The first lap of the swim went exactly as planned. I took things out nice and easy, found a set of feet to jump on and let the person in front of me dictate the pace for the first 350m or so. I then picked up the pace slightly and came back faster than I went out. I was able to jump on another set of feet at the increased pace and hit the short for the start of lap two in 14:04. I knew that I was more than capable of negative spliting the swim so I tried to maintain my effort level while going out on the next leg but I was unable to find someone to draft off of and my left arm started to cramp a bit. This caused some navigation problems for the rest of the swim so although I was swimming faster for all but the final 200m of the swim, I think I went off course a great deal. As I was coming into the final 200m, my right calf started to cramp and I had to stop kicking for a bit to let it relax. When I hit the beach it still hadn't worked itself out so I hobbled up the beach. For the entire swim I was concentrating on swimming relaxed and well below my max effort for the distance, I wanted to hit the beach fresh and ready for the bike.

The two big factors that caused a positive split on the swim were the lack of feet to follow on lap 2 and pulling more with one arm than the other. Next time, prior to dropping someone on the swim I need to make sure that the extra effort won't be wasted. If that person is swimming close to the pace I want to go, I should just keep the effort even and follow them. As far as the pulling, my swim volume was way down for the weeks leading into this event which I think was what resulted in the cramping in my shoulder.

The T1 time was from the beach to the transition area (approx 200m) and the run out to the mount line (approx 200m). Transition went smoothly, out of my wetsuit quickly, no problem with my helmet or glasses and I was running with the bike. I remembered elastics this time, however after the long run to the mount line (over a dirt parking lot - ouch!) one shoe had fallen out and I ended up messing this up again. Cost me a couple seconds with a shoe coming out of the pedals but overall it was still a good transition.

Double elastic the shoes in place!!

I am extremely happy with my bike ride. After getting straighted away with my shoe, I hit the first half of lap 1 nice and easy. I was spinning, getting my breathing under control and waiting for my legs to adjust. I did the first 10km at this effort level and felt really good for the whole thing. On the return trip, I started to jack up the intensity a little, but not too much. I focused on staying relaxed and maintaining a good cadence. I was able to stay aero for most of the first lap, except at one point where my hip flexor started to cramp and I switched to the pursuit bars to get a little different position for a few minutes. The second lap went really well going out but on the return (when I again increased my effort a little more) I really suffered on one hill. My legs felt dead and my speed dropped to around 21km/h - I had to build slowly back up to speed while my legs recovered from that. I finished the bike fairly strong after that hill and managed to pass as many people as passed me while I was on the bike. On the bike I had a bottle with approximately 300cals as well as one gel and a bottle of water and upon hitting transition I had used everything - as per my feeding plan. I spent most of the second lap of the bike telling myself that a good bike sets you up for a strong run - don't overdo it - just keep it nice and steady.

I need to spend more time on the bike - the hill that killed my wasn't huge - just my endurance let me down a little.

T2 time includes the 200m run back to transition (again dirt parking lot) and out onto the course. This transition was efficient and I was on the run in no time.

Nothing.

The run did not go as smoothly as I had hoped. I was running too fast off the bike (4:51/km) but I noticed this with the first split and put my effort in check. The next 3km went pretty smooth with a steady pace and fairly even HR. I felt strong at the turnaround and started to pick up the pace a little (either the distance between 4-5 was wrong or I really picked up the pace - 4:43/km) and then I set out to maintain this. I did the next 3km fairly well but by the end of 8km I was really starting to suffer. Between 8-9 I started to feel really bad. I was barely running and was having a really hard time maintaining any type of speed at all. After passing the 9km mark, I started pushing, but still couldn't really get any speed until the finish line was in sight. At this point I dropped the hammer as much as I could and finished the race. I thought I was going to fall over at the finish line as they were removing my chip, but I manged to stagger to the tent and get some water and bannanas.

I need to spend more time building endurance. I felt really solid up to the final 2km and then I was toast. I think my pacing on the swim and bike was almost right, but I still did run as well as I would have liked.

Walked, stretched, ate, drank.


Hitting the wall at the 8km mark of the run. I think some more swim volume would have helped lower my swim time or at least saved effort. More long rides on the bike to build endurance and more runs for speed and durability.


My goal at the beginning of the season was to finish this tri in under 3 hours. As my training and season progressed, I changed my goal to sub 2:50, then sub 2:45. Going into the event I figured a good day would see me break 2:40. Finishing in 2:40:35 was a huge accomplishment and I am very proud of how this race went. This distance was much harder than I anticipated and much more humbling.