My plan was to start to the right and back - as always - let the better swimmers get out and then move in to the bouy line. Worked like a charm. I got in to the blender earlier than I wanted, but I always seem to. I stayed relaxed for the first loop, and basically on the outside. For the second loop I got on the line and followed it all the way aorund. Drafted a bit, and passed when I had to. Basically stayed relaxed and kept in mind that I had a long day ahead of me.

I started to notice the rain, and my thoughts turned to that screaming descent in to Keene.

Not much. I shaved about 10 minutes off my 06 swim time. This was just about what I expected based on training, and I was happy with it.

I forgot to start my watch when the cannon went off. Sometime in the first couple hundred yards I remembered and hit the button. That left me wondering what my actual time was all day.

Went fine. By the time I ran from the swim to the tansition tent it was raining hard. I hadn't seen a weather forecast, so I held out hope that it was just a passing shower. No such luck. Made a fairly quick transition and got out to the bike.

Would have been nice if they had some kind of floor down in the transition tent to avoid all the mud.

Shaved about 4 minutes off 06 here.

Nada

Bike started off very badly! While coming downhill out of the transition, another rider tried to pass me on the right with verry little room on that side. He tapped me and we became entangled. We veered to the right and crashed in to a couple standing along the course. The woman hit the ground hard. and everyone went flying. The man told us to get back on the bikes and go, while he took care of the woman lying on the road. I gathered myself and took his advice - then I noticed that I had thrown my chain. I got off and fixed it - I went on my way.

I spent the first ten miles of the bike gathering myself. Was that woman ok? Was I ok? Was my bike ok? The first question I will probably never know the answer to. The last two seemed to be yes. I have some road rash on my knees and legs, my aero bars were askew, but generally I seeed to be ok. I knew I had to get my head together before the descent in to Keene. It was pouring now, and I had to be focused.

The descent was just flat out scary. I rode the brakes the whole way. The rain felt like a million needles on my skin. I couldn't really see very well. I topped out at 33 MPH, and people were flying by me. I couldn't take advantage of the speed the descent offered, but I figured one crash was enough for the day.

Once I tuned on to 9N, I settled in to my mantra, and reminded myself that the course is way more than one bike loop. I took it easy and really started to feel good. The turn on to 86 - the out and back - and the climb back in to LP were uneventful. I wanted to stay in the saddle for the whole first loop, and I did. Time wasn't awesome, but I was ok with it given the conditions.

The second loop was more of the same. The descent was even scarier this time. I was worried that some fatigue might lead to a mistake. I took the same approach though and played it safe on the way down. the rain had not let up, but at least I wasn't cold. The air was surprisingly warm, and I actually started to feel really good as I made the turn up 9N.

"Don't be a douchebag." The urge to hammer the stretch up to 86 was overwhelming. I just kept reminidng myslef that I wanted to "run" a marathon. I stayed within myslef.

The climb after turning off of 9N was the first place I got out of the saddle. A nice easy swaying motion. It felt great to stretch out, as my back had tightened up a little.

The out and back seemed loooong. I started to notice some people really suffering on this part. I passed one guy on an uphill who kept saying "ow ow ow ow" out loud. I stuck with the plan thoughs and saved it for the run.

The second climb back in to LP is where the suffering really started. It was a real struggle to keep myslef focused and not just hammer as hard as I could to "get there." I talked with a few other racers on the way up, and that helped. I went up Slooooooowly.




Don't crash.

Find a race site where it isn't puring on race day. Seriously - two IM's, two floods. My bike handling skills were not good enough to fully take advantage of the descents in the weather conditions. Rather than being a hazard to myself and others, I took what the course offered, but it slowed me down. In the end I did shave about 12 minutes off 06 on the bike. I was hoping for better, but improvement is improvment.

I'm thinking Arizona or Florida next. Of course with my luck it will snow there on race day.

Quick in and out. I was dying to run - and I got out there quickly.

I had dry clothes in my bag, but it was raining so hard I saw no point. I just left the trisuit on.

I actually skipped as I got on to the run course.

Shaved about 10 minutes off 06 here.

Nothing

I left T2 feeling great, and hit the course running hard. I knew I had to slow down or burn out, and I took advantage of the first aid station to do just that. I got some calories and coke, walked up the hill and settled in to a comfortable pace. I felt great. I didn't focus on anything other than staying comfortable. It worked great. For the first loop I only walked the aid stations where I took aid, the rest was a comfortable run. That got me a 2:17 first half. I could not have been happier with that. Hanging around 10 minute miles for the first half of the mary is really great for me. "Don't be a douchebag" paid off. I had something left in the tank!

The second loop started off like the first. The strategy was to keep a comfortable running pace as long as I could, and see where that took me. I was amazed at how good I felt. Even the pouring rain wasn't dampening my spirits. (And it was really pouring!)

Around mile 16 I notice blisters developing on my feet. Nothing terrible at that point, but I could tell it was going to get worse. Still the "comfrotable run - walk aid stations" strategy worked great - Until mile 20 or so.

I hit the wall. The blisters started to really hurt, and my knees and lower back started killing me. The strategy shifted. Walk the hills - walk the aid stations - "run" everything else. I was soo happy with my race up to the point I wasn't even upset. I knew from my slightly off watch that I was going to blow away my 06 time. Again, I took what the day gave me.

When I came back in to town my family was there at various points. My brother was at the start of the out and back with my two oldest kids. They started singing to me in Dutch - and I started singing along. The out and back was challenging, I thought I was going to toss my cookies a few times and had to slow down to keep it under control.

I entered the stadium running, and sprinted trhough high fiving spectators and acting like an idiot. My wife and sister were there screaming for me. I can't describe how great I felt.

The clock read 14:02:12 when I crossed! I shaved 41 minutes off my 06 marathon, and 1:16 off the total race. I was floored! Incredibly happy.

I need to learn how to get through the "marathon wall." Other than that - not a damn thing. I was very very happy with this run.

Picture.

Pizza with the fam while my legs tightened up! (Knees are still hurting - but better than they were.)


Weather - again. I think I could have done better on the bike if the weather had cooperated.

I had a few minutes think about the 2 minute 13 second difference between my finish time and going sub 14. No crash - one less bathroom break etc... and I get there. Still I'm really happy with this. I guess sub 14 is the next goal.


No complaints. As always the volunteers were tremendous.