I'm still not a good swimmer but improving. Felt comfortable in the water but did have a lot of bumping going on. Tried to draft when I could. They only had 5 buoys for the course and sometimes it was hard to see them. I was 6:13 faster than last year on same course.

Try to draft a little more.

After getting out of the water it was a 1/4 mile uphill run to transition area. You had to take your running shoes with you and throw them on after the swim. Getting into transition I put on my breath rite strip, bike socks and shoes, shirt, dew rag and helmet, sunglasses and gloves and off I went. I took a little longer than I should have but I wanted a comfortable bike ride. I was :03 slower than last year.

Shouldn't have worn the gloves or changed the socks.

It was getting hot already and hills were taking there toll on the fast women swimmers that had passed me in the water. I was picking off people easily with lots of hills going out. Played a little cat and mouse with 4 different riders. Took a bottle of water at the turn around and came back into about a 5 mph headwind. I was getting a little pain in the right knee so I took my cadence down a little. I got some good speed on all the downhills we had to climb on the way out. 5 miles to go, took a gel and started getting mentally prepared for the run.

I think I went a little to hard on the bike again. I need to save some for the run. I just felt so good on the bike to pass it up. I was :18 faster last year on the same course with no headwind.

Once again changed into running socks from bike socks, helmet and dew rag off and sweatband on. Grabbed a last drink and off I went.

Should have only used 1 pair of socks for the entire race instead of 3. I was :18 faster last year.

The 1st mile was perfect. I was on my 8 min pace with a 7:55. Legs felt good. 2nd mile dropped to a 8:16 but was still close to the pace I trained. Then the bottom dropped out. I was so overheated and my heart rate was to high. Stopped at mile 3 in 10:13 and drank 2 cups of water, grabbed an ice pack and 2 cold sponges, and took a gel. Mile 3 to 4 was a nightmare. I was halfway through this mile and my left hamstring cramped. I bent over to stretch it and when I stood up it cramped again. I couldn't even walk. I thought I was done. Stretched it one more time and stood up and it cramped again. I hauled off and hit it as hard as I could with my fist and it released. Mile 4 was at 10:27 with more water, a sponge and an ice pack. I got where I could run fast for awhile then walk just a second and got through mile 5 in 8:58. Struggled through mile 6 in 9:35 and then in survival mode sprinted out the last .2 to the finish line. As bad as the run went, I was still 3:55 faster than last year but the run lost me an AG spot on the podium. I figure I lost over 7 minutes from what I had trained.

Train in the heat more. It was really hot when we finished. I thought I had enough electrolytes when I started but was sadly mistaken. I had loaded up all week on salt, potassium and magnesium.

Cold towel, 3 bottles of water with heed mixed in, cold shower to cool down.


The heat and the cramping. Maybe this being the 4th race in 4 weeks had taken it's toll on my body.


Race Day Events did a good job on this race this year. They had a lot of volunteers on the course with plenty of drink stations. They were a little slow getting started but after that everything seemed to go smoothly. I had planned to just run this as a long training day but I got caught up in the moment and couldn't resist the urge to compete. Seeing the times and knowing what I know now, I would have run this race differently. But overall I'm happy with the results, I was 9:30 faster than last year, and it was just my 3rd Olympic distance, and I enjoyed the day...even though it was to hot to race.