When it was time for my wave, we walked out a pier and jumped in the water and waited for the horn. When it blew, off we went. There was really no way to get off course here, as it was straight down the river with no turns. After seeing my time, I must have caught a good current because I simply do not swim this fast.

Not a thing. I am incredible happy with my swim time.

The transition area was far from the swim exit! Up the boat ramp which was carpeted and several hundred yards down the road which was not carpeted. Then completely around the end and back of the transition area, then through the transition area to my spot. It seemed to take an eternity! But everything went well, I found my bike immediately, got my shoes and socks and helmet on and off I went.

I am not sure what I could have done differently? Run faster? Overall, I was pleased.

The time went by pretty quickly. The first 30 miles were pretty uneventful and seemed easy. Miles 30-40 seemed to drag a bit and the sun started to come out which heated things up some. I hit my rhythm again and miles 40-50 just flew by. Then miles 50-56 seemed to take forever! As biking is my hardest leg, I was pleased with my overall time. My time was 6 minutes faster than my best case scenario prediction!

Practice more and ride faster!

Ran to my spot and racked my bike, changed my shoes and socks, applied body glide to my feet and out I went!

Not try to put melted body glide on my feet.

The sun came out and made the run hard. It was close to 90 and humid. After I started the second loop, it started to thunder, while still sunny. With about 3 miles to go, it started to rain. That was a welcome diversion as the last 3 miles were incredibly hard for me. I was tired and ready to be done. I was still able to kick it a little bit before the finish and passed the guy in front of me right before the finish line!!

Maybe not start the run so hard so I had more to give on the second loop. My second half was definitely slower than my first!

Walked around a bit, got in line for some food. Had some fruit and they had so much pizza that they gave me an entire pizza in its box! At least Tom was excited by that!! Walked back to the car and drive as close to transition as we could. Someone commented while walking to transition that it was like the Bataan Death March!


It was hot and humid when the sun came out, which probably slowed me down a bit. I also missed a few weeks of key training due to a training crash. But I feel like I put forth my best effort for the day and could not have asked for more from myself.


This was an amazing event for my first HIM. It was well run and well organized. The course was easy to follow and had tons of volunteers and community support. I would recommend it to everyone for a first HIM. I crushed my time goal and enjoyed the challenge of a new distance!