The swim started off with a time trial start and I was up towards the front. I haven't done too many open water swims and I should have been more careful with my sighting. I tried to stay about 4 feet off the right wall, but I was not swimming very well. I was all over the place in the canal. My family got to walk right along side me while I was swimming and it was very motivational. The water was pretty warm, but there was a section with about 600 yards to go that went under a bridge that got really cold. It took my mind off of how badly I was swimming though.
Right before the end, as a great example of how horribly I was sighting, I ran into the wall as the canal tightened up. My wife saw the whole thing and is not going to let me forget that for awhile.

I need to practice sighting more and improving my stroke over the winter. If I want to get better I need to make sure that I actually get serious about how to swim. I really felt I wasted a lot of energy here that could have been used later in the race.

I took a little extra time getting my feet dry before putting my socks on as I wanted them to be as dry as possible. Turns out, as you will see later, that it was a waste of time.

I actually need to rehearse my transitions. I think with a little more practice I won't feel like I have left something behind. I just needed to trust that I had everything I needed and go.

I really wanted to put on a show with the bike. I knew that I was going to suffer on the run but I was going to go at it on the bike. There were a couple of places where I couldn't go as hard as I wanted to because of the road being so bumpy. I did a really great job of cornering and I think that helped me move up a couple of places. There were a couple of places where I got caught in traffic, but it wasn't too bad overall. I didn't see really anyone drafting except for one small group of three, which ticks me off in an endurance race like this. I wanted to get up the muster to pass them, but I couldn't get my legs to power up there.

I'm going to break down this winter and get two things. A proper bike fit and an aero helmet. I've been slacking off in my workouts lately and it showed on the course. I know I can go a lot faster than this, I just have to start following a plan.

I couldn't get my bike racked because of the way that people had put their bags and the racks where too low. I should have come in and mounted the bike by the handle bars instead of the seat. I got my shoes on quickly and the helmet off, but I was convinced I missed something.

Bring the gel packet that I forgot. I also will learn to rack the bike by the handle bars because it seems to work faster when the racks are low.

Wow, I suck at running. I knew that since my hip injury I haven't been able to put in the miles that I needed to, but I thought I would get some form of adrenaline rush being out there and I could get through it. That was a bad idea. I started off slow and seemed to get slower. My shoes didn't help me at all. They were like two ton bricks that I was lugging around. I tried a pair of running socks that I used once in training for a short run for this race and that was a HUGE mistake. These socks had a ton of cushioning that socked up all the water that I dumped over my head. I should have gone with the socks that I usually train with that are thin and moisture wicking.
I also forgot one of my gel packets in transition and I didn't have any more on me. I was planing on taking my second gel after the second lap, but I used gatorade instead. I don't train with gatorade, so that affected me a little bit.
My original run/walk strategy didn't work out anywhere close to what I had planned. I thought I would just run to the aid stations and walk the first tenth of a mile afterwards then run to the next one. I feel like I walked more than I ran, but when I pushed it I could feel my heart rate skyrocket. I jogged the final three tenths of a mile and nearly died at the finish line. I was about to collapse and started to hyperventilate. I just forced myself to stay upright and walk around. About 30 minutes later, I started to see normally again. That is the hardest I've ever pushed my body.

I need to run more. There is simply no getting around it. I don't enjoy running at all but I love this sport and if I want to get better it comes down to the run. This is another major focus this winter. I also need to make sure that I pack enough gel packets to get me through the run. I had more pockets available on my tri tank and in my tri shorts and on my race belt that there really isn't an excuse why I didn't have one available.

I walked around until I stopped seeing spots and my vision returned to normal. I grabbed some more gatorade and a mt. dew to see if I could get some sugar and caffeine in me. I couldn't even think about eating as my food was all in knots.


My run is my most limiting factor. I signed up for a half mary in October, so hopefully that helps my run training. I think my swimming is something that is easily correctable, but I'll just have to see how the winter conditioning program goes.


The post race food leaves a lot to be desired. Even though my stomach couldn't handle it, my family would have enjoyed something to eat while we were sitting around waiting for me to recover. The other issue is how long it takes them to post results. They are very slow putting up results and they don't post them to the web until late that evening. The bike course was really bumpy, but that was expected because that's the way downtown Indianapolis is. I love the venue, but they really need to work on these few things to improve this race. That being said, I will be back next year and hopefully about 20 pounds less and kill this time.