I realized during my warmup that I was a 'little tired' from the day before. But I though hey this is only 1500m I swam 2.4 miles yesterday in really tough conditions. I took off hard at the start to get away from the pack and then settled into a good smooth stroke. Rounded the first bouy and started the long down river stretch with the current slightly against us. I increased my turnover to compensate for the current, but still tried to maintain an easy relaxed pace. When I reached the second turn bouy my heart rate was really up there I think more from overally exhaustion than anything. I focused on sighting, aiming a little to the right of the exit to compensate for the current and taking it easy to bring the heart rate back down. I swam until I touched bottom and then took two more strokes and stood up.

Not swim 2.4 miles the day before :)

I really thought I took it easy on this transition. At this point in the race I really didnt think I had a chance of placing so I wasnt killing myself. Maybe that is the secret to a fast transition time, relax!

I do think I could have run faster from the water to T1.

I really didnt know what to expect on the bike. I knew I was tired, but figured lets air it out and see what happens, if I blow I blow. I started off on the initial flats with a good cadence and felt okay. I really made sure I was taking in a lot of fluid as I knew that I was still slightly dehydrated from the day before. (this would come back to haunt me later) I reached the first hill and was actually glad to see it. After spending 112 miles on dead flat windy roads the day before it was a welcome relief to actually be able to use some different muscles when pedaling. The second hill is the monster, after a sharp left turn you see it looming in front of you with what appears to by cyclists nearly standing still on their bikes! I figured lets do it and attacked the hill. About midway I got out of the saddle and just climbed. HR was up but I was still feeling pretty good. From memory the rest of the course was flat so what did I have to loose I would recover. Needless to say when I saw big hill #3 I thought uh oh that attack on that hill might not have been the wisest choice. This one I was a little more conservative on, I was starting to get more into a survival mode on the bike. I was really done and wanting to get off of my bike. The rest of the ride is somewhat uneventful untill you get back near the transition area and you get a series of speed bumps. The guys honking their horns and screaming were kind of fun too!

Not bike 112 miles the day before :)

I really was relatively slow in this transition. I have always felt that transitions are free time, you have to train real hard to take seconds off of your swim or run times, but transitions just take a little practice. But this one I was really wiped and basically muddled my way into my running shoes.

same as above..

Once I started running I felt really good to be off of my bike. I never thought that I would say it, but I was a little sick of cycling at that point :) I felt good, except all that hydration had now caught up to me. I had to pee really bad. I knew that most of this run was open corn fields and really wished that I had hit a port a john when I was leaving transition, but at that point I was like no way I can hold it. Well after running about a 1/4 of a mile I realized that I couldnt and needed to come up with plan B. I saw some woods coming up on the left and figured this might be my only shot, so I kept a nice running pace and veered to the left, through a ditch across tall grass and into the woods. I really thought that I would never stop as I must have really overhydrated on the bike! Finally finished and feeling quite relieved I bounded across the ditch again and back on the road. I think my avg speed pace picked up about 1 min per mile at that point I felt so good. I made it to the turnaround (nice little down hill that you then get to turn around and come right back up) and then saw all of the people behind me. I figured if I didnt want to get passed by a bunch of people I needed to pick it up a little on the way back. At about mile 5 I heard footsteps closing in on me fast and just hoped there wouldnt be a 45,46,47,48 or 49 on his calf. No such luck a 48, he passed me easily and I knew that there was no way I could hang at his pace for another 1.2 miles so I watched him pull away. I hoped that he really was as fast as he seemed and that I just wasnt slowing down that much. I finally got back to the finish area and turned the corner to the finish chute, really glad that I was done!

maybe not take in quite so much fluids on the bike.

Talked to some friends, watched some other friends finish and went for a swim in the river to cool down. Showered and got changed and waited for the results. Initially I counted down that I was 4th in my AG. I was really pleased. Then it turned out that the guy in 1st had only done the swim and bike, so I moved up to 3rd. I was really suprised. Ate a great BBQ sandwich, in fact went and got some cash and bought a second. I was really hungry.


Definately the race the day before, but I knew that going in. This was going to be a fun training weekend and a chance to hang out and race with some friends. Whatever the result would be they would be.


Laurie and the rest of the RMS staff do a great job. The food and volunteers at Naylors are some of the best in triathlon!