For me a very good swim. This was over 6 minutes faster than my only other 1/2 and if I wasn't concerned about the rest of the race and the heat could've been a few minutes faster probably. I was able to stay about 10 yards off the buoy line so pretty much out of traffic (was only clobbered once in the head) and mind my own business. I had just purchased a new sleeveless wetsuit that I used for the first time here (I know don't do anything new on race day but way too hot for a full suit) and it was awesome as I really liked the feel of more freedom for my arms.

Like usual push harder but that wasn't really the plan given the heat so can't complain.

I knew it was going to be a long day and part of the walk out is through sand and stuff so I took my time, probably too much, in order to get my feet good and clean and dry, hydrate as I took a bike spot on the inside end so I had a cooler over on the grass next to transition with ice and drinks so I was able to keep my drinks cold.

Move it a little as it is a race!

Since I had not been able to put nearly as much time as is needed for a 1/2 on the bike in training I made a conscious decision to not push this at all but to conserve energy for what was sure to be a miserably hot run. Again only other 1/2 I had done I completely ruined myself on the bike and had absolutely zero left going into the run and didn't want to do that again. Since this is a much smaller event than the WTC 1/2 I had done it was almost like a training exercise as for long stretches no one was around. I don't think this helped me at all as I rarely if ever had targets in front of me to either catch or hang on to so I know my mind wandered quite often where I wasn't putting in enough effort. I'm sure this cost me some time maybe even 10 to 15 minutes but in the end as I neared the end of the bike I felt like I was good on hydration and nutrition and my legs weren't making a peep.

Probably not much as my run paid off which was the plan. Well I guess ride more than 250 miles in training for a 1/2 would be something to do differently!

Took my time and even with that still forgot to reapply body glide which did cause some pretty undesired effects in the nether regions. That's a lesson that won't be forgotten anytime soon.

Hurry up!

So I ended up having a top ten run time so hard to argue with the rest of the plan as it was real hot. The running through the sand in parts I was not a big fan of plus I would've given a leg for a port-a-potty at one point but otherwise I was able to keep a steady 9 minute pace and just try and put everything else out of my mind. Legs really never gave me any problems just hard to keep breathing and energy together given the heat as it was pretty miserable.

Nothing as this was a great run for me on an incredibly tough day.

Had to get going so not much. Took some drink/food from my cooler before packing up and heading out.


I guess I could've reversed strategy and hoped for the best by pushing on the bike and trying to hold on for the run but it was much more enjoyable to be able to run it all the way out vs. the struggle I had in Princeton a few years ago where it was more walk than run the last 5 miles.


For once my plan worked well and by conserving energy in the water and on the bike I was able to have a good run in tough conditions. Would like to be better training on the bike so that I could push more as there is plenty of time to be saved there.