Swim felt great, wish there was someone to draft off of but no such luck. Effort level was very low especially the 2nd half of the swim. I was pleasantly surprised with the space between waves, I didn't get bumped into at all and was always able to find clear water. As I was exiting the water I felt a sharp pain on my left toe, ah forget about it this is race day time to move on...

Technically the wetsuit stripping was part of the swim time above since the mat was afterwards but the wetsuit strippers were great suit was off in 5s and I was on my way. Loooooong T1 jog out of the water and to the bike but kind of expected when you have 3000+ participants. Got my socks, shoes, helmet on without any issues and ran my bike to the mount line. While approaching the mount line I noticed my front tire was rubbing, crap my sunglasses got stuck (I have always put them on the brake cable to put them on during the bike). While yanking them out of the brake I pop one of the lenses out, pick it up off the ground hop on the bike and thankfully see my fiance and brother taking pictures... sunglasses tossed into the grass hopefully for them to find :)

Sunglasses will go on my head before helmet from now on.

Bike felt great and well within myself. It was definitely getting hotter as the day progressed but I felt well hydrated and legs were not sore at all when done. I was very pleased with the lack of drafting and grouping on the course, my first 70.3 (Longhorn) I was upset with all the blatant cheating going on with packs of 20+ riding together until they heard the race officials approaching. There was a slight tail wind on the way out and the wind built throughout the ride so of course the headwind was stronger on the way coming back. A lot of people thought it was a strong wind but it didn't bother me much, I just held my power steady and saved the legs for the run.

Nothing

Was my first ever flying dismount in a race and didn't have any issues. Ran with my bike to the rack which was easier to find with the bright yellow running shoes :) When putting on my running shoes I noticed my left sock was soaked in blood, hmmm that's not good but it's race day and I'm feeling great time to run...

Nothing

Legs were fresh coming off the bike so I was really excited and thought I was going to nail my goal time. First mile down 7:05, legs didn't hurt felt strong... Got to the first aid station, grabbed a Gatorade which was waaaaay to strong, spit it out and grabbed a water which was hot, asked for ice, no ice till next station... Second mile 7:10, still felt great so I pushed onward... Third mile 7:10, now I was starting to feel dehydrated and the lack of shade and sun beating down was taking a toll... Quarter mile down the road I'm overheated and throwing up on the side of the road :( I tried pulling myself together and continue on and started jogging ~8-8:30/mi but about a mile down the road started throwing up again. This is when I realized the goal of the race is now about survival not time. Abs and sides were cramping from throwing up so I was only able to shuffle my feet at ~10/mi. Thought a couple times about calling it quits or just walking it back but kept telling myself there's no reason I can't shuffle my feet my legs are fine. I only threw up one more time after I started shuffling (~mile 7.5) and I experienced every emotion possible during the 10mi shuffle to the finish. The last 2mi of the course were great, shaded and lined with people. It was an amazing finish line, crowds on both sides, tons of noise and by now I was over the disappointment of not reaching my goal and just enjoying the moment. I saw my friend John (LSU alumni) so I gave a friendly Gator Chomp as I entered the finishing chute. Saw my fiance, brother, mother and step-dad and just hoped they still had a great time and weren't disappointed in my performance. They weren't of course and were thrilled to be at the race and proud of my finish. I was very thankful to have them all there to share the race with even though it didn't go quite as expected.

I should have listened more closely to my body to know that I shouldn't have run so quickly so soon in that kind of heat. All of my training even though it's been in Houston has been cool over winter and that was by far the hottest weather I've run in since last summer.

Drank as much COLD water as I could find and headed to the medical tent to wrap up my bleeding toe.


Race was well run and for how many people were on the course it was surprisingly not very crowded. The aid stations 1.5mi apart on the run was a little disappointing they should have them every mile. Also, not having ice at any aid station is just wrong especially in a place like New Orleans where you never know what the temp/humidity will be. My only other recommendation would be ice sponges on the run, they had these at Longhorn and they are simply amazing! The finish line was great and I'd definitely recommend the race and who knows I might even do it again some day :)