Realized just as I started my Garmin 310, that I had somehow screwed up the MultiSport mode and when I pressed Start, it didn't look like I got a good start on the watch. So I stopped as I was wading in an lost about 5 or 10 seconds and ended up near the back of the pack, which was fine for me since I'm not a fast swimmer. Checked the watch about halfway through and confirmed that I had not got it started right. No real problem other than I wouldn't have a cumulative time for pacing throughout the race, which was the only reason I wore the watch on the swim.

A little worried about hauling out on the dock instead of shore exit. Had hernia surgery in February and really haven't done any lifting myself out of the pool yet. Turned out to be a non-problem, just did my usual manatee roll up on the the low profile dock :-)

Stretch and relax more before the start, get in a longer swim warm-up. Practice the Multisport mode on my Garmin.

Loooong run from the swim exit to the T1 area. I would guess it was at least 1/8 mile, at least. I'm still not sure if the runtime is counted with the swim time or with the T1 time. I suspect it goes with the swim time. Had a lot of trouble getting the wetsuit off over the calves and hills, I knew I should have taken it off as soon as I exited the water while it still had that lubricating cushion of water in it, but I didn't see anyone else doing that, everyone stripped down the top and ran to T1. So of course being a slave to peer pressure I once again didn't do what I knew I should have done.

Immediate wetsuit removal.

I noticed while on the bike and later while on the run that my HR was consistently in Z4 and Z5. This was a shocker after spending so many miles over the past several weeks working so hard to stay in Z1 and Z2. I really only spent 2-3% of each event in Z1/Z2......mostly in Z4/Z5; I hope this was o.k, HR training is new to me. I assume it was o.k., it felt good the whole way, and I never felt overexerted. I'm amazed at how competitive I get during a race, trying to reel in those in front and chasing those down who pass me. I'm normally not a competitive biker/runner at all.

Nothing.

Easy T2. Though I did take time to put on socks for the run. Though I always bike sockless, the shoes I raced in had given me some blister issues the one time I tested them without socks, so I didn't want to risk it. I'll figure it out before I do my next sprint.

Nothing.

No trouble getting my running legs, though I did notice that I was mostly in Z4/Z5, per my earlier comments. At about 4 miles I intentionally backed the pace way down because I suddenly noticed that I was having considerable discomfort where I had hernia surgery a couple of moths ago. I was severe enough to get my attention so I slowed enough to manage the discomfort, decided not to risk a re-injury for a B race.

I had not really planned to do this race, just mad the decision and signed up 20 days prior to the race. A little unexpected abdominal surgery in February messed up my early season training plans, hence my late decision. And I did no event-specific training for this race, with the possible exception of swim training. I'm training for IMLOU so all of my runs and bike have been done at very low intensity (HR) for the past several weeks.


Great race, great course.