My swim was alright. After a couple hundred meters I had the breathing panic where the chest gets tight and its hard to catch your breath. You know the feeling where you want to take the wetsuit off and leave it behind. Anyways I fought through that and actually swam very well on the back half of the course.

Relax a bit more

Not bad transition it included the short run up the beach hill and into the transition.

Nada

This bike course is defined by the climb up Old Stage Rd. This was my first time doing the climb on a bike. The day before the race I rode the bike course in my car and noted how hard the hill would be when I was traveling by human power tomorrow. Anyways I made it up the climb with many enthusiastic people lining the sides of the road and encouraging. At one point I stood up on the pedals and was told by and encourager "that's right, throw those handle bars back and forth baby!" Anyways I took note not to move my handlebars so much when I get out of the saddle.
After making it through the climb it was pretty much smooth sailing the rest of the way. My legs were a little tired but nothing that would hinder the rest of my race. Overall I enjoyed the course and the climb and descent through the mountains made the course very memorable.

I am a wimp on the descents so holding the aero position all the way down would have gained me a lot of time, but since I'm scared I hold onto the handle bars tightly and sacrifice the minute or two.

The only interesting part of this transition was my bathroom break. I was surprised to visit the porto-let and still make it out of transition under 1:30 how did that happen?

Nothing

I made it to the turnaround without any problem. I went out a little hard my first mile under 8mins. I dont recall the rest of the miles or what I ate, but most likely had a gel on the way out of transition and one again at the turnaround. I was taking Ice like crazy from the aid stations because it was so hot out on the way back from the turnaround.

Not a whole lot, I ran within my ability for the most part, as they say the only change would be to train better/more

After the race I was promptly handed a towel dunked in ice water which was the best thing ever. I kept the towel on my head while cooling off and protecting my neck/shoulders from the sun. I sauntered over the the beer tent and Avery Brewing Co. provided me with a free IPA. It was good, but my stomach wasnt very interested. After 3/4 of the beer I threw the rest out. I headed over to the food tent and grabbed some grub. I mostly go for the fruit and bread after races. No change today. Then I found a spot along the road where I could watch the Pro's start going by.


Nothing really except training harder


this is a great race. I think we started 10 mins slow or something, but that was due to a parking problem they had, and with so many people there it wasnt much of a surprise. The coolest part was being able to watch the pro race right after I finished. They set the start times so the Pros started when I was beginning my run. So by the time I hit the food tent etc. after the race the pro's had come in from the bike for their run. They ahd them run a special 3 lap course so the spectators can see them more.