Well my 1st 200 to 400 meters was just awful. Felt like I couldn't catch my breath and went to a kayak 3 times just to get my heart rate under control. Couldn't believe it was happening as I wasn't even nervous going in. Must've wasted 10 minutes or so between the going to and hanging on to the kayak's. After the last time decided to just focus on nothing but my stroke and clear my mind and I just did my thing the last 1000 meters or so. As I got into my rhythm I found myself frustrated with myself for the beginning as I'm still not sure what happened with me.

Relax! Not sure what else as I thought I was good to go.

Ok transition. Gathered myself and ran to my rack which was right inside transition. Made sure I grabbed a GU and downed some drink and off I went. Felt like I had to run for over a minute to get to the mat at the end of T1.

Could definitely rush a bit more but just wanted to make sure I was prepared for the ride.

Wanted to pace myself around 1:20 to 1:25 for the bike and basically did that. Left a few minutes out on the course but wanted to try and keep my legs somewhat fresh for what promised to be a long, hot run. Found myself around 4 to 5 other people who were about the same speed as I was going so we did some passing back and forth with each other which kept the ride from being boring. On the second loop I passed them and sped up some to lose them as I did feel like I had some good energy left.

Probably just push the bike more and get out of it what I can instead of worrying about the run.

Ok transition. Didn't want to run too hard through transition as I knew the run was going to be brutal as I saw a lot of people walking as I came back through the park.

Starting running out of T2 and felt surprisingly ok if not very hot. Legs seemed ok and energy seemed ok. Ran at what felt like a more than comfortable pace for the 1st mile and hit the marked at 8:13. Was very happy with that and even harbored thoughts of pushing it a bit more. About 1 minute into my 2nd mile I felt it on an uphill part - my right hamstring just locked up. I stopped and tried to walk it out and it started feeling better. Started running again and again the next uphill just stopped me dead in my tracks and I almost dropped to the ground. Managed to stretch it out a bit but knew then that there would be a fair amount of walking to get through anything resembling an uphill. Probably walked 20 to 25 minutes of the 1 hour plus but that was the only way to not DNF and that wasn't going to be an option.

Need a better nutrition plan to held ward off cramping, etc. especially in the brutal heat.

Grabbed waters, cokes, pizza and anything else not nailed down as was just spent and starving. Forgot about the misting tent so bummed about that. Talked to the Ryan's Quest guys who were there and sat in some shade and drank/ate. Just wouldn't stop sweating.


Not enough training and I knew that. Also not paying enough attention to all the info on this site about proper nutrition both everyday and on race day especially given the heat.


What can you say about this race. Just the best there is and can't wait to take it on again next year but be able to race it hard and not worry about just finishing.