Lined up at the front. Was a bit crowded for the first 200m but seemed to thin out after that. Rounded the first buoy and it really thinned out. Drafted a guy that seemed to have a good pace and was swimming straight. I decided to settle right in and follow.

I stumbled coming out of the water to round the buoy after the first lap. Was a bit dizzy and hadn't been kicking. You'd think that would have reminded me to kick as I was finishing the last lap...

I thought my swim was okay but could have been a minute or more faster. No big deal though.

Forgot to kick in the last 200m to warm my legs up. They were *really* sluggish running through transition.

We had wetsuit strippers so that was fast. My legs were sluggish after the swim. I slipped on my shoes, put on the race belt, sunglasses, and helmet and off I went.

Kick during the last 100 or 200m of the swim to warm up the legs.

Struggled on the way out. I've ridden the route before and it felt harder that usual. I had trouble drinking the gatorade. It might have been a bit too strong, but I still had trouble. I don't think it impacted me in the end though.

Screamed on the way back as it was more downhill that direction.

Biggest issue came after I rounded the corner from 22X onto Sun Valley Blvd. I rounded the corner, and looked down at my computer, hit a gap/lip between the asphalt and concrete curb and over I went! A few expletives later, I was recovering my aero-water bottle, straightening my handle bars, seat, and putting my chain back on. Tires didn't blow but the front wheel was somewhat bent. I was pretty scraped but nothing broken.

My first thought was, "Well, my race is over." As I pushed the pedals, the bike actually moved even though the wheel kept hitting the brakes. I was riding the final 3km back to T2 and I figured I might as well keep on racing.



Not crash!!! (i.e., pay attention)

My right shoe was already undone from the crash. I reached down to undo the left shoe and nearly crashed because it was jammed closed and my wobbly tire was shifting my balance. Rather than risk crashing a second time, I left it done up and yanked the shoe off at T2.

I stopped and posed for a couple pictures from my wife and friends. Lots of "oohs" from the spectators.

It was a slower T2 than planned, but I'm not caring too much at this point.

The med tent was immediately after T2. I stopped for a couple minutes to wash the road rash and get some polysporin applied. Running was okay if only a little harder than normal. I was amused by the people on the left side of the trail saying "looking good" and the people on the right side of the trail going "ooohhh." There were lots of volunteers on the run portion of the course pointing out the turns (and it was pretty well signed) so that was good.

Overall, after subtracting out the additional minutes for the med tent visit, my run time was as expected.

It was fairly hot. I don't run with a hat as I'm a sweater and the hat doesn't stop the sweat from hitting my eyes and burning. I should look into something else other than a sweatband.

I drank some water and gatorade along the course at two of the aid stations. I didn't have any GI issues on the run like I was having on the bike.

Not crash!

Not much. Walked back to the car. Ice bath when I got home.


Crashing! Not sleeping and the stomach issues.


There were a few logistical issues with the addition of the Olympic.

The website wasn't updated at all; not even with a note to indicate it wasn't being updated and that email was the main way information was being sent out.

The lake was open to participants several days in advance. That was nice. I got my first OWS in before the race.

The bike course was well volunteered for merge lane crossings and the turn around. Intersections with lights had police controlling traffic.

The run was well marked and volunteered. It is so well marked, that in the one long, continuous path through the trees that didn't have any markings, I was wondering if I was off the course because I didn't see any markings. :-)