Wow... did I position poorly for the start of this one... EASILY cost me 60 seconds or so... for the first 4-500 yds, it was a brutal fight for position and clean water... after that, the last 400 yds to buoy #1 and the rest of the way was nice and clean.... good drafting and only one bad decision to pass that brought me back into a pack of pushing etc. Overall, not bad for this day, but with the water conditions that we had, with a better start, I would have liked to see sub 30 on this one!

Start smarter... move the left and focus on clean water vs. shortest distance.

took way too much time. Full change of clothes on this one, and likely not needed.

Swim in tri shorts, only switch out top.

everything was going great on this one... looking to come in under 3:30, which for me would be great on this course. I would love to see my power data going up the 3 sisters, pushing 220 lbs. plus a bike. Then came mile 42... with a loud "POP" from the rear wheel... first thought was a tire blew out... no problem... then, immediately, the rear wheel seized up on the rear brake and I knew what happened... for the 4th time this year, first time while i was on the bike oddly enough, I snapped a spoke.

I tried in vain for a couple of minutes to "wrap" it and re-true the wheel, but ended up walking the last mile or so to the next aid station where I, at that point had assumed my day was over. Well... after talking with the aid station people, they had a spare wheel. Not sure if it would be considered outside assistance or not, I figured, my goal is more personal and if it is a DQ, then it will be appropriately so, but if not, I still did what I could do to finish the race! So.. to that volunteer, thanks for saving my day.

That whole episode took about 30 minutes to cover the mile or so of walking, and getting up and going again.

Not sure, everything was going great right to the snapped spoke! Thinking, with 4 broken spokes this year, it is time to think about another option, the 808's are cutting it for me....

Took this one slow and stopped to talk to my "crew" for a bit, told them not to take my bike out of the transition area like we had planned as it has someone elses rear wheel on it... and for them to look for a guy walking around with a zipp 808 with a broken spoke! ;)

Nothing much, at this point, it had turned into a fun race for me as all goals were out the window!

This is a killer course for us big guys, and I quickly went with a "lets enjoy this" approach... walk all uphills, run the flats and push the downhills... (there aren't any flats!!! lol)

It worked pretty well and I really enjoyed the course. It was great to take in the views and talk to the volunteers vs. my typical grunting/painful response to their enthusiasm.

It was difficult to stay in the race mentally at this point. I knew i would have little problem finishing, but pushing for anything significant just wasnt there...

Walked around and found my wheel!!! ;) Inhaled some post race food and enjoyed talking to my family about the race.


Broken equipment and inability to re-engage in the race after that...


This is clearly a premier event and anyone that is thinking of signing up should do so without any second thoughts. Be ready, it certainly isn't an easy one! Top notch volunteers and course support!

Also, this is the second race that I have used the www.myathletegps.com gear and my family LOVES it!!! instead of waiting for me to slowly make my way around, they sat at Cheesecake factory and watched until I was back to their next cheering spot! I used it at IMWI and they watched from across the country and felt closer to the event than seeing some numbers posted along the way. I would strongly recommend anyone looking at using this type of tracking to take a shot at it... it is a great product!