Who knew that the best part of my day would be over after the first 30 minutes? This is a swim PR for me, but it could have been even better. For some reason (and I don't know if it was something that I ate or a little stomach bug) I started to have stomach cramps around 1500 yds and I felt like I bonked a little (which isn't possible with the calories that I had taken in the night before and pre race). I felt that my pace slowed significantly that last 500 yds to shore.

Find better feet, I found a good set at the beginning but he petered out about the turn. After that the feet were pretty few and far between. I also need to spend some serious time in the pool this winter. This was a swim PR, but I really felt that I could have been faster.

I wasn't sure how the bag transition would work for the 70.3 distance. For IM it is a slower and more deliberate transition to make sure that you don't forget anything you might need for the next 5-6 hours. For 70.3 it is about getting in and getting out. Surprisingly my T1 was only 20 seconds slower than the non bag transition at Gulf Coast.

Nothing

Where to begin...I thought that my stomach cramps that I had on the swim would work themselves out on the bike. Unfortunately that was not the case since I felt bad the entire ride. Couple that with the fact that I haven't exactly been banging out the miles on the bike lately and well you can see the results. I haven't had a HIM bike split this slow in 3 years. After the first 10 miles I thought that I would be able to settle into a pace, but I couldn't find a comfortable gear to push. About mile 30 I was really ready to be off the bike, my rear end was hurting (I need a new saddle) and to add insult to injury my right knee was hurting also (thankfully this didn't affect my run).

My comment on drafting...there are A LOT of dirty cheaters that were at this race. It was ridiculous the blatant pelotons that were out on the course. One of them came whizzing by and I looked over and said "You're joking right?", it was unbelievable that they were being so obvious about it. The worst part was on the bridge going over to the St Pete/Clearwater airport a pack passed me like I was sitting still, RIGHT IN FRONT OF A DRAFT MARSHAL!!! I don't think any of them received penalties either since the penalty tent was pretty vacant when I got to T2.

Another note about the course, the Clearwater and surrounding area Police and Sheriffs departments did an outstanding job controlling traffic at the big intersections. That being said I had one car turn right in front of me (across a coned off lane), another car pull out of a 7-11 in front of me,a lady walked out in front of me at a crosswalk and stopped, and then the girl that I leapfrogged the last 20 miles of the bike almost gets in a head on with a jackass turning left out of the center (closed for bikes) lane. There were just too many access points to the highway in some areas.


Probably not try to peak 3 times in a season, it was really hard to get motivated to ride the last 2 months. I knew that I was a little undercooked for this race, but I never expected to be this slow.

Remember that cramping that I mentioned earlier....this includes a lengthy visit to the port o potty.

I knew that realistically my shot at sub 5 was pretty much out the window by this point. Still my run fitness has been pretty good as of late so I wanted to give it a go. First mile was 7:05 and I felt pretty good, but by the time I hit Mile 2 I had slowed to 8 min/miles and then it was pretty much down hill from there. It got really hot on the run, but it wasn't Gulf Coast hot (for those of you who have done that race) and I really don't feel like it was a huge factor. The cramping returned so everytime I would get a good turn over going a side stitch would creep up and I would have to slow down. I didn't walk any of the run except the aid stations (yes Ron I know you are disappointed in me), so that was a little moral victory. After sub 5 went out the window I really didn't see the point in wrecking myself for the remainder of the run.

Who knows? This run was a result of whatever was going on in my stomach and lack of bike fitness. I ran a 1:32 half marathon 2 weeks ago so I know that I was right where I wanted to be in that regard.

Crossed the finish line with a friend of mine that I caught up too on the course. We receieved our finishers medals (which are really cool btw) and our finishers hat. Walked over to the area where our spectators were to cheer Courtney M to the finish line.


Training or the lack of it to be more precise. This day was ripe for a PR weather and course wise, but I just didn't have the horses to take advantage of it. To be fair I expected a less than stellar result, but I suppose you can always hope for an unexpected result. 11 months of training 6 days per week is tough mentally and physically. I felt like my body was "played out" after Steelhead and I don't think that I ever really recovered from that. I am glad that I finished but I am a little disappointed in my showing at the World Championship, 5:23 is the slowest HIM that I have had in 3 years.


WTC puts on a first class event. Everything ran like clockwork and the athlete was catered to the entire weekend.