Swim canceled!!!!

Never have done a time trial start and not 100% this is the way to do it. Since we had to walk so far from our rack to start I just decided to leave my shoes on. They were letting everyone go in pairs every 2-3 seconds. I get up to line and the guy on the left says go but the guy on the rights says “hold!”. WTF, then he says “sorry, go!”. Run the 20 yards to mount jump on and pedal. Surprisingly I clip in fairly quickly and am off. Round a corner and I knew there was a tail wind. Tuck in and crank. All the way to the top of my gears, pedaling easily and I am doing 26mph. I see the riders coming the opposite direction and they look slow and miserable.
First three miles
• Mile 1 – avg 22.9 with max of 28.6
• Mile 2 – avg 24 with max of 27.5
• Mile 3 – avg 25.7 with max of 26.9
Hit a turn around and:
• Mile 4 – avg 16.2 with max of 24.6
• Mile 5 – avg 15.8 with max of 20.6
• Mile 6 – avg 17.7 with max of 23.4
Bikes everywhere and there were times it was simply impossible to not be in a drafting situation. At one point we are climbing up a bridge, wind against us and it was about 8 of us just spinning trying not to be blown over. Roads were typical NOLA roads and there were areas with tons of bottles and CO2 on the ground. Most of the ride was either tucked down trying to ride against the wind or tucked down enjoying a tail wind. Lots of stats of 14-17 mph then next 3 miles would be 21+mph. Got passed a lot but later in the race I passed a whole bunch of folks.
One shout to the (I believe 2nd female pro). I was coming down a hill in aero, munching on a granola bar. I look over and coming the other way is the female pro (I believe I saw Julie Dibens pass first). She makes eye contact and has a huge smile on her face. Not sure if she was having fun or that I looked so dorky that it made her laugh. Either way it was fun.
My aero bottle had Gatorade and my one bottle in the cage had Infinit. Between that and my salt capsules I didn’t bother at the 1st aid station and the 2nd one I grabbed a bottle but didn’t use it until transition. At the 3rd aid station I was yelling for a powerbar. This woman hands me this thing and says “it’s a bit warm.” To be honest it was an unwrapped chocolate powerbar but being warm and twisted up it looked like a turd (sorry, but true). A quick sniff test confirmed it was edible and actually quite good warm.
As I approached transition I took my feet out of the shoes, flying dismount and I was off. Unfortunately my legs were a little slow to respond so my run was more like a shuffle.


Overall about what I was expecting as I was shooting for around 3 hrs. I do believe with easier winds I could have hit a sub 3 hr mark. I spent most of the time in aero position and was a little sore at the end but nothing too bad. More long rides will cure that.

Long a$$ run to my bike rack, ugh. Rack bike switch gear. Put on suntan lotion, sucked down a Perform (Gatorade?) with a couple of salt capsules, Porto break and I was off. They really needed more porto’s in transition and I lost a minute or two there easily in line.

More time on bike or learn how to pee on the bike

Wasn’t expecting a lot from my run but hoped to beat last year’s debacle. First mile it felt like the muscles in my thighs were just flopping around. Weird feeling but it worked out. Skipped the 1st aid station and at the second just grabbed a powerbar. I was doing the short stride with high turnover and it was working for me. I chatted with a whole bunch of runners and folks cheering us on. Lots of people out there and it was great and I was having a blast! I was wearing my BR Tri shirt and got lots of cheers from the members out there. By mile 4 I found that the aid stations had cola and it was wonderful! Every other mile I popped a salt capsule. By mile 6 I was amazed how well it was going. Mile 7 came and I felt a couple of twinges in the knees and quickly started walking a little. By mile 9 both knees hurt and was reduced to run a minute walk a minute. TBH it was a bit of a painfest but I really wanted a decent ½ mary time (although I knew I would not get one). Just kept going and the worst was the final ¼ to ½ mile to the finish line. Lots of people cheering on and felt stupid to walk. Just before the finish line I took off my hat and put on a huge grin. Shelly from my mentor group was there to put on my finishers medal and hand me a 70.3 hat.

Definitely better than last year and I am happy with it. Not sure what I am going to do if I am going for a full short of walking most of the run. I really think I need to get much stronger on the bike which will make my run easier. More run training will also help. I believe my decision is to switch to a HIM and delay my IM dream for another year.

Chugged a bottle of water, walked to stretch, grabbed some food (hmmm Pizza), stopped by the BR Tri tent and headed to the athlete bus back to transition.


Winds on the bike and knees on the run