Clearly this swim was long. Even if you look at the pro's the swim was long. Race officials said it ended up almost 300M long. I started out on the inside by myself and went out quick and then settled into a good pace. We caught the prior wave pretty quickly and I had to go around quite a few people. Caught the wave before that just after the turnaroun and had to zigzag around them as well. I'm sure some of the zigzagging cost me time but we were all in the same boat.

Pulled cap and goggles off and pulled wetsuit to my waste. Got to my transition and had to sit to get wetsuit off. Put on helmet and sunglasses and I was off. Shoes were clipped on bike and slipped my feet into my shoes once I got on the Congress bridge.

My legs just did not feel really good for this entire ride. This is a 4 loop course and I decided just to go at a steady pace for the first 2 laps. Pace was good although legs felt flat. I was going back and forth with a guy for the last part of the 2nd lap but my plan was to pick up the pace on the 3rd and 1/2 of 4th lap. Once we got to the 3rd lap I hit it hard and dropped the guy. I hit it hard until I had maybe 2 miles to go and just really tried to spin as much as possible while maintaning a good pace.

I've had LOTS of trouble with cramping on the run in my last 4 races no matter what race distance, so I wanted to be conscious of how my legs felt. I also changed my hydration strategy on the bike. I don't take in any calories during an Oly because I just can't absorb them and I've been sticking with just 1 water bottle on the bike and I'd maybe drink 1/3 of it.

Today, I mixed a water bottle with 1 scoop of Gatorade Endurance and put in 2 SCaps so I could get more sodium. This worked out really well. I pretty much drank the whole bottle and it definitely made a difference as I had NO cramping on the run.

Feet were out of my shoes on the bridge and I coasted down to dismount line and got off bike. Put on hat and shoes and started running as I was putting my race number on.

Just like the swim the run was long. They had to add an extra block onto the run course this year because of the construction. This probably added 1/2 mile to the run.

I started out not feeling very well as I just couldn't get my legs to turn over. As I was on the first out/back section I saw Jim behind me and I figured he'd catch me because of the way I was feeling. Then I remembered he was probably in the Invitational wave and started 25 minutes before me and was on his 2nd lap. I was running by people so I figured even though I wasn't feeling great my pace as ok. I figured if I could just keep a decent pace for the first lap I could try to pick it up on the 2nd loop. It was great going by the Jack and Adams station as people congratulated me on my Kona slot as I went buy. :)

I grabbed water at every aid station and drank or poured it on my head to keep cool. I'm going to have to get used to that as the heat will be the biggest issue at Kona. I was able to pace with a guy up the bridge on the 2nd loop until we got to the last turnaround where it was pretty much downhill for the last mile and I decided to tough it out and run past him.

This really wasn't a great run as I just felt like I couldn't get my legs to turn over. The run pace is deceiving because the run was long so I'm curious to know what it really was.

Hung out and got re-hydrated and ate pizza. Talked to all the guys and just had a good time.


This is a fun race but I do think they charge to much for it. I think next year I'll race in the Invitational wave.