From watching the other two waves, I knew it was going to be a bit of a wade to get to a point where you could swim. So instead of duck diving, I just walked out to where the water was above my waist. I found it funny that I was passing people duck diving to my left and right and they were wasting SO much more energy than I was.

Once I started swimming, I spotted the yellow turn buoy and headed for it. Others were going to my right and following the orange path to the turn buoy. Saved me a bit of swimming! I could tell that my left shoulder was a bit tight by the time I got to the first turn. I rounded the buoy and had fairly open water in front of me. There were about 4 or 5 of us pretty much side by side but with enough space that I don't think we were stealing each others water.

One guy came by me and I tried to catch his feet, but he was too quick. I kept my 5 stroke and sight routine and spotted the 2nd yellow turn buoy fairly far off. Once again, the orange buoy's were all over the place. As I headed for the 2nd turn the orange buoy prior to it was about 30 meters to my left so I kept my line. Then I went WAY off course.

The course was suppose to be a rectangle, but it was more of a triangle. I rounded the final turn and headed towards the shore and the sun. I couldn't see any buoy's but saw splashing on both sides of me up ahead. Then I saw a boat that I figured was marking the last buoy. I headed for that boat. A couple of minutes later, I looked around me and noticed that there was no splashing to my left. I looked right and I was WAY off course. The boat was anchored to the outside of the cove where we ending up in and I was heading right for it. I had to make a 45 degree turn to even come close to making it back to the buoy line and the shore line. With about 200 meters to go, I saw a break in the trees and figured it had to be the beach. I headed for that. When I realized I was right, I still had people cutting across me trying to head for the buoy line which was about 25 meters to the right of the "landing zone". It was a crazy swim.

Sight better and wear tinted goggles. I chose to not wear them thinking that the sun would be behind the trees. I was wrong.

It was a long run to transition. The rocks were not that bad but it was hard running up the hill with loose sand and rocks. 5 min is a long time for your wetsuit to dry up and that makes it much harder to take off. I had some serious issues getting my bibs off because most of the water had beaded off.

Take my wetsuit off closer to the water when it's a long run to T1.

For the first time, I had an easy time getting my feet in my shoes while riding. The trick is holding the loop in the heel and then putting your foot in! I was feeling ok getting on the bike and was out by myself for a bit. Picked off a few people early and was humming along.

There was a drawbridge with metal grating that scares the hell out of me. So, knowing the course, I saw that there was concrete in the center of the bridge. The problem was that as I approached the bridge, a huge dump truck was coming up behind me. I took the initiative and put my bike in the middle of the road and went right down the center of the bridge. He passed me on the other side of the bridge and blew me over a bit. It was kinda freaky.

Then about mile 10 or so, someone comes by me. Who is it...my TP Chris who is a stud on the bike. He kinda glances over and smiles. I decide that I am not going to let him get away from me. So we play cat and mouse until about mile 45 or so. I never realized how uneven he rides. He would slow down and then speed up. Also, the LOOK 496 does not climb very well, but does everything else well. :P

We got onto Route 60 only to discover that the road crew that was putting the cones out was not done yet. So we had to go into the "traffic" lane and get around the truck putting out the cones for our lane. How's that for Ironic. Then Rob Vance comes along who is Chris' arch nemesis. We are all jockying for a while and then the funniest thing happens. As Rob rolls along side me, he says, "Not that I have a chance of catching him, but how far ahead is Chris?". I smiled because just then Chris was coming around him on the left. I said, "Look to your left". Then they both dropped the hammer and left poor old Dan in the dust. I felt really bad for the guy in my A/G that kept trying to put distance on us by speeding up and then we would swallow him up. He popped soon after that. I looked back and he was sitting up and softpedalling.

The last 10 miles I passed one or two people and was really hurting. For some reason, I couldn't keep any solid food down. I tried to eat my Hammer Bars and they would come right back up. The gel stayed down ok but that was a burping-fest. I know before I got dropped I was averageing 23.3 and ended up dropping to 22.4 over the last 10-15 miles. It was not the sign of a good race.

Plus, I think I took myself out mentally as well. When Chris came up on me, I wanted to keep him in sight and then run him down. Chris is WAY better than I am (9:54 IM) and he hasn't been training that much this year. So I figured him half trained and me fully trained, I'd have a chance. When I got dropped, it make it that much harder.

