Started towards left, about 15yds from the line. It was a scrum by the time I got to the line. No major hits, but plenty of physical contact. Spent much of the first leg rubbing shoulders with my neighbors. Made the first turn buoy much faster than I thought. On the return leg, I did get elbowed in the goggles, letting in some water. It hurt a bit, but I didn't even bother breaking my stroke. I must have got disoriented though, because before long I realized I was swimming all by myself, and was way out by the kayakers. Finished the first loop in 50 minutes and prepared myself for another 50 in the water.

Second loop was less eventful than the first, and I focused on staying close to the buoys, which was easy as most of the crowd had thinned out. As I approached the beach, I started to make out the time clock and to my disbelief, it still hadn't registered 1h30m. Reignited, I started digging, time seemed to drag on for awhile, but I eventually got to my feet and crossed the mat at just over 1h29m

Not trust others to do my sighting for me.

Everything went fairly smooth. Gametime decision between sunglasses and eyeglasses, I brought both, and was glad I did.

I probably went too hard on the first lap, but I really felt like I was saving my energy. Spun up the first climb out of town, in the rain, eating my cliff bar. Coasted into Keene as things dried up, settled into a rhythm on the flats all the way to AuSable Forks and back to Jay, and hit the climb to Wilmington. Everything was going off without a hitch up to this point. I was drinking regularly, had taken 3 endurolytes and gooed twice, in addition to my first cliff bar. Saw my brother and his GF just after Wilmington and was still feeling great. I don't know exactly where things started to tighten up, but I know things started to drag after going past the campground down to the 3 bears. It was somewhere in this stretch that my pill bottle fell out of my jersey. I wasn't too concerned, just meant I would have to drink more Perform, easy adjustment. I got some energy back going up the bear, the crowd there was awesome as I did my best to "dance on my pedals" all the way up. Kept the energy solid all the way through town. Grabbed my second cliff bar out of special needs. Reminded myself to store that energy from the crowds in town for later.

Ate my second Cliff bar after getting out of town, but by this point my legs were feeling pretty weak. By the time I hit the turn in Keene my neck was so stiff I couldn't turn to check my shoulders, so I became very cautious when passing people. I was still drinking plenty and was beginning to take bananas at each aid station. Also took a couple powerbars, which seemed to keep the legs from burning for a few minutes, but I really wanted my endurolytes. The flats were a drag as I struggled to keep a respectable cadence. So, I was happy to hit the climb out of Jay and going uphill really seemed to give me some more fuel for awhile. And that is how it went the rest of the way back to LP. Struggle with keeping the cadence on the flats or false flats and then stretch the legs on the climbs. Passed people on the climbs, but got passed by many more on the flats.


Stuck my pills in my bento box instead of my jersey, so they wouldn't have fallen out. More bike miles, more long rides.

Forgot to take my bike shorts off, realized it in the portajohn, went back and found my bag where I left it... quick fix.

Settled into a nice rhythm right out of transition, but of course, it's all downhill. Just after the second aid station is when I got caught by Sandy, a 7-time LP finisher and former Kona Qualifier. She was a bit of a local celebrity, and seemed to know everybody on the run course. We chatted away the first 4 miles at a pretty comfortable pace. But she began moving much faster than me after mile 4 and we parted ways. I continued shuffling to the next aid station, which is where the wheels came off my race, completely.

I wanted to take some extra nutrition so I started walking and doubled up on water and powerade with some oranges and a banana. As I went to pick up the shuffle again, I realized my left ankle was beginning to tweak out a bit, at that point I just took note. But by the time I got to the next aid station there was a fairly constant scream coming from my ankle, and so I resigned myself to walk much and run little. Not even half way done with the first lap, I was now in preserve mode.

This was a dark period for me, I really had to come to terms with the idea that something had gone wrong which necessitated adjusted expectations. I fought with the idea of pushing through the pain, since I felt like I had plenty of strength and my pulse was not even a consideration. I held back, though, because I wanted to finish. I knew I could walk to the finish, I didn't know if I could run with way my ankle was feeling, and so walk I did. For hours I would pick short milestones, run to the light pole, walk to the driveway, run the rest of the way to the aid station, etc.

The worse part of the day was walking through town, even downhill. I tried to run down the hill from the Brewery to start my second lap, and realized that was no good for me, and so I walked. Second lap went much the same as the first. Shortly after the first aid station, a guy offered me a piece of chewing gum which I gladly accepted and we ran together for the next couple of miles, until my ankle's screaming out drowned out the chewing gum euphoria. And then I walked.

I hit 10k to go with about an hour of daylight left, and started to think I might be able to push it back by dark. The sunset was awesome on the way back past the ski jumps and horse grounds, but I wasn't going to be racing it today, like I had so many times in training. I resolved myself to run the last mile, and that is what I did, but of course, it was downhill. The energy coming back through town was great, and for the last quarter mile, I was able to forget my pain and disappointment. As Mike Reilly read my name, I pumped my fists in my best attempt at a strong statement of "Hell yeah." But all the pictures seem to show a look on my face that says something more like "Finally, it's over."


dunno on this one, probably could have done better on nutrition, but that didn't really get tested.

Walked around, ate a sandwich, drank a couple bottles of water. Changed out of my race gear. And went back to the finish area to wait for Eddie to finish. Found a warm spot next to a generator with a good view of jumbotron to watch people coming in. Oh yeah, went to the medical tent with a body catcher right after the race to get some ice for my ankle, so I was icing that as I waited in the finish area. Greeted Eddie and got some pizza with her. Cleaned up transition and waited for the roads to open so we could get to our special needs bags. Finished the night off with a half dazed drive back to camp, getting to bed just a bit after 1am.

Had to drive back to DC on Monday, so we left early. The plan was to leave by 6am to make it back in time for class, but that got derailed as soon as the alarm went off at 5. Instead we got up and took our time, found a dinner and got steak and eggs. Finally rolled down 87 at around 9.

The ankle didn't really start swelling until Tuesday, but Monday was interesting as Eddie and I gimped our way back to DC.


Bike fitness, ankle pain.