Seeded into the back of the group on the right. Had to swim about a 100 yards and make a sharp right hand turn so it was going to get ugly at that turn buoy. Horn went off and went slowly into the water. Felt good since the air temp was so cold the water actually felt warm. Got to the first turn buoy and it appeared as though it was moving left when in fact the current was so strong it was pushing everybody to the right. Half the group cut the corner and never went around the buoy, found myself swimming up stream to make it around. As soon as we made the turn you could feel the current pushing you. Fell into a good stroke and breathing rhythm, not going hard but staying comfortable. It was awesome to see how fast I was going past the buoys. Several times I really thought they were moving the other way!! Got down to the wiggly man (Blockade Runner) and glanced at my watch. Knew at that point I was right on my expected pace. Stayed steady to the finish. This swim was in fact pretty uneventful which is a good thing for me. Climbed out of the water onto the dock and hit the wetsuit strippers. It was very nice not having to fight with the wetsuit in T1.

At the time nothing. If I do this race again will definitely push much harder and get a pair of neoprene socks.

T1 was horrible, 300 yard run with frozen feet. Got my T1 bag and ran into the changing tent and found about a 100 of my closest friends!! As I unpacked my stuff to get changed, found my first mistake of the day. It was very cold the night before and the dew had soaked everything in my changing bag. Muddled through the best I could, putting on a wet jersey and wet cycling shorts on a wet body!! Left T1 and headed for the bike trying to get my full fingered gloves on. This was a challenge. Kept telling myself that it didn't matter how long I took, just get comfortable.

Not check in my T1 bag till the morning. Bring a better towel to dry off with.

Was happy to get on the bike, this was the one area I was confident about going in. Got to mile 5 or 6 and realized that triathlon was not necessarily an individual sport. Groups of riders wearing team jerseys drafting and riding side by side!! Had to cross a couple of draw bridges with metal grates, carpet had been put down but this was still somewhat of a mental challenge. Settled in to a good comfortable pace. At mile 13 encountered the second challenge of the day. Got a flat front tire!!! Had borrowed a disk and three spoke tubular for the race. Had a new tire but have never changed one before. Twenty minutes later, finally had the tire off and bike tech support showed up. They put the tire on for me and was back on my way with a 30 minute delay. By this time the only riders on the road were from the corresponding half. Paced with them till the full distance turn off, at this point there were no other bikers in sight. Decided that I was just going to pace myself, not push too hard because there was no way to get the 30 minutes back. 20 - 25 minutes after the turn I finally saw the first full distance cyclist since the flat. Started catching a few more every 5 - 10 minutes to mile 60. Stopped briefly at special needs to pick up my extra nutrition and there were 20 or so riders in there. Finally felt like I was back in the race. Thankfully I found out at mile 86 that the the mile markers were off by like 6 miles!! Saw TZMITCH at the intersection of 421 and 74. That was cool. Had to climb the bridge just before T2, tried to spin as much as possible. Got off the bike really excited, I had legs and was hungry which is good for me. Awesome to see all 20 of my support crew at the end of the bike cheering me on wearing the t-shirts that my wife had made.

Goes without saying the flat was tough on this bike. Lost the 30 minutes but even harder is losing the pack pace. Happy with the overall effort and decision making.

T2 went well. Not rushed. Took my time getting my stuff together. Stopped and talked to everybody coming out of T2.

Nothing.

Of course the run is where the fun starts!! Actually, the first 13 miles were pretty uneventful. The run was pretty, the three bridges were tough but I ran all the hills. Felt good, set an 11 mile pace and was walking, eating and drinking at each aid station. Saw Keith Pinto on Water St. which was cool. Also saw Eric and Julia Gressman who were signed up to do IMFL but couldn't due to family issues but came out to volunteer. How awesome is that!! Got my special needs at mile 13, saw family and started out for the second loop. At this point I really thought I could hold this pace for the rest of the run but the climb on the bridge at mile 14 and 15 took a lot out of me. Had to walk the end of the hill at mile 15 and knew that this had broken the ice on the run/walk plan. Spent the next 10 miles running/walking with my new friends Matt, Heath and Cindy. The colder it got the worse my nutrition and drinking plan got. Finally got to mile 25 and was determined to run the last mile. Made the turn down towards the battleship, my kids jumped in just before the finish line and ran with me which was very cool. Lots of family at the finish was awesome.

Take my jacket at special needs. Got cold and my nutrition plan got shut down. Should have toughed out that hill at mile 15 and started the run walk later.

Got a massage for the first time after a race. Was soooo cold!!! Went back to the hotel took a shower and went to sleep. :)


If I had to do it over again I would spend a lot less time training the swim and use it for the run. Was more worried about swimming than I should of been.


Inaugural event was well planned. Handful of items need improving. Mostly spectator and T1 related. Volunteers were awesome and there were a ton of them. Great first iron distance race for me. Would do this race again.