At the start of the swim I was towards the back of the wave, which ended up being a mistake because I got caught behind several slower swimmers. The navigation was tough because the buoys were very small, and the wind blowing the rain across the water made for poor visibility. I basically navigated by following the swim caps in front of me (ours were bright yellow). I slowed a bit about a third of the way in after getting kicked in the groin (ouch!) but after a few minutes I was able to pick up the pace again. Two thirds of the way through we started passing folks from the wave in front of us (who had a 3 minute head start) which made me feel great so I picked up the pace a bit before hitting the beach. Considering that I was not pushing hard until the last few hundred yards, I was pleased with my average pace.

Start closer to the middle of the pack.

T1 included a 1/3 mile uphill trail run through the woods, then a 100-yard dash across an open field to the transition racks. I had left my flip-flops near the beach and wore them for the hike through the woods, then took them off and sprinted barefoot across the field. Once I gtt to my rack my transition went very well. Once again I had my shoes already clipped into the pedals, so I was able to run out to the road (through the mud) pretty easily.

If I do this race again, I'll bring another pair of shoes which are easier to do trail running in than my flip-flops. I noticed that several other athletes had a specific pair of shoes for just this segment.

Before the race my coach had asked me to do the bike leg at a moderate pace (18mph), but with the long climbs are steep downhills I found it easier to focus on bringing my average HR down during the ride. Along the way I had a few mishaps, dropping my chain three times and losing a water bottle. Towards the end, my legs started feeling a bit heavy and cold, so I tried to focus on picking up my cadence a bit to get the blood pumping.

I can try and fine tune my front derailleur to avoid dropping the chain, but I also need to remember to shift a little more slowly instead of jamming the shift lever back and forth.

T2 went pretty well, especially since I had left my running shoes in my transition bucket, so they were nice and dry. I took the time to put on the wristband for my Garmin and grab the unit off my bike, so I could keep track of my HR and pace during the run.

At the start of the run my legs felt great and I was able to maintain a steady pace, but after a few miles my stomach started bothering me. I had to walk/run through the middle part until my stomach calmed down, and I was then able to run the last few miles.

I need to spend more time figuring out what I can eat on the bike that won't upset my stomach on the run, as this was the second time that taking a gel on the bike came back to haunt me.

Walked around until my HR came down, then packed up my stuff and hung out with the Landry's folks before heading home.


Given all the challenges I faced today (weather, mechanical problems, GI trouble) I was glad to have finished the race, but I was surprised by how much further back in the pack I was compared to the sprint races earlier this year.