I don't know how I could have done much better. I was swimming straight and I was on the bouy line. I kept thinking I was swimming crooked because people were going every which way. One guy looked like he was chasing a butterfly, thrashing and changing directions every 5 seconds. I felt really calm and had my breathing under control. I tried to draft but couldn't find anybody going the right speed. Maybe one minute total of drafting.

On the way back, I started catching up to the wave in front and ran into a pack of breaststrokers and detoured around them. Otherwise it was an uneventful swim. I could have held that pace all day and came out of the water with HR under control and ready to ride. It was a slower swim than last year but there wasn't a current on the home leg this year.

Nothing, for the training I put in, this was right on target. This turned out to be my best event but I put in the least amount of training. I think I'm a better open water swimmer than pool swimmer.

It's a long run to the transition area and some of it was on gravel. They lost some of their mats. I kept up a nice jog and the tranistion went well except I had a little problem getting one leg out of the wetsuit.

Nothing - 57 out 139 in age group

The bike or the beginning of the end. My secret goal was to finish in 5:30 and I knew that I needed to be sub 3 on the bike with enough left for a good run. My bike and run training had been going well this spring, so I was feeling confident getting on the bike. I was worried about the heat but it didn't feel too bad on the bike. The wind was unusually calm and I thought I had a chance at a good ride.

Got started, tucked into aero and tried to hold my pace. I didn't feel like I was pushing hard or "burning matches". I was getting passed by the disk wheels per usual but I wasn't chasing anyone. I did pass more people than I had in the past but I wasn't feeling tired and my nutrition was as I planned. All in all there isn't much that stands out during this ride. I did see a lot of people fixing flats and saw the ambulance go by a couple of times, otherwise I just watched the scenery. Coming into tranistion I thought I had executed pretty well. Once I started running I knew this wasn't the case.

I should have backed off the pace and payed more attention to the heat. I hadn't trained in heat like that and it was the first real hot weekend of the year. Yes, I can ride 56 miles at this pace and run a half but not in that heat. I should have probably been about 15 minutes slower on the bike.

I did make it up to MOP on the bike which for this course is pretty good. Not many beginners do this race and a lot of the big tri clubs come to this race, so there are always fast bike times. I'm happy with this bike split but it came at too high a cost.

This went smooth. I was 33rd in the age group. I saw Daremo (Rick) in transition and thought he had already finished. I was thinking "Damn, how long was I on the bike" but he said he DNF'd the run. I was thinking the heat must be bad as Rick is a great runner.

I probably should have taken time to calm down and get my HR way down before the run.

The run - the end of dreams of glory. I came out of transition and saw at least 10 people stretching in the first half mile. Uh oh! I was at 3:37 starting the run and needed to run a 1:52 half to hit 5:30. I know I can run that pace but knew by the first 1 mile mark it wasn't going to happen.

I was shuffling along and my HR was through the roof. I hit the porta-pottie at the first water stop and it had to be 160 inside that thing, which didn't help the HR. I was having to run walk by the 4th mile and knew I wasn't going to break 5:30 and probably not 6. I was into survival mode with most of the other people on the course. It was hot but the humidity was a killer. Everyone looked like they had just gotten out of a pool. I did use Troy Jacobsen tip of putting ice in your hat. It helps if you have hair and I had to keep adjusting to keep from getting freezer burn but it was the only thing helping. My nutrition plan called for Hammer Gel but hot Hammer Gel is pretty disgusting. I did try potato chips and they helped my stomach a lot. The last 6 miles was a blur, although I remember seeing all the BTers on the run. I did see this woman speed walking with a cast/soft boot on her leg and she was moving. When she was passed me I realized it was Johnny Kay's sister. Wow, that's HTFU.

I know this was a bad run when I couldn't even run the whole last mile, which sucks because you can see the finish across a little cove. I wasn't too motivated the last 2 miles because I knew that I couldn't break 6 hours. It was great to finish probably my worst run ever.

I not sure there was much I could have done. There was no way to train for that heat. Going slower on the bike would have helped but it still would have sucked on the run. Although, my pacing did take me out of my strength which is the run. For as slow as I was, I think all the old guys had problems because I was MOP for the run.

Went through the finishing shoot. One of the catchers is talking to me when another dumps 2 cups of ice water on me. I thought I was going to have a heart attack. I wish she would have asked. Stumbled off to get something to eat and not go into full body cramps. I wanted to wait for some people to finish but it was too hot. I needed to get out of the sun and cool off. I think most people were thinking the same because there were no lines for food and nobody socializing. The only people around were the ones waiting for slots for Kona and Clearwater. Packed up and headed home with the air conditioner blasting.


The heat and poor pacing on the bike. As I've said before you have to balance fitness, pace and nutrition. Now I'm going to add conditions. I raced my fitness at the right pace for 70 degree weather. It doesn't work with 90 degree heat and 90 percent humidity.


This is a top tier event that attracts a lot of big name racers. The organizers have a lot of experience and the town supports the race. I can't say enough about the volunteers. It was ungodly hot and they stood out there just to help. They were friendly and always tried to get you what you needed. If they wouldn't have kept ice on the course alot of people would have gotten hurt.