Based on other times in both the Aquabike and Half races, I think the course was long. It was NOT my best swim, but it wasn't a 37 minute HIM swim either. I suspect it was probably more of a 34-35 minute swim.

The first few minutes were pretty awful. Other than a 200m pool swim to make sure this wetsuit fit (back in April...), I haven't swam in a wetsuit in over a year. Not only that, but this wetsuit is not broken in for my size and shape, so I was feeling miserable. All I wanted to do was to unzip it and hope that it felt better, but I forced myself to just slow down and try to settle in.

After a bit, I was feeling okay. I still wasn't pushing it the way I'd like to have been, but I was feeling smooth and like I was making good progress (always a good sign to start seeing various other colored caps). I kept my mind in a good place and didn't get into my "god, are we almost done yet??" funk. I was mostly looking forward to getting onto the bike and seeing what I could do, hoping that I'd feel good there.


Wear my own wetsuit (despite breaking the zipper back in April, I still haven't bothered to get it fixed....this mediocre swim is completely my fault and I need to get my act together!) and actually swim in it a few times prior to racing in it :)

Wetsuit strippers were RIGHT at the swim exit, so I didn't even have time to get my cap and goggles off before getting to them. I did pull my 910 off, but I probably didn't need to since this suit isn't as tight as mine (but I did it out of habit). Once I got the suit down to my waist, they made quick work of getting it off me, and I was on my way up the big hill.

There's a big hill going from the water to transition. Given that my stress fracture is still not healed and I'm not supposed to be running on it, I didn't want to push it too hard....but I'll admit that I did run up the hill (and my foot didn't hurt at all, but that's probably more of a function of it being a race than my foot being magically healed!).

I got to my bike fine, but was a bit clumsy in trying to shove my wetsuit and stuff into the transition bag (two transition area, so everything needed to go into the bag to get transported to T2), so lost a bit of time there. Once all situated, I grabbed my bike and ran (yeah, again, but this time in rigid bike shoes...) to the mount line.


Be more deliberate in my effort to put stuff into the transition bag, rather than trying to rush through. Still not ready to commit to a flying mount or even starting with bike shoes on the bike.

As I mentioned, plan for the first loop was to hold what I did in a TT about a month ago, which was 153W, and then see if I could push it a bit more for the second loop. Early in the bike, I settled into high-140's power with the plan to push it a bit more after the first 10 or so minutes, while letting my HR come back down. I hadn't pre-ridden or driven the course, so I didn't know too much about what to expect other than some chip seal and rolling hills. There was only one climb on the course, and it was short.

One of the big things that I've learned about racing with a power meter is that you really have to be disciplined and race your own race. It seems that literally everyone passes me on the uphills, while I'm regulating my power....but I (more than) make up for it on the downhills as they coast to recover. Even with my compact cranks, I never once ran out of gearing on this course and made up a LOT of distance on people on the downhill sections :)

At the end of the first loop, I had executed exactly as planned -- NP/AP was 153/152, and it was time to bump it up. My plan was to shoot for ~160 and hope it didn't result in an epic blow up!

The second loop was kind of interesting because I had an idea of what the course looked like and what to expect. I had certain landmarks in mind and was able to check them off as I worked my way through the course. Again, people passed me on the uphills, but I passed them back on the downhills (in the entire race, only two people passed me that I didn't eventually pass back). As I was nearing the end of the second loop, I was VERY pleased with my power -- NP/AP was 164/163. I had exceeded my expectations!

And as an added challenge, I figured for the last few miles, I'd try to do 170+. I was over 180 for 2+ miles, but the last few minutes are net downhill with some turning, so I couldn't keep the power up the entire time, but I'm confident I could have if it had been feasible.

All in all, I was very happy with this bike. Back at the end of June, I was really down on my bike ability, and then started working with Marc. He has not only helped make me a better biker, but has helped my confidence and ability to "hurt" immensely. I can't wait to see what kind of progress we can continue to make! Also, at the end of the bike leg, I felt like I still had more in me, so I think I could have pushed even more, which is a really good problem to have :)


For this race, nothing -- knowing what I know now, I could have pushed it a bit harder without blowing up

Leisurely walked my way through T2 before running through the finisher's chute and turning in my timing chip :)

Ate some food, drank some water, drank a couple beers (not very impressive, imo -- some Oktoberfest beer and some cream ale), packed up all the gear and stuff back at the cabin....then made my way to Fredericksburg for a couple glasses of wine and pizza at one of my wine clubs :)



Not swimming in MY wetsuit, not swimming in a wetsuit in over a year, having a stress fracture, and not knowing exactly how hard I could push on the bike without blowing up -- all that said, I'm very happy with the execution of this race and can't wait to (eventually) be able to put it together for a full 70.3



Wish they had chocolate milk at the finish, but the race was really well run and I'd certainly do it again.