I forgot my swim cap (again) so 3 mins from the start I had to bolt to the check in to get another. Got back in time. Parts of this swim went fast, and part went slowly. Start was good...tried to draft the guy in front of me but he was too quick so I lost him. Someone was drafting me a long way, but thats cool- glad to help em out! For the first time my navigation was good- went straight and kept sighting well. The back part seemed long and slow and I was all alone at that point, so I kept wondering if I was off-course, but I was not. I passed a few people in the wave in front of me, but then a really fast guy in the next wave passed me. He was awesome- just glided by me so smoothly. I beat my stretch goal time on this swim so pretty chuffed with that!

Not much. Not forget my cap!

What the heck took so long? I didn't think I was going slow in transition but I lost a good bit of time here. My wetsuit was hard to get off and I fussed around with drinking a little but still surprised that I was this slow. Normally I am decent at transitions.

Go faster! ha. Leave shoes in pedals and do a flying mount.

I almost screwed myself. About a mile into the ride I noticed the bike was bumping a lot. I stopped to check and my tire was rubbing against the downtube (not left/right wobble, but up/down wobble). I thought the race was over at this point but let out all the air and pumped it back up again to, maybe 70 psi. That helped and I hopped back on. About 10 people passed me while I was fussing with my bike. Should never have changed tires 3 days before (but I did do a test ride so not sure what happened). Anyway, took off again and was glad that I dealt with it calmly considering that I wanted to scream! The first 24 miles or so of the ride were GREAT- wind at our backs (I think) and averaging about 22mph. Then we made the turn! Ah, so this is what people were talking about! Thanks for the heads-up ahead of time fgump...it helped to know this was coming! Average the rest of the way was about 18, which people moaning about it as I passed them or they passed me. Still, averaged 19.8 officially (and 20 on my Garmin, which autostopped when I was fussing with the wheel). Didn't take it easy on the bike but didn't push hard either. Was having some serious butt pain after about mile 40. I really need to HTAU (Harden The A$$ Up)! :-) It was very hot on the bike already. I drank 40Oz Accelerade and 2X24 Oz bottles of water. Took a GU at about mile 40 and 50. Love that stuff. Hydration was good but the Accelerade was gross at the end. Next time I will just do the big chamber of the aerodrink as Accelerade, and the small on as water with GU. Much more palatable.

Not mess with my wheels before and make trouble for myself. Win a pair of good race wheels in the lottery!

Did this quite fast. Totally forgot to take my feet out of my shoes but it was OK.

Take feet out of shoes.

OK, so within a mile I knew this would be TOUGH. First mile was in 7:50 and I was taking it easy, but felt the energy going as the sun baked down. I had to stop to pee at mile 2 and Andrew pulled up and said to put ice on my head. I thanked him and moved along. 2 miles later I saw him throwing up in the bushes! Ouch! Anyway, I decided at about mile 1.5 that I would need more fluid than I could get from running the aid stations (and mentally I was struggling to think that I still had to run 12 miles!) so I decided to walk a minute at every aid station. Best thing I could have done looking back on it. I actually started to feel good at mile 4. That lasted to mile 6 and then it just hurt! At mile 7 I had to walk about 3 mins because my thighs were starting to cramp so I hydrated and walked a little longer. After that it was just a mental game of "hmm, I just ran 8 miles. Thats quite along run. Oh F#^$^, I still have 5 more to go!". But at mile 10 I started to get excited because I knew I would finish and would beat my goal time EVEN if I average 10+ mins a mile. The support on the course was awesome, from athletes as well as spectators. As painful as this was, I really, really enjoyed the experience. My knee started to hurt at mile 5. On a training run I would have stopped. In a race, no way! It was weird because a half mile from the end my toes started to cramp up. I have never had that while running. I was just a little happy to see the finish line. What a friggin hard run this was- the heat was brutal. I have a very nice triathlon-shirt tan! What a dork! :-) The support down the home stretch was amazing- great crowd support and once I crossed the finish line the boys were there with smiles and hugs. What a treat! It was great having my dad there too, and Becky as well. That kept me going during the race...knowing they were waiting at the finish line.
Mile splits (not 100% accurate):
7:50
8:30
8:52
9:15
8:23 (actually started to feel good here)
9:06 (good feeling fading)
9:24 (its gone)
9:09
10:04 (ouch)
10:19
9:15
9:18
8:45 ish (felt better than the people I passed who got hauled off to the medical tent!)

Train in the desert so that this heat would be easier to deal with! haha Seriously, I might have taken a GU or something...but forgot to do that. I drank HEED every mile, and 1 or 2 cups of water. Maybe adding GU would have given an extra boost? Oh, had a couple of cups of coke too. Nice. I'm quite pleased at my mental adjustment to go from "run the whole way or you failed" to "this is tough...and hot...be smarter and take a walk break; it is OK".

Surprised at the lack of "real" food at the end. Had some water and chips. Was wanting something "real" but there were just snacks. So had an oreo but didnt want any more sweet stuff. Felt good afterwards. Becky said she was shocked at how OK I seemed given how everyone who she heard at the finish line was commenting on how tough it was.

For the first time, my swim and run times placed me at about the same relative position. Bike speed is the limiter in terms of overall finish position. Glad the run training was reflected in this race. I suffered on the run but others did too.


Fitness. Heat. Bike speed.


What a great time I had (apart from the pain and suffering)! I am very pleased with my overall time and ability to finish this thing! Its a friggin long way! :-)

I swam in the lake with the boys after the race and that was awesome. I was really sore the next day (thighs really sore and knee/below knee ITB painful to walk down stairs with). Less sore today (Monday) but definitely feeling it still.

Only complaint is the parking situation- I got parked in (organizers squeezed people in everywhere) so couldn't leave when I wanted. Actually only managed to get out about 2 hours later. But other than that, the course support was great, pretty location, and great endorphin enduced buzz afterwards! :-)