I started in the very back right of the group. Even though i'm one of the slower people I'm learning to start a bit more up front as those who can't or don't swim much freestyle are ahead of me and hard to get around them with some of the wild kicking you see. To get around this I just stayed about 20 to 25 yards left of the buoy line and for the most part didn't have too many issues with traffic though I did get clobbered by 2 people from waves behind me which was shocking since I was so far off the optimal line. Before I knew it we were turning back in towards the final turn buoy and I felt great well too great. Really could've put more effort in here in hindsight but since I haven't put much time into it didn't want to blow up. Got to the end and decided not to use the wetsuit strippers since I already had it down to my waist at that point.

Actually train in water! Only swam 4 times since NJ State 2 months ago and once in open water. Dumb I know but all in all in worked out ok for me.

Feel like I had a good T1. No dizziness or anything from the swim so just in, suit off the legs, socks/bike shoes on and a quick gel and drink of water and off I went. Started off walking out of T1 then decided to job lightly to get my legs going so I would feel a bit warmed up for the bike.

My plan was to take whatever time I needed in the transitions so nothing I'd do different.

I knew this would be the most critical leg for me as I actually have some bike fitness in me but didn't want to blow everything here and stare at a 13.1 mile walkathon. Started out feeling very good plus there was a lot of racers out there with me so allowed me to go with the flow some. After seeing a few bad spills early and some blown tires in the rough patches I ended up taking it easy on the many turns and when the road turned bad. While a good idea in theory use a lot of energy/power getting back up to speed. Was cruising along quite well to the 1st bottle exchange. Tossed my one bottle which was empty and took a water bottle. Who would've guessed it didn't fit well in my bottle holder so went flying out about 1 mile later. I still had a bottle left but wasn't happy about that. I learned at the next exchange that the Perform bottles fit perfectly so took them in so no worries about staying hydrated. Continued along pretty strong (almost 19 mph avg) until about mile 40 when I hit the wall big time. Had a bit of a hill to get up and went to get up out of the saddle to finish it off and boom my left quad seized up on me. From there on out I did my best to manage it but just couldn't wait to get off the bike. Pretty uneventful from there but quite a bit slower than the beginning.

Similar to the swim I need to train much, much more for the bike. I spent some time on this but not nearly as much as most others who are doing this race. Also, don't pay attention to others around me and do my own pace. Felt like I got a bit caught up in the excitement a bit.

As I got off the bike and went to take my first step I realized I had a potentially huge problem. That quad from the bike made each and every step I took excruciating. As I walked very slowly back through transition I started to have DNF thoughts in my head as I wasn't going to walk 13.1 miles. Took about 3 or so minutes trying to stretch and loosen up the leg. Then got my belt on, took a gel and some water and sent what the hell lets run and see how it feels.

Not much I could do as I needed to get my leg feeling capable of running which took some time.

Well as I took my first step I was unsure if it would be my last. Luckily while I could feel the tightness it was allowing me to run which was great. Decided to try and keep what felt like a 9:10 pace which I seemed able to do. Any time I went to pick it up at all I could feel the left quad and a bit of a right hamstring so just said to myself to settle in and don't push it. Decided to run every inch between the aid stations and walk the stations while taking in water/perfrom/coke/fruit/pretzels. This seemed to work quite well and I felt like I was keeping a consistent pace at that point. About mile 4 I'm guessing I started to have some GI distress. I thought it would pass and I stupidly bypassed a bathroom that was right there when it started and almost paid for it. It was about another mile until the next aid station/port a potty so just tried to relax. Up ahead there was a Red Bull truck blasting music and giving out drinks obviously but I was able to focus a bit on the music which got my mind off my belly and I was able to get to the stop and take care of business. Had to wait a minute or two for one to open up plus the time in there which cost me under 6:30 but nothing you can do about nature especially with it being fairly warm and humid I knew it could wreak some havoc with my system. Legs were still feeling about the same meaning if I kept my pace under control I just had to deal with some pain/uncomfortableness but no seizing or major cramps. I maintained the pattern of running about a 1 mile to the next aid station all the way up to about mile 11 I think when an uphill on the one part of the college cause almost every major muscle in my legs to scream NO. For the last 2+ miles I had to make conscious choices on any inclines to either walk or slow down more in order to stay upright. Finally hit the road back in the park and then not long afterwards the 12 mile marker. In my mind 1 more mile seemed logically like a piece of cake but in reality I swear it was really 2 or 3 miles. Felt like I ran forever and still no sign of the last turn to wear the finish path would be. Stopped probably about 12.5 or so and walked for just a bit to calm the legs down as I didn't want to walk through the finish. Someone shouted .3 to go so I just put my head down and got the rest done. Could feel my hammy really saying no more as I got past the line so perfect timing and a real feeling of accomplishment.

I was beat to the say the least so went over and found some friends at the Ryan's Quest tent and hung out for awhile. Got the food but surprisingly wasn't that hungry so just picked and after about an hour somehow got up off the ground and walked back to bike/swim start to get bike and head home.


Well really be able to train somewhat properly for a HIM would be nice but given some other priorities I have chosen and the level of support I get this is really where I am and will be. Already thinking of next year and I'll have to make much better use of the trainer for the bike and actually get in the water to make some improvements. I was already in very good shape to run a stand alone 1/2 Mary probably in the 1:48 range so feel like my run training was sufficient but I need to get to a point that the bike doesn't sap everything out of me.


Race itself was top notch, real organized, GREAT volunteers and well frankly 5 minutes from my house. I know a lot of people will complain about a few streets on the bike course and no doubt they were quite beat up but when you do these things in busy areas like this sometimes life and in this case road construction over the last few months gets in the way. Really hopeful that the race is re-upped again as I want to come back and shoot for 6:00.