I had a great swim. I seeded just 3 rows back on the outside. I settled in quick and felt comfortable the entire time. Body contact wasn't bad at all. I drafted a bit and had lots of guys tickling my toes. When we rounded the first corner bouy to start the longest straight stretch, the guy I was drafting off kept zig-zagging so I let him go. I actually got stronger as the swim progressed.

At this race last year, my swim time was 36:39. This is my 8th half Ironman. I normally swim between 38 and 36 minutes, so this was a big 70.3 swim PR for me. I spent 206k meters in the pool last year, and this year I'm already up to 145k. I also got in 3 miles of OPWS the week prior. In the future, eventually, I'll get a coach or get my stroke analyzed.

For me, this T1 was a bit of a mess. My TYR Cat5 suit is really hard to take off at the top and it took me half the run up to pull it off. I put on socks this year for the bike. I did a flying jump at the mount line, like I was jumping onto a horse, and my bike almost rocketed into another guy.

Yeah, I'm just going to forget this transition ever happened. It was sloppy and ugly, but it was still somewhat quick. :)

As soon as I got on the bike my HR settled and I opened up my Powerbar Banana bar and slowly chomped away. I then drank my gatorade, and a little later drank a 200 cal bottle of carbo-pro. So in the first 10 miles I took in some solid food and about 650 calories. From there I moved to Gatorade from the aid stations and gel only, and it really worked well for me. I knew from last year that this course was a BEAST. Thankfully we had really cool temps and bone-dry streets (last year was a little humid and the roads were wet in spots from overnight thunderstorms). Last year I treated this race as a "training day" and took the Bike super-ez. This year I had a short taper and the legs were fresh going into this. I know my limitations on hilly courses, so I pushed, but kept my power even as possible.

I was REALLY GLAD I had my derailleur tuned the day before and it made it a lot more enjoyable of a ride, cause with this course you use every gear it seems like almost every 15 minutes. The long climb from mile 23 to 30 didn't seem as bad this year. On all the real steep or long climbs I didn't burn my legs out, I just went into my 12-27 granny gear and spun along.

Aside from the hills, the toughest part of the Bike course for me was the NEVER ENDING PARADE OF CYCLISTS passing me. The great thing about being the first wave after the Pro's was having lots of open water in the swim, and open road on the bike. The bad part was having people in my AG, the 20 year old age groups, 40 and even 50 passing me every 2 mins. I literally had somewhere around 200 athletes pass me from mile 2 to mile 40, and I literally passed maybe - maybe 3 guys if I was lucky. When I look at the AG and OA rank, it doesn't look that bad - but it was tough. I'd never been passed so badly for so long in a race. Very humbling.

This is by far the hardest bike course I've ever ridden. It is very comparable to the Harryman Bike course in difficulty, but because the hills are so different and varying in length and grade (whereas Harryman is a loop course where you can implement more strategy) it is tougher IMO. I was crushed and shocked to see that afterward my OA Bike time was only 2 mins better than last year, but I guess I grinded it out a lot more last year and did not ride as "smart".

I did a good flying dismount. But my wetsuit had slipped into the slot for my bike wheel and it took a good 10 to 15 seconds of fiddling to fix that. I would've been even quicker if not for that. Grabbed my hat, slipped into my shoes, and I was off.

I had to pee at the start of this run. Last year I stopped to pee 2 miles in, and it was the never-ending leak. It took like 2 mins. I was still miserable about the Thanksgiving Day Parade of cyclists who passed me on the Bike and I needed some redemption. Yes I believe I truly am racing against myself, but also I don't train all these hours to feel like I'm going backwards for 70 miles either. So unless my bladder was going to burst, the pee break was going to have to wait.

The first 2 miles are downhill. I immediately passed 3 guys. Mile 3 is rolling and a guy looking really strong went flying past me. Mile 3.5 to 4.5 is the k-swiss mile. It's an escalator straight up, disguised as a dirt road. It's just brutal. It wasn't as brutal as last year but still brutal. I passed another guy and another guy passed me. My right foot fell asleep (this only happens to me in races and I don't know why). Unlike last year I did not walk this section at all and made it to the top.

Next was an out & back of rollers on asphalt. This is my 'bread and butter' kind of running. I passed about a dozen guys on this 2-mile out and back and I was feeling really good. My right upper quad had a slight tinlge of cramp in it, so I knew I couldn't run at 10k race pace - but I knew I could run at a good tempo. At this point some guys were walking and cramping and the wreckage was stacking up a litte. At the aid stations the volunteers were awesome and acknowledging my quick cadence.

After the out & back were more rollers and I passed more athletes on the downhills, and then there is this killer long straight climb (I believe) up to the mile 8 aid station. I walked at this aid station for maybe 10 seconds. After a nice downhill and another small climb, we crossed the main road and I could see Quassy on the right. I really wanted to be done already but I knew I only had 4 miles left and most of it was flat and shaded. I maintained my position at this point, got passed by two guys looking strong, got passed by one of the lead 50-year-olds and then repassed him when he started cramping. I could feel a blister forming under my left big toe at this point, but I knew I just had a few miles left. I didn't have a Garmin on but I knew my pace was slowing. And then I reached the final mile. MAN IS THAT LAST CLIMB CRUEL. I looked at my watch and all I had to do was run a sub 9 min last mile to salvage a sub 5:20. But the last climb is just demoralizing. I was literally mumbling jibberish to myself at this point to keep from walking. Last year I walked. This year I babbled like a crazy person and just shuffled away thinking about my wife and kids waiting for me.

As I crested that last climb I could see one guy in my AG just ahead of me, but thought is it worth killing myself and ruining the picture. I held my form tight and strong, took my hat and glasses off, and put on a big smile for the camera as I passed through the brilliant blue Rev3 arches. And my little family was right there waiting for me :)

I had a really good run, all things considered. I also got some redemption as I started the run 194th OA, 57th in my AG and finished 168th OA, 50th in my AG. So I finished the 70.3 off with a good final 13.1 miles.

I wanted a sub 1:40 run, but considering my flat stand-alone half mary PR this past May was a 1:29, and this is a freaking killer hilly course (and I'd just swam 1.2 and biked a hard 56) I'm very pleased with this time. And I didn't stop to pee once. :)

Kissed the family and hung out with them in the shade.


What limited my ability to perform is a lack of strength on the Bike. I have the endurance, handling skills, experience and I've learned how important nutrition is. I also have my swim fitness to the point where I got on the bike feeling really fresh, but I just don't possess the bike strength to compete with the upper echelon of cyclists. I need to make a decision if I'm okay with that, or buy a computrainer. The terrain on Long Island just cannot replicate a fraction of the terrain on this course. But I'm glad that I paced well within myself and my ability, and it set me up for a good run.


Rev3 once again put on a flawless event. The volunteers were plentiful and very inspiring. Quassy is a small quaint amusement park, but my family spent all of Saturday going on the rides and hanging out at the beach lakeside and we had a really good time. The course is also very beautiful. The entire area of Connecticut is very lush and picturesque. But make no mistake, this is as tough a 70.3 course as they come so be prepared for nothing but hills.