I hopped into the water with my wave (1/3 of my age group) and started floating around. I positioned myself towards the center of the river about halfway back in the crowd. I could already fell the current while we waiting on the gun. Once the start was sounded I just started swimming. It was a little crowded at the beginning but there was minimal contact. After a few hundred yards I found some clear water and just started chugging along. There was some sort of vegetation that was growing up from the bottom that I saw occasionally and twice had a loose piece of it get stuck on my face. The first time kind freaked me out but the second time I just turned my head and it floated off. Aside from that the river was the perfect place to swim. About half way I noticed I had been swimming next the same guy for most of the way and decided to give drafting a try. I swung in behind him and stayed there for most of the rest of the way. I have no idea if it helped or not but I'm pretty sure it did not hinder. Before long I looked up and saw the finish buoy and headed for the exit. I swam till I could see the bottom and stood up and walked out.

Not much. I was very happy with the swim.

Got my wetsuit down to my waist and let the wetsuit strippers to the rest, they were awesome! alternated walking/jogging the rest of the way to my bike. The trek from swim exit to the bikes was pretty long and I did not want to expend too much energy yet. Got my bike stuff on no problem and headed to the exit. Uneventful.

Could have run more, but made the decision not to.

Hopped on the bike and headed out of town. There was a slight headwind but this part of the course was fairly flat so I was trucking along at a nice clip. I don't have my computer display speed so I don't stress about it, but I felt like I was going pretty fast. Everything was nice and smooth for the first 1/3 of the course. I few small rolling hills and a fairly constant headwind. I kept my HR under my target and got passed by a lot of people. I'm not quite sure where they all come from since I was in one of the later waves but they kept cruising by.
After turning off Atomic Rd. was the first real climb. This road was pretty bumpy and I saw lots of water bottles on the ground but I did not have any issues with mine. I shifted down and just spun up the hill. This was my MO for all the hills. The next 1/3 of the course was along these lines. Lot of decent sized rollers. Always going up or down. Never doing either one for long. I still manged to keep my HR around my target so I was happy. Finally started passing some people, not a lot but some.
Last 1/3 of the course was mostly down hill. There are still some climbs but some pretty fun and fast descents. According to my Garmin I ht 42 mph around mile 46! The last few miles back into town were pretty flat and I eased off to get ready to for the run.
The aid stations were well stocked and the volunteers were very helpful and friendly! My thanks to all of them!

More tempo training. More time on the bike.

T2 went smoothly. Got my bike racked, helmet off and shoes changed. Grabbed my hat and race belt and put them on on the way out. There were a lot of empty porto potties near the exit so I took the time to use one. I then headed out on the run.

Nothing

I was dreading the run. I am not a good runner and 13.1 miles is a long way!
I was feeling pretty good coming off the bike and knew the key was to keep my HR where I had trained. I figured Pace Be Dammed, just keep that HR stable and I'll finish!
Headed out onto lap 1 and things were going well. I was feeling good and moving along a decent clip. The HR was stable right where I wanted it to be. I knew I could not keep my current pace up but did not worry about it. The first couple of miles were very uneventful. I almost broke down in tears a few times realizing I might actually finish this thing. Saw my Wife around Mile 3 for the first time and that was really awesome. Saw here again around mile 5 and 6. The course is very compact and very easy for people to move around and see you a lot. around the half way point, there is a small uphill but I was still feeling good at that point. HR was still holding steady and my pace was still holding steady.
Then I hit lap 2. The trek up Green street is a little under 2 miles and thing just got steadily worse for me in those 2 miles. I think it was all mental because my HR and pace were still very constant but I just started feeling really crappy and worn out. Around mile 9 my knees and legs started to hurt and I was going to dark places in my mind. I just kept plodding along knowing there was no way I could quit now. I had put too much in! Passed an the aid station around mile 11 and said to my self one foot in front of the other and you will make it. Completing these last 2 miles was a force of will. I really wanted to just stop, but keep the feet moving. Finally around mile 12.5 I saw my wife again and she told me I was almost there! I kicked it into high gear and crossed the finish line!
Once again the aid stations and volunteers were awesome! Could not have asked for more.

Lots more run training.

Wandered around, ate some pizza, drank a coke. Met up with my Wife and headed out to collect all my stuff.


Training. I finished in right at my estimated time so I did all my training would allow.


I really enjoyed this race! The course was well laid out and well marked. There were tons of volunteers and they all did a great job! Highly recommend it.