with a heavy grade. If I run this course again, I'm going to write "It ain't over yet" at the bottom of it, and maybe "Abandon hope all ye who enter." It just took the wind out of my sails and left me hopeless. I was hoping to run sub-6:30, and that hill just crushed that hope and stopped it into submission.

Overall, the run went great. My previous stand-alone, flat HM PR was 2:01, so ro run a 2:14 on this roller coaster course was good execution.

Came across the finish line, grabbed a cold towel and a bottle of gatorade, and set the timer on my watch for 45 minutes, and kept walking around. From previous experience, I knew that would be about how long it would take me to get to the point where I could eat real food. Had a burger and a hot dog, relaxed, kept walking. Watched my friend come over the finish line and packed up for the day.


Overall, this race was a 9/10. My decisions were good and I executed according to plan.