Water felt great. I hadn't swam a yard since Racine 70.3 in July. Still, felt good.

The course navigation was weird, though. On the turnaround for the first loop, I thought I was heading toward the correct buoy (big, orange thing), but it turned out to the one sitting in the boat for the Olympic distance course! The second time around, there was a boat spectator that wasn't there previously. It wasn't blocking the way, really. Just kind of threw me off.

Learn how to navigate. Know the course.

I'm pretty good with transitions, usually. Suit came off quick, then put helmet and sunglasses on. Shoes already clipped in.

Nothing.

Nice course, overall. No climbs whatsoever. (I think the biggest climb was the overpass for Hwy 57.) The thing that made this challenging was the strong wind coming out of the NW. GREAT when heading east or south, but a real leg-shredder when heading into the wind.

Definitely slowed on second loop.

Road conditions were fine, but there were some areas with gravel on the road. Also, traffic was not closed. Since this is a truly rural area, this was not much of a factor. I did see one HUGE farm tractor (at least 2 stories tall, with the largest tires I've ever seen) at one point on the course. Luckily, I was headed the opposite way and not behind this monster.

A more aero set-up would likely help, but just more training would help more.

Not my real T2 time!

Coming into T2, I saw my family and some friends, and I totally forgot to dismount before the timing mats! Some guy ran over to me and said that the mats didn't record me coming into transition. I put on my shoes, then ran to the "bike in" mats, then directly to the "run out."

Actually dismount my bike at the proper time. A dismount line would have been a good reminder.

My run generally stinks, but this time was surprisingly an improvement over my last HIM. I actually ran the course, with only a brief stop for stretching after mile 1, and brief stops at (every) water stop for a quick drink. I just can't run and drink from cups...

Run more bricks. While an improvement over my last race of this distance, the run portion was a good 30 minutes over my stand-alone half marathon PR.

Ran across the finish with my girls, which was fun. Got a Coke and pizza, then took off. Stopped at the Cracker Barrel in Mattoon for lunch.


Training, or lack thereof.


Nice, small race. Not very fancy, but well run. Super friendly volunteers, families and racers.

I agree with other reports: this is definitely about the athletic endeavor, not about the goody bag/sponsor/post-race party. I would do this again next year.