So I haven't been swimming in who knows how long. A year. I don't know. I figured with a wetsuit, I could just fake it. I think maybe I've put on a few pounds since I last donned the wetsuit. I felt constricted and out of breath. Oh did I mention, my goggles broke in half in my bag because they were so old. Although, that didn't seem to affect much because it was fresh/not salt water. Man did I suck at the swim. every 5-10 strokes I would lift my head up and rest. I was simply lame.

I was dizzy and out of breath coming out of the water. I lounged leisurely in the the transition area.

This is the only event that I have done signficant training on including some very steep mountains, about 1-2 hours a week, depending. Although the last month has been less with work. I was thinking the area around Lake Puddingstone was flat. It is not. No big mountains put plenty of steep little ups and downs. After nearly killing myself on the swim, and feeling like I was made of spaghetti, this was a bitch. It simply would not end. And that was just lap 1. At least with lap 2, I knew what was coming.

In no hurry.

this was 3.3 and not 3.0 according to the race officials. Holy crap, were my legs blasted before starting this run. Then it was all up and down. I never walk in races. I walked almost every uphill in this race. Also, my quads and hamstrings, alternatively strated to threaten to cramp on me. This was a Hell of a "run." Even the top runners finished in a little under a 1/2 hour.

lie on ground. fear cramping. sigh. drink gatorade.


My brain was too small to understand the magnitude of this event. In my head before the race I was imagining this was going to be a little harder than a sprint tri. It was way more difficult than the L.A. olympic tri.


This was an extremely well run event. Well marked, plenty to drink, fun etc. etc. Looking at the distances and presuming mostly flat, i figured I would be done in 1:20 or so. I was out there more than double that. I had no idea, how much up and down there was going to be, including plenty of hopping off the bike to push uphill. This was a Damn hard race that I was not at all prepared for. I was outclassed and humbled by most of the field. In spite of the difficulty it was a great & fun race. As always I need to train and compete more often.