Got in, grabbed the rope and hung on. Horn goes off and BAM, the dude in front of me donkey kicks me, one foot in the gut and the other in my junk. I guess he thought I was the barge to push off of. Ass.

Rest of swim went great. It was dirty, but no jellies for me. Zig-zagged a bit, but stayed in clean water for the most part so I wouldn't get kicked. Nice and relaxed with full strokes and good breathing.

Current wasn't as strong as earlier waves and reversed direction within an hour of swim finish. Probably not much of a benefit, as my swim time wasn't much faster than OWS or a pool.

Not put myself in a postion for some douche to use me as propulsion. Other than that, I felt great coming out of the water. None of the usual dizziness and was ready for the next two events.

Includes 400 yard run from swim exit to transition, which I jogged. I didn't swim with my tri top, which was a mistake as it took a good 30-40 seconds to put on and really pissed me off. Other than like that, it was clockwork. My head was clear and I was cognizant of everything I was doing, unlike sometimes previously when I was dizzy in T1.

Wear my tri-top under the wetsuit.

Good bike for me. 22+ on the flats and did a lot of passing on the uphills. I was happiest with the hill performance, as the only ones passing me were guys that looked like they spend a lot of time (and $) cycling. I need to work on keeping speed from a downhill as the grade goes back up.

Maxed at 37.2!

Emptied my aerodrink and took about 8-10 ounces of gatorade. Never felt thirsty or close to bonking. One Hammer gel at the turn around.



More TITS. More hill work.

Get better at drinking from a bottle cage while moving at a good clip.

Steep downhill in to transition on grass. Thought better of a flying dismount, so I unclipped and stopped. Didn't rush things. Could have been faster, but whatever.

Brutal. It was Africa Hot and crazy humid, which I am not used to. Cramping started within a half mile, which I think was gas from the Clif Bar breakfast, and didn't go away until an hour or two after the race. Walked a few times for 30 seconds when my heart rate went over 200. Got lightheaded and skin chills when that happened. Took in water at the aid stations and dumped a cup over my head, as well.

Got a yellow jacket INSIDE my shirt right after I got in the park. It stung me once and I thought it was my zipper, so I zipped up. After two more stings, I looked in and saw the little sucker. Let him out and never broke stride. No issues from the stings.

I knew I would be close to my goal time of 3 hours, so I pushed as hard as I could. I was completely spent at the end. HR was down to 120 after about 4-5 minutes and I felt great.

Not much. For the rest of this year, I will not have to run in heat like that, so I won't. Normal training runs are at dawn when it is cooler.

Clif bars before the race are definitely OUT. Cramping issues were not from dehydration, as I hit the head within 20 minutes of finishing, and the cramping was sustained until later in the day when the gas made its way south and out.

Met up with the wife, who surprised me about a half mile before the finish. Grabbed my stuff, walked around a bit, and walked the mile and a half back to transition to pick up the bike. Had a burger for lunch at the Boat Basin and craved a Guinness bad. No luck with that until later.

After showering back at the hotel, we went out walking around the city and caught dinner and a show (Rent). Tired, but I'm not sore at all a day later, probably from the walking.


Again, breakfast.


Really good race for me, especially considering the difficulties on the run. It felt like a real accomplishment to set my mind on this and do it. It felt even better when I got my time and knew for sure I hit my time goal.

Not bad to go from couch to 41st percentile in my AG in the first season. A little more work (actually a LOT) and I'd like to be in the top 25%.


I had a good time, but I won't be doing it again. I'm very happy I was able to do this in my first season so close to home, but for the same expense, I will now travel out of state and do different races. Philadelphia 2009!