Swim was measured long. Even the overall winner swam 25 minutes, so it was nowhere near 1500m. I'm guessing 1700.

Got off to poopy start, as I got sandwiched between two slower swimmers and couldn't work past them to hang with the lead pack. By the time I got free, I was bout 10m back from the feet of the lead pack, and there's no way I was going to bridge up them. If I was there, I could hang on for dear life, but no way to catch them.

Guys who blocked me at the start tried to draft off me. I rolled a few times and they dropped off. I would head slightly off course, get them following my feet, then roll back onto course and push a bit. I'm evil. But it worked.

Swam in no man's land for the whole swim. Nobody near me at all, so I didn't get to draft anyone. Ah well.

Not get blocked at the start, be more aggressive in getting in with the lead group so I don't get left.

Fast T1 again. I'm getting pretty good at these. :)

I remembered to fill my aero bottle before the race, so I didn't have to wait and do that. Heh.

Was a little hard to push big watts at the start. Legs took a bit to warm up.

Felt good once I got going. Was passed by only one person on the bike, and that was in the first 2 minutes. Passed a bunch of other people from my AG and the earlier waves.

Pushed hard. I managed to make myself puke again. Was hammering up a hill and took a sip of water, and it came right back up. I guess that means I was working hard enough.

I made it my mission to punish people on the hills. I made sure to pass with a vengeance, attacking on the uphills. Nobody could hang.

Entire workout (214 watts):
Duration: 1:05:06
Work: 835 kJ
TSS: 95.7 (intensity factor 0.939)
Norm Power: 226
VI: 1.06
Avg
Power: 214 watts
Cadence: 88 rpm


Push even more.

Fast T2. Bit of a bunch up coming into T2, but I ran past them all as soon as I hopped off the bike. Heh.

Run is where I'm statistically weakest. I'm not slow, but I don't have a long running background, so pure runners smoke me on this leg. Fortunately, I'm a strong swimmer and biker so I can minimize the damage and hang on during the run.

This run, was the first run, where nobody from my AG passed me ( that I noticed anyway ), and I ran down someone from my AG and passed them. That was a cool feeling.

I negative split the run by 1-2 minutes on the second loop. As I started the second loop, I heard heavy breathing behind me. I decided I wasn't going to get passed, so I picked up the effort. The breathing stayed with me. We started coming up on lap traffic, and I had to weave a bit, but surged a few times cutting through the traffic hoping to stuff the guy hot on my heels. No go, he hung strong. Going up a little hill on the backside of the loop, I surged again and was on the verge of blowing up myself and he was still there.

About 1/4 mile from the finish, there was a slight downhill, as we crested the top I put on another surge and held it a bit longer than the others. I was pushing hard enough that I couldn't even spare the energy to glance back. Decided anything I had, I was giving it, and it would either work and I'd win, or it wouldn't and he'd pass me.

It worked. The breathing faded. However, we weren't done yet, and I couldn't let up. I ran all out the rest of the way in, pushing it all the way. I've never made it hurt quite like that in a race before, and the whole time I was worried that I was going to blow up. But my legs and my heart held out, and I made it to the finish.

Crossed the line still going all out. My finish picture has a grimace instead of a smile. :)

Not much, I ran pretty close my limits.

One of my most satisfying runs in a race, ever.

Walked around a bit, got some water.

Talked to the guy who was chasing me. We congratulated each other on a great run duel. He was gunning for the whole last lap, and said when I made the last surge, he just lost heart and eased off a bit. Told him I was on the verge of blowing up, so if he'd managed to get past me, I probably would have let him go. It was cool. He pushed me, and I pushed him, both of us pushing harder than either of us would have on our own.


Missed the front group on the swim. That would have made my swim a little bit faster. Not much else different.

If the distances were right, this would have been a sub-2:20 oly, so that's the main thing I'm concerned with coming off the race.


This was Running Away Multisport's first year running this race. There were some things definitely to be improved on, but I chalk most of them up to first year experiences. They are a good crew, and put on other successful and enjoyable races, but each venue offers it's own unique challenges. Hopefully they've learned what the ones are for this race, and will carry on the Bigfoot race for years to come.

It's a great venue and course, and I'm hoping to do this race plenty more in future years.