I was happy with my swim, however the swim was crazy again. I was 12 minutes faster on the swim this year compared to last year. I was fighting for position the entire race, only had clear water for about 5-10% of the time. Constantly had to stop, turn, re-adjust to get around, over or through other swimmers. It was combat the entire time. I felt more aggressive this year and basically fought for my position and area much more than last year.

I did have the first signs of cramping in my legs during the swim. Nothing major that I couldn't deal with.

Beside being able to swim the course by myself, there is not much you can do to get open swimming space. I'm not fast enough to get out in front so I am stuck in the masses.

Got prepared and felt pretty good about the time. It seems long but there is really a lot of territory to cover. I had about 1/4 mile from changing to my bike. I ran this in my socks and put my shoes on at my bike which was right by the transition exit/bike mount area. I also stopped for sun screen and hit the port o john.

I felt really good heading out. First of three stops happened early in the ride. Speedo stopped working, first time ever, I had to stop and adjust the sensor on the wheel, took about 1 minute.

It was amazing the difference getting out of the water quicker and riding with faster competition makes. I felt great heading out, weather was still cool but rapidly heating up. For the first 40 miles or so I averaged over 20 mph. My average speed took a big hit when I dropped my chain on the first real climb of the day. I lost about 10 minutes here as the chain got wedged between the sprocket and bottom bracket. REALLY frustrating to watch about 100 people ride by as I struggled to get the chain unstuck and remounted. Finally got it fixed and got rolling again. Took a few minutes to get the legs back up to speed again.

It was now starting to get hot outside. Eventually it heated up to about 86 degrees. My legs were starting to cramp and I could feel it on the big climbs. I started taking in endurolytes and this seemed to help. I was also dumping water on my head/body at each aid station to try and keep cool.

About half way through the ride my computer stopped working again. Funny how this only happens during a race, I have over 5000 miles the past three years and it never happened before. Anyway I decided to ride by feel for awhile as I didn't want to push to hard with the heat and cramping. The wind had also started to pick up and I was now riding straight into it. Finally got around to the back side of the loop and was able to benenfit from the wind and pick the speed back up. I stopped once again on the top of the last climbe to fix the speedo. I had my fastest pace on the last 20+ miles of the race aided by the wind. I did hold back somewhat as I knew I was going to have a long hot run ahead of me.

I had a few rough moments dealing with the heat and some sore feet, but I tried to think about family, friends and of course that I was racing for the Wounded Warrior Project. I reminded myself that I was lucky to be able to compete in such an event. It was 9/11 and I have seem so many go through so much more, this helped to bring me around.


Overall I was happy with my ride. I wanted to beat my time from last year and did so by about 9 minutes. I lost a little over 10 minutes to mechanical issues, but that is all part of the race.

Good transition. Dried my feet, covered them in bodyglide, covered all other areas which generate friction with liberal amounts of bodyglide and headed out the door. I then got covered in sunscreen and hit the port o john prior to heading out on my run. It was very hot at this point and I knew it was going to be a long run.

It was really hot at this point. In the first mile I was already passing numerous folks walking. I knew it was going to be a long hot run. I was not feeling that great. I wanted to run the whole thing but quickly realized this was simply not in the cards. I was now trying to run between aid stations without stopping. This was going OK for the first 6 or so miles, then I started slowwing down. I was getting light headed and had to walk/run basically the last 20 miles or so. Luckily I met another guy on the course and we did the last 20 miles together. No doubt we pushed each other and kept our motivation up. I had some really rough moments on the course. I was using sponges, ice, fluid to stay cool and trying to keep taking in some nutrition. I was really fighting to keep moving.

In comparison to last year, I was 7 minutes slower. There was way more carnage on the run, I would say that the majority of folks were walking vice running. Despite my slow pace I was actually still passing people all the way to the finish. I saw a friend who was hoping to Kona qualify in my age group having a rough day. I even saw the #1 and #2 pro males walking so it looks like the course was taking its toll on everyone.

When the Sun started to set it started to cool down and I was able to start running more again. Finish line was a relief.

The finish line catchers caught me and wouldn't let me go. I must not have looked very good as they walked me around the shoot for about 10 minutes, got me water, blanket etc. They were great and much appreciated.


Heat and lack of electrolytes leading into the race.


I finished about 19 minutes faster than last year. I think I was much fitter than last year and was happy to finish after a tough day. I probably left about 20-25 minutes on the course due to the mechanical issues on the bike and poor nutritional prep. Overall I was happy with my performance, I had a PR, improved my performance within both my age group and overall rankings and did so under some tough conditions.