Well first off this beats my time from last year by ten minutes. So yay! As I stated earlier I was crying going into this swim, so nervous I could have just stayed on shore. I jumped in and told myself to just make it to the first turn buoy and I would be okay. So I did like last year and doggy paddled, breast stroked, and very little freestyle stroked my way out to the buoy. I had a little chat with a fellow ATC'er on the way out that was a big help. Rounded the first turn and started swimming. It was great. hehe. Made it all the way back to the shore by actually swimming. And I didn't see any marine life which was an added bonus.

Swim to the first turn.

The run up in that sand was hard. Once I got past the shower I took off my wetsuit on the boardwalk and ran into T1. My rack was all the way across the parking lot. I lathered up with sunscreen and got moving. I was surprised at how long this took.

ot sure. It's pretty far from the mat to my rack. I did have trouble with my shoe a little. Probably just a little more practice.

Started out feeling pretty good and saw some fellow club members were only a few miles ahead of me. It's always fun to see people you know out on the course. So I started to think of my plan for the next 56 miles. Before I made it back past transition by stomach started to hurt really bad. It was something I had experienced once before after a swim but Iwasn't thinking that at the time. I figured it was all the salt water I had gulped down. It was a stabbing pain in my upper stomach right under my ribs and my stomach was rock hard and completely bloated. I told myself I would give it some time to settle and I began drinking and eating to remedy the pain. It only got worse but I made myself drink because I remember hearing someone say that helps when you have drank too much salt water. Around mile 12 my bike started to slow dramatically all on it's own and I couldn't figure out what was going on. I hadn't hit anything, nor was my bike making noise, but I decided to pull over anyway just to make sure it was okay. To my surprise my back tire was flat. So there I am bent over in pain trying to get my back wheel off. Once I got the wheel off, I sat on a curb and started to try and get the tire off the wheel but I was having trouble. Must have sat there for 15 minutes or more and still no luck. I decided that I would wait for a SAG wagon and just go out for a run so the day wasn't wasted. Instead, I was joined by a fellow racer with a flat. He aske dme if I needed help and pretty much insisted that he help me. So I took him up on that offer. As he was changing my flat another racer pulled up with a flat. She of course had nothin to change a flat with; no tube, no cartridges, no tools. I helped them as much as I could and took off after being there for what seemed forever. I knew my "race" was over but I could still use it as a training day. After bing there so long I thought my stomach was getting better but as soon as I started biking it started hurting again. I managed it the best I could but it was hard. I stopped to pee to see if that would help and it didn't. Coming back from the turn around my aero bottle came un velcro'd and flew off so I had to stop to fix that. As I made my way back to the bridge and then back to the main strip I came up with the rest of my race plan and that was to try and run. See how it goes sort of plan. On the final stretch I launched my rear water botle but didn't go back as I was close to the end and didn't need it. This bike was comical to say the least. I was so glad to be getting off.

Nothing. I think I handled this very well. I never got angry or upset during any of my ride. I did what I could with what I had. My ride time from my bike computer was 3:15xx so I know if I hadn't had a flat or a very painful stomach I could have rode much stronger.

Got in transition and saw a fellow racer and was caught off gaurd so I stopped to talk to her for a minute. At this point I wasn't in a huge hurry. She came over to my rack and sprayed me with sun screen and I was off. I didn't really think about my stomach at this point.

maybe not stop to chat but really at this point I was out there for training.

So, I started running at a very conservative pace to test out my body. I was feeling okay at this point. I made it to the first water stop without walking and thought i may actually be able to finish this thing. After I took in fluids my stomach started right back up so I jogged what I could to the next stop where the stabbing pain came back. I sat under the tent for a few minutes to weigh my options. I was at mile 2.5 on a 13.1 mile course. I could walk it in but I am pretty much opposed to that and I have Macon Half in 3 weeks so would it really help me for that? No. It was a very tough decision, one I really didn't want to make but had to. I walked back the 2.5 miles. It was pretty difficult making that walk back with people cheering for you and having to tell them you are quitting.

Nada.

The walk back was long and my stomach was still huting so I grabbed some water and took a seat. After a while I walked up and turned in my chip. My first DNF. I was sad.


I think this is pretty obvious and I sound like a broken record.
1. My stomach. I've concluded I gulped too much air on the swim.
2. My flat and subsequent stops.