My best swim to date. Found someone to draft for segments. They were going slightly faster than me but zig-zagging all over the place. So I drafted when I could. I did not get passed by hardly anyone for a change, and I passed a few people on the last segment. I took aggressive lines at the turns which paid off as I cut inside of some swimmers and then never saw them again.

I think I could have picked up the pace for the 2nd loop.

Always have to pry the suit over my ankles which slows me down. I also twisted one of my helmet straps when I put it on. As I started running with my bike, it felt like it was choking me so I stopped to fix it.

Not twist my helmet strap. Get quicker at getting the wetsuit off.

Started off on the bike feeling a little sick (I think it was the chocolate muffin). It went away after about 5 miles. As I was starting to take my first gel, I hit a bump which caused me to squeeze it and get gel all over myself and the bike. Made for a sticky ride the rest of the way.
I started feeling a little sick again right at the end of the bike. I even did a little dry heave the last time I took a drink. This has never happened at all during my training.

Make sure I have my normal breakfast for race.

No problems here - 3rd fastest T2 in the race.

The sickness I felt at the end of the bike turned into a very bad side stitch for the first 2 miles of the run. Again, never had any issues with this in training so I am attributing it to the imposter breakfast that I had. Once the cramp went away, I started to pick up the pace, but it only lasted about a mile before I just did not have any energy. The last 2 miles were each slower than the prior and I had nothing left in the tank to push it harder. I also did not drink much of anything on the run course, even though I wanted to, but I was afraid the side stitch would return.

Drink more during the run? Don't push so hard on the bike? I really have no answers for this.

The run - which is usually my strongest leg. The side stitch and a lack of energy. I followed the same nutrition patterns for the last couple of Olympics without any problems. The only thing I can think of is the different breakfast that caused it.


HFP always does great races. You find out results almost immediately and is always organized. The post race food could be much better, otherwise, they put on great races.