This was a great swim for me. Megan asked me about my goals and I said 33 minutes, so making my first time goal is a great way to start a race. Sighting was only slightly difficult going out, cuz of the sun but I stayed on course. Never really found a good set of feet to get on. Only minor bumping at the first turn buoy. Concentrated on my breathing and grabbing a lot of water. Sighted every 5-8 strokes. Very happy with this swim. Next year I plan to break the half hour for this distance. :)

Nothing

Slow transition, but there was a 1/4 mile run from the beach to transition. So I can't complain. Wetsuit strippers got my suit off in a jiffy. Grabbed my transition bag, headed for the tent, pulled my gear out, and a volunteer stuffed my wetsuit for me.

Speed it up

For the first 30-45 minutes I was feeling awesome, but thinking about Dime and how he should be here for this. I was staying on my target power output and feeling comfortable. Taking in fluids and just happy to be racing in the sun in November. I made a turn onto one of the numerous highways and saw a massive peloton. I thought well I expected this. Forget it and just do your own thing. Not long after that I made the same turn as the group and saw another group behind me. I put my head down, spiked my power a little, and tried to stay in front of them. Saw another pack shortly after that which honestly looked about 50 riders strong. Managed to stay in front of both packs until the bridge and then they just blew past me. One guy in the pack asked me how it was going and I replied "Going well, but you guys are an 'effing joke". He didn't like that much. I told Meg I thought I could do 2:15 here and nailed it (by myself)!

Nothing. I'm happy with how I raced.

Not much to comment on. Just handed my bike off. Got my shoes on. Stopped to pee and was on my way. High fived my awesome wife on the way out.

Not pee in transition, but running in pee soaked shoes sucks!

Got outta T2 and really just concentrated on a high turnover. My HR was abnormaly high, but I felt alright. I hit the bridge and my quads started to cramp a little bit. I thought "Ok this isn't good, but it's not bad either. I can still run on these legs." About 3 miles in Michellie Jones passed me and I tried to keep her in my sights for the rest of the lap. Did a decent job too. I paid the price for that on the second lap. My turnover turned into a lope and I went into damage control. The tongues on my shoes weren't centered and I could feel my Yankz laces rubbing the skin off the tops of my feet. I started hitting the Coke at the aid stations and before I knew it was making my final climb up the bridge. I started smiling at the Ford Motivational Mile and kept it on my face till the finish. Meg has the only picture of me smiling in a race ever!

Chillout! My average HR was the same as what I do for an open half marathon. I should've have slowed down early and my pace would've been more consistent for the whole race. I missed my goal time on the run by 3 minutes and I really think poor pacing was to blame.

Sat down! Does that count? Stretched a little.


Pacing on the run, but all other splits were as predicted. Just got a little greedy too early.


Not much to comment on. As I said I'm happy with my performance, and although my placing wasn't all that great I can say unequivocally that I am not a cheater. I raced to the best of my ability. My average HR for the entire race was 164. I've never pushed myself that hard in a 70.3. 2009 is done. I've got a couple weeks unstructured and then on to base building for Ironman St. George.