Ok, the swim, my nemesis. It started out Ok, but I realized the congestion I've had in my chest kept me from taking as deep a breath as I wanted/was used to, so I settled in to pattern of freestyle and breaststroke for the duration. I didn't have the OWS panic that I normally face, which was good, but I was suprised by my lack of fitness. I've had this congestion for about a month and I didn't anticipate how bad it hit me. So, I was bummed the swim didn't go better but I'm excited because I didn't have the same OWS panic as I've had in the past. It didn't go my way but I can't wait to do it again. Felt like I overcame an obstacle by completing that distance and next time will do much better (w/out the constant coughing and hacking).

Not ignore the coughing and hacking for a month and go to the doctor to get it taken care of. Otherwise, I'd work harder to get into a rhythm with the swim.

So I had a long run to my rack since it was right next to the bike in/out. Transition went fine until the mount....

Nothing

A few weeks ago I was about to start a group ride when I had a problem with my pedal. I bagged the ride but said that if it happened during a race or in the middle of a ride, I would continue. Well, apparently that was a little foreshadowing. I went to put my foot in the pedal when the same problem occured. The spring in the pedal came loose which made it impossible to lock the cleat in. I quickly realized the bike was just not going to be ideal so I just kept going. I could still pedal with both feet, but just didn't have the amount of power I would have liked. Needless to say, I got passed a lot, but also did some passing myself. I think I would have been a few minutes faster on the bike with a working pedal, but I still had fun.

Nutrition was good. Used the aero bottle for the first time with Infinit. Drank almost the whole thing and never felt hungry or lacked energy for the rest of the race. Although I've been using Infinit for a while now, this is the first time I used it in race. It makes me burp a little (the protein foams) but its much better than the alternative (I have post-race GI issues when I use gels).

Not break my pedal.

Couldn't find my rack so that cost me a few seconds. Looked like a chicken with my head cut off running around the first too racks looking for my stuff. Awesome.

Find my rack.

So, this is where the lack of fitness caught up to me. Did OK for the first 2.5 miles. Then I had to walk as the coughing was really getting bad and almost made me puke. I walk/ran the second loop, but decided that aroun 4.9 that I was going to run the rest regardless of how slow I might be moving. Just put my head down and ran/jogged it out to the finish trying to keep from hacking up a lung. Oh, and the blister I had on one of my toes really hurt, but that was secondary.

Be in better shape..i.e.do some interval runs to maintain fitness and a strong running pace.

Dumped a few bottles of water on my head and drank more. Hung out for a bit with my tri club, but had to leave pretty quickly since my wife had to get to a baby shower. I'm tired of having to leave races right away. Feel like I'm missing out on some fun. Next time I'm going to plan to hang out longer.


Health issue that I've been ignoring. Lack of OWS experience. Broken pedal.


Love this race. Plan to do it again. Revised the report slightly to fix glaring grammar/typos. Added comment on nutrition that I forgot to mention.