The swim started off really well. I was about mid-pack, maybe a little further up. There wasn't too much contact, and I held my own reasonably well. There were a lot of feet to draft off of, and everyone seemed reasonably matched up.

Once we hit the first turn, we were swimming right into the sun. It was completely blinding. I was completely unable to navigate. I tried to keep the other swimmers beside me and just hoped that they would go straight.

By the halfway marker I was pushing a solid 1:52 pace, which I was pretty happy with. But right beside the halfway marker while I was blinded I ended up crashing into another swimmer. I looked up at the kayak and asked if that was the turnaround buoy. She said no, then the swimmer I hit yelled out "George!" I had actually run into L. Before the race we joked that I'd look for her on the course and swim with her, but I didn't think we'd actually see each other.

Since I knew I wasn't going to be running anyway, I didn't mind slowing down a bit to make sure she had a good second half of her swim. The next 500m were slightly awkward, but by the last 500 we had settled into a good rhythm. L was off to my right and back, right in the V of my slipstream. I kept an eye on her and tried to keep the distance equal by unilaterally breathing, and she looked up to spot regularly too.

I think the slower pace worked to my advantage. My heart rate was much lower, and the walk to T1 was fun. It was nice to see L so excited at finishing her longest swim, and our cheering section was great to have. Super awesome swim.

Nothing at all.

T1 was done at a very leisurely pace. Since I was on a new bike that I wasn't sure if I'd be able to manage a flying mount, I stuck around for L to be able to watch. If I was going to dummy myself I at least wanted an audience!

I hung out, ate some gels, drank some liquid, and just chilled out. If I had a lawn chair I would have worked on my tan.

My flying mount wasn't that bad either. I didn't know if I'd be able to get over the water bottles on the rear mount, but I did! Getting my feet in the shoes was a big fail though. I wasn't too stressed out about it.

Nothing really.

I was very worried going into the bike course on a new bike. I felt some pain coming from my patella(s) after a few trial rides. I know you shouldn't try new things in a race (like nutrition or *especially a new freaking bike!!!!!*, but I couldn't resist. Thanks to T's last-minute observations about my leg extension, I lowered the seat a small amount, and it turned out to make a world of difference.

The ride couldn't have worked out better. My gears were still a little improperly adjusted from the day before, but they held together well enough. It was unfortunate that there wasn't a friction shifting switch on them, but I still managed to get them stuck in between clicks when I had to.

The hills weren't as bad as I had expected. They were fairly steep, but I had no difficulty climbing them. Even by the highest point on the ride, 21k in, I was still averaging 21.7 km/h. Not bad considering the 400m of climbing.

The first aid station worked well, and I picked up a Powerade without incident. Unfortunately there was still the foil in the top, so when I went to squirt in into my mouth nothing came out. I twisted it with my mouth, thinking that it was just closed, then it squirted all over me.

By the second aid station I unintentionally got them back for it. I underestimated my speed coming in, and when I tried grabbing the drink I smacked it out of the poor girl's hand. I felt so bad and tried to slow down for the next one, but the same thing happened. I could see the look in the volunteer's eye when I came up, but it was too late. I think I might have screwed up the guy behind me somehow because when I turned around to apologize to everyone there was a cyclist who said "it's okay, I'll live." Brutal. I finally slowed down enough to get a water, but I spent the next few kilometers kicking myself over it.

There was a valley where I got some serious speed going down. I had one arm in aero and the other on the front brake. I had to brake because of someone who was over on the left side of the lane. I was in the left, trying to find space to go around him, when someone else came up beside/behind me. He didn't say anything, I had no idea he was there. I moved out of the way and braked, then someone came flying behind HIM. He really yelled at the rider who was blocking.

"[number] xxx, ON YOUR **LEFT**!!!!"

He moved pretty quickly. Totally makes sense. That's a huge safety issue. I was traveling at 69 km/h at the time and that guy was going faster than me. He was probably in aero and had no access to his brakes. I would not want to try to get out of aero going at that speed!

The last part of the race was downhill and fast. In one downhill section there was another rider who was in the middle of the lane. This time I yelled—polite yet firmly "on the LEFT!" and he moved out of the way for me to fly through.

Unfortunately he ended up passing me while I was making an unscheduled tree break. This was my second break, but the first time I actually stopped for it. Hey, I was scared that E would catch me! Sometimes you have to make sacrifices.

Overall it was the fastest bike over 50k that I've done. My effort level was relatively low—my heart rate was only averaging 150. It doesn't get much better than that.

Be a little more considerate of the bottle exchange volunteers, and to be less afraid to communicate my intentions to other riders.

This was another leisurely transition. I came in to the cheering section, and for the first time I didn't take my shoes off—I just clipped out. I still got off the bike moving, but I took my time to get it to the rack. I took in more nutrition, threw my shoes on, and started on my long walk

For a race like this? Nothing.

This was a long, long walk. The support of everyone working and everyone cheering was awesome. It was hard to force myself to keep walking. When Marlene caught up to me during her leg of E and her relay (their wave started long after mine), I tried to keep up with her a bit to see how she was holding up. That didn't last long. Even though it looked effortless to her, I couldn't keep up.

Thanks to the extra liquid nutrition (I didn't hold back at all at the aid stations), I had to visit every port-a-potty along the way. They were spaced about a mile apart, which was absolutely perfect timing for me.

On my second lap I started to run a little bit here and there. Someone in my age group passed me, and I did what I could to try to keep up with him a bit. I was lagging behind him until I saw L, who was on her first lap. I went back to walking, and we caught up on how our races were going. She decided to call it a race, since there wasn't enough time for her to make the cutoff, and her knee was giving her problems. Too bad. From the last aid station to the end I ran the complete distance.

Marlene, T, MJ, E and min-Es were there for my finish. Awesome.

Go back in time to the point seconds before I injured myself, and then punch myself in the face.

Hit the deck and downed a Powerade and a pulled pork sandwich. Cookies too.


The run, obvs.