Got kicked or punched in the first 100 m, goggles knocked off and filled with water. Stopped to fix that. Washing machine until first buoy (~300m) so just tried to keep moving. Took me until the second buoy to get into a rhythm, as per usual. It was windy and there was a fair bit of chop--a bit of help on the second leg, but on the last leg, it caused problems, pushing us away from the buoy line. Second loop the chop was a little higher. I wasn't feeling like I was having a great swim, despite focusing on my pull, which was my goal. Final leg of the swim, I had my goggles knocked again, filled with water, took a couple lungfuls of water due to chop. The good news was that the chop now was pushing us right towards the swim out :) Ended up just a couple minutes over my goal time, so considering all that, I was happy.

500 meters from swim out to T1. They shoulda taken it off the run course! Other than that, all went smoothly. Oh, except kicking a water bottle out of a cage while getting on the bike.

My biggest goal for this race was to be comfortably uncomfortable on the bike. I wanted a 3 hour split (based on 90km). I have always felt like I hold back too much on the bike, so I wanted to push and see what I could do both here, and on the run after.

The first top loop was good. Along the highway, road is fairly smooth. There was some wind, but able to keep a decent speed. Worked on getting my heart rate down from the rafters by controlling my breathing, and get some nutrition on right away. I changed my nutrition this year a bit to mostly liquid, which seemed to work well.

The end of the top loop, which is also the end of each full loop, is a fast, slight downhill, so used that to my advantage. Passed transition, and out on the bottom loop. There is one descent climb; I hit it a bit harder than I should have first loop, so made a mental note to do it differently on loop two. The backside of this loop is through the wine country, so pretty country. Some rolling hills and a couple of good downhills. Some good crosswinds that required some caution in places. Turn towards to and onto the highway--and a stiff headwind. Tackled it by keeping my cadence around 90 as best I could. It was about 8km before we turned off the highway--still windy, but a bit more protected. Rough sections of roads here, including a short gravel section, to finish the first loop and onto the second, right on pace for a 3:00 split.

Second loop much like the first. Used the slight fast downhill to gain some time, spun up the climb rather than hammering. The headwind on the highway seemed a bit stronger this loop, but that may have been the fatigue talking. Kept on with my plan of 90 cadence, made sure to get my nutrition in, and hit my goal (course was a bit long at 91km, so even a bit better).

All went according to plan. Now just had to see what I had left for the run.

First 3-4 km felt not too bad. Walked aid stations, got ice into my arm sleeves because it was starting to heat up and I knew if I got too hot, I was not going to deal. Promised myself I could walk the turnaround. Took a gel around km 6 which helped a bit. I had a lot of conversations with myself on this run. "How bad do you want to sub-6?" "You can do it; your km splits have not slowed, it just feels like shit" "I have to walk. Okay, walk to the next cone" "Get your ass in gear, or you won't make it".
Got to the turn around and that is always a boost; saw that I had about 1:10 left for 10km and though I could make it happen. At 13km, I told myself "only 8 more km to go. you can do it". But I wasn't sure. Lots more of the same self talk, some crazy thoughts: "I can just sit in that chair and give up" I think I thought about jumping into the rushing water on the far side of the flood gates on the river. Figured at that point it was time to take another gel, but could not get all of it down. At some point I considered crying, but figured that wasn't going to help!
Kept counting down the kilometers; pace had slowed by about one min/km, but I was still mostly running. I promised myself if I sub-6'd I would never have to 'race' again--I could just enjoy the day. More conversations: "I can't do it" "Yes you can". "I have to walk at that cone". "No, you want to walk. If you HAD to, you would already be walking, not waiting til you got to the cone".
Got to 3km left and looked at my watch--I had 20 minutes left. If I could keep it under 7min/km I could get there. "Okay, Ox. Make an excuse, or make it happen. Which is it going to be?" Last km was a minute faster than the previous 3.

My friend with whom I was staying was at the finish line to cheer me on which was lovely. I was leaning over in the finish chute for a few minutes, then wandered a bit until she caught me and gave me a hug. Then she was worried cause I was "clammy" :). She got me a space blanket and some recovery drinks and sat with me for a bit. I did feel like shit, but not any worse than previous races! She stayed with me for about 10 minutes but then had to head out--but sent the paramedics over to check on me LOL. All vitals within normal limits, so all good.


I gave this all I had on this day. Wetsuit tear and wind/chop--super close to my goal. The wind on the bike was really tough and still met my goal. Run was pretty much a miserable mental and physical slog but I won out.


Course is fantastic. Would love to do it with no wind (the sprint and Oly on Saturday had much better conditions, although it was hotter for them). BBQ and beer post race.