I know, I am a lousy to average swimmer. I have accepted that. So no real surprises here.

Nothing really.

Not a bad transition. Should have sprayed down my ankles but forgot.

A fast course lots of rolling hills. They are frequently spaced so you can fly down one and back up the other.

I started out telling myself relax, take it easy, don't go nuts...I did that for about the first half then I decided it looked like mostly downhill on the way back so I threw caution to the wind and hammered. Really stupid thing to do. I was also trying to catch up to my friend Christine who wasn't too far ahead. never caught her though.

About the half way point i started noticing that my stomach was feeling kinda bloated and I was pretty full even though i hadn't consumed an unusual amount of nutrition...

Used the Injinji toe socks to try and eliminate my blister issues. They take much longer to put on. I think they worked wonderfully! The only draw back is the time it takes to put them on. I think it's worth it.

OK, this is where my race really collapsed. The pushing on the bike, the bloated stomach and the bad ass hills smoked my butt quickly.

Not sure what happened on the nutrition side but the only thing I did differently was I used Orange Hammer gel for the first time throughout. Really seemed like I wasn't digesting anything it was just sitting in my gut sloshing around. Since I wasn't really getting proper nutrition, cramping and the beginning stages of bonking were really a problem.

Go easier on the bike but I don't know how much different it would have turned out.

Nutrition, preparation for the very hilly run course.


Good local race. If you do it plan on big hills in your run training.