Realize that solid food was triggering my stomach issues and just stick with the gels at different intervals.

Stay in the game mentally.

Had a good T2. Consistant and steady. I feel like I'm in there so long, but my times say differently. My sunglasses came off with my helmet this time. That was a first.

Nothing. It was good overall.

My goal for this race was to have a good run. I needed to work on that and I felt that I could have a good one here. It was not to be. As I came into T2 off the bike, I saw Chris heading out. I figured he had about 2 min on me at this point. I can catch him I thought.

Went out at a controlled pace knowing that the heat was going to take it's toll on me. I got passed like I was standing still by a guy in my A/G just after the mile marker. I let him go because there was no way I could keep with him. Then another guy came by and I stayed with him for a bit and then I found myself struggling to keep pace. Next thing I know, he was out in front and gone. This was when things went from bad to worse. Around mile 4, the lead female came by. She is also sponsored by The Runners Source and she can usually put down a 1:30. I knew I had 6 min on her because she started 6 min in front of me (2 waves). I ran with her for a mile and then she dropped me. I wished her luck as I dropped off. I was struggling to keep my feet moving. I took a gel around mile 6 and it came back up fairly soon after that. I felt like I was barely moving. The miles came slowly but I was determined to not stop and walk.

I walked each aid staition knowing that I needed fluids or else I would drop like a stone. I also took an extra cup of water to get myself moving again by pouring it on my head. There were several moments where I could not have told you what mile I was on or if I was running in the right direction. I just kept my eyes in front and kept telling myself to not stop. I really don't remember miles 7 - 10. I remember thinking that I have a 5K left. I tried another gel at that point and it lasted about 1/4 mile. But on the good side, I can puke and still keep running!! That's good right?

with a mile to go, I saw a girl up ahead (mile 1 for her). Kinda squat down and look back towards the place she came from. When I got to within ear shot, I said, "I know you can do it, and YOU know you can do it. Now get going". We slapped hands and she headed off. I am certain that she finished.

The last mile was the longest mile ever! I knew where the finish line was, but it wasn't getting any closer. I could feel the heat building up on my skin and tunnel vision had come and gone several times. I just shook it off and willed my feet to keep moving. The finish line was such a nice sight. I knew that I had finished...not where I wanted to, but I finished. And then I dropped like a rock!

I don't know. Stay positive more and be smarter.

When I crossed the line, I took two steps looked the medal girl in the eye and collapsed. I rolled over onto my back and the world was spinning. My hands, feet, face and hamstrings were tingling. I heard them call for an EMT to come to the finish chute and then people were asking me my name and putting ice on me. I told them that I could walk, but they brought a stretcher and hauled me off. I never remember anyone taking my chip. I think it was best that they carried me off, I would have probably fallen down again.

I don't know how long I was in the Medical tent, but they did an awesome job. The kept asking me my name and where I lived. I kinda faded in and out but they were just great! Zipp1, I later found out, was one of the people that helped me. It was my first trip to the medical tent and I hope to not have to go back. After a while, the tingling went away and I was able to sit up. The said it was "Exercise induced collapse".

I say it was "Dumb Dan not paying attention to his body". Theirs sounds more scientific. Go figure.


I think what I learned from this race is that you have to take what your body gives you that day. I have to look objectively at this race and realize that compared to last year, it was still a huge improvement. I also need to realize that my "bad" race is someone elses PR. I have been so lucky this year and fortunate enough to even be able to race as much as I have. I lost sight of that and I think Karma and my body needed to remind me that racing takes heart.

There will always be people that are faster than you. But what makes you a real athlete (triathlete in this case) is what you do when you're out there. I could have chosen to get all pissed off at the world and said F-U to people that said "Looking Good" or "You ran a great race". But that's not the point. I looked inside myself and not only found the energy to finish but I found the energy to say Thank You to encourage others and oh...I still finished well overall.

I forgot what is important and that is promoting the sport and being a great ambassador. Yes, times are important, but it's only part of the equation. Like I have told countless people when they say things like "I'm not in your league or it took me twice as long as you to finish". I tell them we all cross the same finish line. THAT is what counts. I need to listen to myself and be thankful that I crossed that finish line.


SetUp Events once again put on a GREAT race. They did everything they could and I think it was a well run event.