I started out nice and easy with no real urgency to fight for a spot since the swim was pretty spread out from the get-go. Focused on staying relaxed and keeping my stroke long and fluid. The only frustrations with my swim were that 1) I never found someone to draft off of and 2) I ran into at least on guy that figured if I was too close to him he should stop his own swimming to shove me out of his way!! I just kept swimming and left him in the dust. My navigation was pretty good but seeing as how I never felt like I was in the high traffic lane I wonder if I was on the most direct line? Oh well, overall it was a good swim (especially since it was my first ocean swim) and another 1.5 minutes faster than my last ½ swim.

Look for a closer line - not stray so much..

I ran through the “showers” to rinse and followed the LONG path back to transition from the water’s edge. No wetsuit strippers here so I had to deal with that in T1 but didn’t have any major issues…

Not much..

Ran out of transition and went to mount up only to have another idiot run around me and try to get on his bike right in front of me… I took off with a plan of focusing on cadence and keeping my nutrition in line. I knew the course was flat and I did not want to get lured into going too hard. Settled into a nice 92rpm cadence and went. I got to the rougher paved areas of the course and was wishing I had a “tighter” cluster on the disk (I will have a 12x21 for IMFL) so I could make smaller adjustments to my gearing. On the way back towards the beach a bit of a headwind began but I just stayed in my cadence and rode on (the hours spent riding alone in the flat windy farmlands outside St. Louis was paying dividends). I let a few folks I my age group go blowing by me and had to resist the urge to hang with them all the while knowing that I would a) race my own race and b) see most if not all of them later on the run!! Finished up the bike in O.K. fashion all the while drinking my Cytomax/Sustatined Energy mixture and hitting my gel flask from time to time. Since I had some cramping issues at Great Floridian, I adjusted to 2 Endurolytes every 40 minutes or so. This may have helped as I did not cramp at all…all day!

Get a tighter cluster on the rear disk...less gap between gears for less dramatic shifts in cadence....

Took too much time here but had a brief potty stop - not lacking for hydration apparently!! On went the run hat, the belt and a quick swip of Cytomax and out of T2 with a very nice feeling in my legs.

Buy a gel pouch for my Endurolytes....easier then stuffing them in the back of the jersey.....

I planned to start out the run at about 8:45 – 9:00 pace and see if I could descend to 8:45- 8:15 pace later when the other folks around me would be slowing down.. Those plans had to be immediately adjusted as my first two miles clicked by at 7:58 and 7:57. I knew that I needed to control my run or I would pay for the current pace later as I learned from a standalone ½ marathon last fall. The next two miles saw me knock the pace back to a sustainable range from 8:38-8:50s. I made it onto the stretch of road running towards the state park before I ran into my traveling partner. He had started ahead of me but I was surprised to see him still running given his hip injuries. Into the park I ran past the blacked out turnaround sign on the road for IMFL and tried to imagine the feelings to come in Nov. As we approached the last couple of miles I realized that my “secret” goal of 5:15 was within pretty easy reach so I focused on keeping things under control so I could leave PCB with a new 1/2IM PR and feeling really good about the course, etc. for Nov. It was at this point I got to thinking too much and lost some focus and ran my only mile of the day over 9 minutes during mile 12! This turned out to be the ONLY disappointing thing about the entire race! Oh well, glad find out that this was the worst (and maybe only) tactical error of the day. I missed the chance to run across the line with my daughter who was back in St. Louis but I envisioned the feeling of making that same trip in Nov. with her in tow, in the dark and I now have a focus point to keep with me as IM training gears up. Whenever things get tough later in the year I will have that mental image to spur me on!

Focus on maintaining the pace even longer...less clock watching.

I had some typical post-race grub (bananas, oranges, water and a quick beer!). I will say that the most disappointing aspect of this race was the post-race atmosphere and food spread. There was a very limited variety of food and the food that was available was over in a tent 75 yards + away from the finish line so the finish area did not hold an overwhelming reason to hang out and watch others. This race turned out to be a GREAT practice run for IMFL this November.


Not much, maybe some mental toughness late in the race. I may have been too cautious in order to maintain a positive outcome.....


Looks like the training and time has paid off…especially given that I couldn’t run until March 1st due to a severely sprained ankle that my doc described as potentially “career ending”. I’d planned my race and raced my plan and shattered my stated goal of a new 1/2IM PR and in the meantime came within 19 seconds of my secret goal of 5:15…Moral of that story is “Don’t think so F-in much next time”!
This race turned out to be a GREAT practice run for IMFL this November. I finished with a nice consistent ½ marathon that fell just 3 minutes short on my standalone ½ marathon PR and definitely left PCB feeling like I was better aware of what the course is like and that given a controlled and focused effort I am on the right track for a successful race in November…
All things considered it was a very well run race in a very unique environment and an excellent “practice run” for bigger things to come. Special thanks go out to Sister Madonna for her calming conversation pre-race, my friend and traveling companion Mason for an all around safe and successful adventure.