Well, I started out he swim with a rather botched attempt at bilateral breathing which ended up with me getting a few mouthfuls of water. So after all was said and done I reverted to the way I swam through most of my training. I also had trouble getting into the groove at first as I was trying to get my sighting down. By the time I got everything down I had lost my golden opportunity to draft. So, I just settled into a good rythm and every once in awhile I would see an orange cap or someone stopping to figure out where the next buoy was. I new this water pretty well so I just picked out my landmarks above the bouys and swam towards them. I picked landmarks because the waves got big enough that the Buoys would disappear so I found hills easier to sight off of until the buoy was close. The waves got pretty big at times in the second half and I looked forward to when we could round the buoy and swim with the waves back into Butcher Jones. Anyway, the swim wasn't too far off of my pr so that isn't too bad (still a lot of room for improvement though). All in all I had enough energy left to run up the beach. So in essence, started out kind of goofy, didn't have a major first OWS in an event freakout (which was good), and I actually managed to have some energy left after the swim.

Try not to lose a month of training to sickness 2 weeks before the event. Do some more speed training in the pool.

This was kind of a funny transition as we had to leave the bikes overnight and I had to leave everything in a bag. This meant time lost to sorting things out and various other things. Putting the top on wasn't any big deal so I think the swimming without the top wasn't a bad idea. Everything else went smoothly. Just need to hustle a little more I think.

Hustle, perhaps figure out a way to lay everything out a little better the night before (ie bring a headlight to avoid having to lay everything out in the dark)

I knew this was a hilly course before going into it so that wasn't a surprise. The big surprise came from having to keep my heartrate down. I couldn't keep it down in the correct zone for some reason. I stayed between 85% AND 90% almost all the way. My bike times were the best of the three. I passed quite a few people (who were better swimmers than me) who would later pass me in the run. I ended up with an average speed of 15.1 which isn't bad for me on this course. Towards the end though I was starting to fade. I probably should have tried to save a little for the run.

Maybe try to save a little more for the run. Definitely drink more, I think I didn't overhydrate enough in the second half and it hurt me in the run.

This transition wasn't bad. They took your bike and stuff and gave you your run bag. I took some Hammer Gels and water here.

Nothing

Well, here is where I really lost ground really. After climbing to the top of the climbs I was shot. I could run downhill but not very fast and if it wasn't downhill I had to run walk. I had a brief energy burst after the drink stop by the highway but by the time I got down to the tunnels I was about shot again. I walked up the road and started running again when it went downhill. From water users on I was a hopeless case and was starting to breakdown. I just hoped I made it to the finish line before I completely lost it. Around the corral area I started to get chills which wasn't good but I knew the finish line was just around the corner so I used my last little bit of energy to run around the corner and through the finish line. Then it was time to chug gatorade and eat cold pizza.

hydrate better on the bike. Include more steep run training earlier in the game.

Mmmmmm, gatorade and Pizza.


I'll be back. I think a race like this was a bit of a big bite to chew at this point seeing as I had only one pretty easy sprint before this. I enjoyed most of the day even if I was the last Clydesdale in. I should have just gone with my age group as I would not have been last, I would be four up from last. I think due to the extreme nature of this course that the field was pretty competitive (OK, that might be an excuse, but it is the only thing keeping motivated to do another one at this point so it works for me!). Overall I gave it everything I had and it was good to see what I could do. It was a push yourself to the limit kind of day.