Felt alright for most of it. Mixed between unilateral and bilateral breathing. Did unilateral on the first third to the turnaround buoy and then settled in to my normal bilateral breathing on the way back home. Could a few kicks and elbows, but it wasn't too rough. With about 10 min to go in the swim, I started to feel some abdominal and diaphragm cramping. Nothing too severe yet, but it had me worried. Was shooting for between 90-100 minutes, so I split the difference perfectly.

Learn how to swim faster (goal for next year) and figure out a way to not cramp up.

Put on helmet and shades in tent and put my bike tool in my back pocket. Ran to bike with socks and shoes before I put them on. Got sprayed with sunscreen on the way.

Nothing. It went just fine.

You can call me molasses. I cramped for the first 80 miles of the bike, and then they just mysteriously went away. I basically just rode easy most of the day. Leisurely 112 mile bike ride. I got off twice during the ride. Once b/c I lost my chain going up a small hill, and the 2nd time at the special needs area to hit the porty potty and have a 100 cal bag of Chips Ahoy. Other than the cramps I felt great. I had a half/half water/gatorade mixture in my aero bottle for the first hour before switching to my Infinit for the last 6. Took 2-3 Endurolytes every hour and had some shot blocks as well. I did throw up a couple of times in my mouth from the cramping, but kept it down mostly. I also think I mastered the snot rocket without getting it on my bike shorts. I sat up for the hills and just spun up them, but did pass quite a few folks on the hills though. They were actually nothing compared to the hills I rode for a century about 3 weeks ago. Once the cramping went away, I started to get on it a bit more and passed probably 50-60 folks on the way in and I was feeling great. Got to transition feeling fresh and ready to roll.

I would like to have pushed harder, but my cramps wouldn't allow it. I feel like I could easily shave 45 min to an hour off of this though.

They bike catcher took my bike and I grabbed my Endurolytes out of there and then jog/walked to my run bag. Got in the tent and put Aquaphor on my feet, got the shoes on, took some tylenol and dumped the rest so I could have a place for my Endurolytes. Used the porta-potty, got some sunscreen and was off jogging.

Maybe go a little faster, but it was nice to sit down in the tent for a minute.

Really happy with my first marathon. I ran aid station to aid station and didn't walk in between. I used the sponges at every station for the first half, but my feet were sloshing pretty bad at the special needs bag at mile 13, so I changed my socks, and didn't use any more sponges. I felt pretty good for the first half. Had no blisters on my feet, but I started to chaffe terribly under my arms at about mile 17. Have some pretty bad abrasions in that area now (Aquaphor in the pits dummy). Feet and knees stated to hurt pretty bad after mile 16 (which happened to be my longest run up to that point). But the fact that UK was wearng out UL kept me going on the run. I just kept plugging along and "The Line" never really came. I just told myself I wasn't going to walk unless it was at an aid station and I wasn't going to stop for anything else, and I kept trucking. Took 2 bathroom breaks on the run. Finished strong by running with good form and pace down the chute. Broke my goal time by 5 minutes.

Aquaphor under the arms. Lots of it. Or BodyGlide. Or both.

Uhhh.....none. I did get a less than stellar massage and tried to eat something, but I felt pretty nauseous. Walked a mile to bike up my bike from transition and then walked back to the hotel, does that count?


Cramps on the bike. Not a big enough base. A single century and 1 16 mile run were my 2 long efforts.


Great race. I'm from KY so I'm used to the heat and humidity, but it can be a shocker for some folks. I'm glad it was hot and nasty that day. I was ready for it and I just wanted to conquer the course at its hardest.