Got set up right in the front row and saw a few guys that looked like swimmers. I asked them what they thought they would swim and they said 25-26. I mentioned we might want to work together and they were all for it. So the horn went off and I darted for the first bouy. I had literally 25 yards of dolphin dives until I got to a point where I could swim. At that point I was about 4 body lengths ahead of everyone in the AG. I got settled into a solid pace which was not to hard or to slow. By the 3rd marker I had two other guys with me. I turned the first orange marker 1st and it got really backed up with some of the waves in front of us. I lost one guy and he was ahead of me by about 2-3 body body lengths but I just let him go. I was not willing to fight the waves in front of me so I went a different route. One other guy sat right on my feet. By the time we hit the return home I was done with the guy drafting off me and started to pick the pace up. I dropped it hard and lost him. I caught the guy in front of me and was just content with drafting him until I got into shore.

In all I must have swam through 4 different colors of swim caps in front of me. Going in almost the last wave of the day is bad if your a good swimmer. I could have easily been 2 mins faster if I didn't have to swim through so much traffic. I just didn't think it was worth it to push so hard as the course is much tougher than anything I've ever done to date.

One other thing to note. My quads where cramping on the swim. Never had that happen before. Was a little worried about that.

Nothing.

Took my time here. Getting out the long shoot was messy. Some really bad cyclist out there. I had to dodge a few people to get up to speed and then some really psycho guys who were trying to win the overall race out of T1. Dude was screaming at everyone to move over. What a nut case.

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Early in the week I was worried about the hills. After I rode a bit of the course on Saturday I was feeling better. I decided not to attack until after Marsh hill and stay really controlled. My quads were a little funky still and I was worried as they didn't feel 100%. But I just kept on it. It's tough to gague how hard your going early on as I started so late and literally must have passed over 1000 riders on the course. That sucks.

Made it out to the flat section and I felt great. I was riding 30-32 MPH for almost all of that section and felt super. Breathing was great and position felt good as well. Made it out to the 28 mile turn around and felt fantastic.

Another 1-2 miles down the road I felt my back wheel wobble or something. So I asked the guy I was passing if I was flat or he could see anything on the disk that looked off. He tells me I am flat and the wheel is wobbling a little. So I pulled over to check it. Bad move. I lift my leg over the frame of the bike and my right quad locks up. Bam. Get that stretched out and check the wheel. Nothing. May have lost some pressure but it was not flat by any means. The tire was so hard I could not even press on it with my fingers. In the mean time I must be sitting there for about 2-4 mins. People wizzing by me like mad. I can't pull back into the mix because there are so many people coming and the shoulder of the road is so narrow.

I finally get moving and realize I got passed by about 3 guys in my AG. I was not happy about that. I catch and pass 2 of them and then rode for about 10 miles with one guy. We decided to work together to get back to the hills. We rode legal the entire way and when we hit the hills he took off. I just wanted to save what I had left for the run so I decided not to chase him down. One other guy with a Timex jersey in my AG is the only other guy that passed me out there. He was about 140 lbs and rocketing up the hills.

The last half mile of the bike it started to rain lightly. Perfect timing.

On a fun note I hit 50+ MPH on Marsh hill. I was in the 53/12 and killing it until about half way down. Then I looked at the speed and near crapped myself. Fun stuff.

Not listen to some jamoke about my flat tire and be about 2-3 mins faster? Who knows. But if I was flat I would have had to stop anyway. I'm not mad just a little frustrated.

Overall the gears on the bike were great. Hills were fun and I loved it.

Nothing here. Quick stretch and on my way.

Nothing

Legs where shot coming off the bike. Back up, legs were kind of shot coming off the swim. So I was a little worried. Started off controlled and my legs responded well. I felt better running than anything else I did all day.

Light rain for the entire run. Felt nice.

7:03
6:57
6:48
6:57
7:21
7:29
8:43
7:35
7:27
7:26
8:06
8:30
7:49


Used coke at every other aid station on the first loop. Walked only the big hill on the way back for about 10 steps. Pace was good. I was happy with 7 min mile pace and felt ok.

2nd loop came quickly and I was feeling good. Now I decided to take coke and gatorade every aid station for the 2nd loop. Made it out to the section of the course with the bubble machine and I started to feel it. Once I got back onto lake shore drive or what ever it's called I was falling apart. My quads were done and my feet and calfs were on their way. The last 3 miles where tough. I didn't make any stupid deals with myself but I just started doing math and tried to figure out how much more I had to deal with the pain. Up the last big hill I walked about half of it. It was a smart move as I was moving about as fast as everyone else running and it felt better on my legs. Got to the top of that and just decided to gut it out to the finish. Pace was slow but I was moving forward. What do you know? Guy in my AG passes me. I didn't want any parts of that so I took off and repassed him. He didn't stay with me so I just eased off and made the last left turn into the finish shoot. All alone down the shoot I was happy as could be. The run went quick but I just was glad to be done. Happy to finish and glad to be doing 70.3 again.

I mean lets face it. Two years + ago I was enjoying this distance and starting to figure it all out. Then injury after injury. So I don't know what I would do differently. Not get a coach again? But that's all in the past and now all I can do is focus on what works for me. I mean those of you who are friends with me know I only ran about 500 miles this year. You also know that it's not enough to be in the top 3 AG @ 70.3 as well. I know what kind of work it's going to take and I'll get there, I just will take my time and let it happen over months and years. Injury to the level I had it is not an option any more. So what would I do differently? I'd run more and take my time at building fitness and speed. But more importantly I have a different family life now. 2 years ago my daughter was only 2 years old. Now I have a son that age and my daughter is 5. So family life is 1st. If I get back to where I was, then so be it. If not I'm happy right where I am. I don't need the 4+ hour bike rides and 2 hour runs. I'd much rather hang out with my kids and not miss that part of my life. :)

Went right to the massage tent and sat for about 1 hour in the cold rain. Got the massage, got dressed into some warm clothes and ate with my wife. We went back to the car and packed up and got ready to get out of there.


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Great race and a beautiful area of the country. Good fun.