So I have swam a total of about 5000-6000 meters in the last month because of my shoulder and not knowing what was going on. That being said, I did ok. Could I have done better? Sure.

So Dan (SprintDA) and I met up on the beach and decided to start together. They had a time trial start (2 at a time) and we were both shooting for about the same time. I was thinking, with my Galena swim, that I might even come close to sub 10:00. yeah, not so much.

Anyway, they sent us off and my biggest goal was to go hard to the first turn buoy. Dan and I bumped a few times, then I felt him draft for a little bit and then I lost him. I did push it hard to the first turn, and when I turned that is when the wheels started to come off. For the whole race.

I couldn't get a good breath down. No rhythym. Nothing. I was breathing every 2, then every 4, then every 3. Everytime I tried to THINK about doing the same thing each time, something would happen and it would blow apart.

Then I started to realize that my right arm was not pulling as hard as I'm used to pulling. I think I was still a bit tentative about pain. Even though it didn't hurt. It was too lazy on the pull. Left arm was ok.

So, I made the final turn, passed a few more folks (only passed a total of 6-7 people but never got passed) so I think I seeded myself quite well.

Finally beach headed into the sand, stood up and crossed the timing mat at the edge of the water.

Overall a decent swim. Not great, but decent.

Not have a bum shoulder?

Dan passed my just as we got into T1. The race was on, or at least so I thought in my head. Little did I know, I would never catch him again.

Can't believe I took this long. should have been sub 2:00. No excuses. Just bad timing.

Not do my taxes and back some cookies in T1. Slow schmuck taking too much time. I need to rethink my routine.

First and foremost I almost bit it out of T1. This is my 3rd year hear and I've NEVER had this kind of problem. For some reason, I didn't do a running start. Don't know why. Just kicked my leg over the bike, clipped in and then couldn't get ANY power. (uh-oh). Ran over an orange cone but fortunately kept it upright.

Finally got going and kept it in an easier gear for the first mile or two. I had to because I couldn't catch my breath. The swim took more out of my lungs than I thought it would. Then again, not swimming much for over a month will do that to you.

I had originally thought I would attack the hills, like I did in my last ride, by getting out of the saddle to climb the hill and then tuck back in when it leveled out. That went away quickly on the first hill when I could barely keep myself up because I was breathing so hard. Plus there was just the slightest of head winds.

So I changed tactics a little bit. Went as hard as I possibly could on the next downhill and kept it in the harder gears for longer as I went up the other side. Then as I approached the peak, jumped up a bit.

Passed quite a few people but also got passed by a fair share. Finally hit the turn around and had a little bit of a tail wind that made quite the difference. Was topping at around 23 mph on the way back and actually spun out of my gears on the downhills maxing over 34mph. Made for getting up the other side of those hills a bit better.

Took the lone GU with about 15 minutes to go on the bike just as a safety measure.

Eventually turned into the park to come back for the end of the bike. I was 3 minutes slower than I was shooting for (wanted 45:00 or lower). Still, got out of the shoes nicely, and made the dismount without any problems at all.

Overall, the bike was ok, but I know I could have done much better.

Train more. I have missed waaaaaaay too much time in the saddle lately. I've let life excuses get in the way. And that is all they are, excuses. Nobody to blame but myself.

This was a little better. I lost about 3-4 seconds by not grabbing my race belt (fell off the number when I grabbed it) and then starting to run out the wrong direction. I know where the exit is and I still turned the wrong way. Idiot.

Pull my head out of my keister!

And so the true unravelling begins.

They had changed the course back to the same as last year because of the horrendous rains the day before. This mean no hill at the 1/2 mile mark. Fine. I can handle that.

So I tell myself, no looking at the watch. Forget pace, just push it. So I did. Or at least I thought I was. Crossed the dam with another guy and I pulled in behind him to draft for a minute. Thinking, I keep with him, it feels fast, I should be good to go. Not so much. He started to pull away from me quite quickly and I had nothing to go with him. I literally felt like I was pulling my legs through molasses. My feet were barely 3-4 inches off the ground. No knee lift. No kick. Nothing.

I pass by the 1 mile marker, look at my watch and I am crushed. 9:34. You have got to be kidding me. Really? My heart and lungs were ok, but I just could NOT get my legs going. So I thought, ok, you know you can run faster than this so do it. Lean just a little forward. Throw those hands down like you are hammering a nail. Keep the head up, shoulders back. You've done it before, you can do it again.

So I ignored the watch again and didn't look at it again till mile 2. 9:22!?!?!?! SH!T! I just couldn't do it. No matter how hard I felt like I tried to push my legs, they weren't moving.

I. Had. Nothing.

Finally turned into the park, onto the home stretch and the last 0.1 miles. Make it look pretty for the camera's. Smiled at one photog and then tried to have a smile on my face when I crossed the finish line. But inside, I was not happy.

Train. Nuff said.

Walked around. Beth, Becca, Danny and Steph caught up to me. Asked how I did. I grumped and grouched about it. I knew it was bad, but it wasn't till I saw the final results that I found out just how bad it really was. Almsot a full 8 minutes slower than last year.


Not training.

I have nobody to blame but myself. I didn't put in the time and it showed. Just an overall pizz poor performance.


Even thought I had a horrible race, this is still one of the best run races around. Top to bottom, start to finish, Eric Sarno is a great RD. As always I will be back next year. I love this race. IF you have the opportunity, do it. It is worth it.