DFL, not just for my AG or just men, of everyone I was last out of the water. Still, I really enjoyed it and am more proud of finishing it basd on how hard it was.

Early on a woman called out for help so I stopped to help get the kayaker's attention. Turns out she was not in any immediate danger, she just knew she couldn't finish so I went on. Unfortunately the group was gone (I had been losing them anyway) and I couldn't take advange of the group breaking waves.

Swimming into the waves I felt like I was on a jet ski (except slow) bouncing with my face slapping the water when I dropped off the waves. I kept getting waves in my face when I tried to spot.

I ended up swimming with another guy for awhile. At this point we were just trying to get through it. We turned around to keep the waves out of our faces.

I finally sprinted (or atleat gave it an all out effort) to get past the last turn buoy. As I turned my feet got tangled in the buoy lines and I thought I was stuck for a moment. Luckily I came loose, but when I looked to shore I couldn't see where to go. The kayaker tried to point, but we just headed in the general direction. I had one final drift past (back toward the start) the finish and had to struggle against the waves a little more.

Nothing.

I seriously thought I was about to fall down and don't rember alot. I was really dazed by the effort and the rocking of the swim. I was not at all upset being last out of the water. It was actually kind of fun. Ate most of a Planter's Energy Bar.

Tape the gels to my top tube. I grabbed one too few for my jersey pocket. I would run past the guy that got in my way leaving transition, but I was still wondering if I had the balance to ride.

18.1 miles in the 1st hour without much effort. I was feeling great, I was going to blow away my expectations. At somewhere around 19-20 miles I caught the trailing female, but instead of passing I decided to make a pit stop before passing rather than right after.

Caught her again just before the turn at the 1st water handoff. She was breaking really early so I blew by her before slowing myself for the turn. The water bottle handoff was a 1st for me. The 1st girl didn't have it out very far and I couldn't do it, but I did manage to grab the one from the next guy. It wasn't open at all and I had to open the saftey tab with my teeth and by the time I filled my aero bottle I was too far from the volunteers to toss the bottle so I carried it. It's much harder to tuck a bottle into a tri top pocket than a bike jersey. I was happy I did all this at 17mph.

Not long after that the crosswinds hit. It all gets kind of blurry but from that point on my average did nothing but fall.

The FS truck was leap frogging me, which is good for safety but could be embarasing with my tiny bladder. Total of 4 "pit stops" on the bike although one wasn't a stop. I'm not really a fan, it's faster, but weird. And rinsing was really cold.

Somewhere in there I hit headwinds and it started to rain (really! rain, too?! I said a few bad words here.) just as I approached 2 riders, one male and one female (nice legs). Passed each of them over a couple miles. The woman seemed to have her own support car leap frogging her.

6 of the last 6.25 miles were pure torture. The headwind had been wearing on me for 2 hours and the gusts seemed stronger. I was almost hoping to not make the cutoff. I wasn't willing to quit on my own, but I would have taken most any external excuse.

As soon as I saw the finish line I felt better. I was still cold, tired, and hungry (I was over due for a gel because I didn't pick up enough), but my mood lifted and I decided to give the run my best shot.

My Garmin fooled me with auto pause, I thought I had come in in less than 3:30, but those pit stops burned up some time. Overall I had 4 gels, one PowerBar. 24 oz water, and 18oz G2.

I can't bring myself to train in windy conditions, so I'll just say train more.

I was in the top half of my age group here! ;) Grabbed gels and a powerbar. Finished the Planter's Energy Bar from earlier, hope no bugs were on it because I didn't check. With cold hands I had a little trouble unhooking my helmet and tying my shoes, real laces becaus ethey are more comfortable to me on long runs.

Nothing.

I can't remember now if I started out running or walking. I saw Scottie almost 1st thing then Alan at the aid station. Early on I thought something was in my shoe, but all I found was some grass. At this point I'm still assuming I won't be able to run much and have very little hope of beating the cutoff.

The best part of my run was past the playground the 1st time. Xander wanted to tell me something, but my wife didn't want him to slow me down. She didn't realize I was just taking it easy seeing how far I could get. I told Xander to run with me and tell me. Seeing his smiling face running along side me, telling something I can't remember was one of the highlights of my day.

Somewhere along the way I started running with a lady named Kathy and I think we kept each other from walking as much as we (or at least I) planned. I was constantly revaluating my finish time if I had to walk the rest of the way. After the 1st lap in 1:16 I realized I could (and should) make the cut off. I did have to walk more and let Kathy go ahead.

On the way back I was gaining on 2 ladies and could tell that were at least making a show of trying to stay ahead of me. I caught one, but I knew I still had to make one more pit stop (just 2 total on the run and one just before the run). I planned on letting her beat me if she made it anywhere close, but even taking it somewhat easy I was ahead coming out of the pit stop, so I pushed on.

Twice to this point in the run I had cramps in my hamstring that forced me to walk instantly. I got another one in the finishing chute. I normally sprint to the finish even in long races, but I didn't have it left and the cramp almost forced me to walk across.




Not get bursitis? It was never an issue during the race, other than how much it limited my training leading up to the race.

I really appreciated Carol hanging out with my family and FS saving me a hotdog and chips. Most of that was cleaned up by the time I finished. They didn't think I'd want the hotdog right away, but I was starving and wolfed it down and that bag of chips was the best bag of chips I've ever had.

Does it count as DFL if no men finished after me? I was 47 out of 48 overall, but one (probably the one I passed) didn't finish. One woman was close behind me. My family waited with the FS guys for the last lady to finish almost an hour after me. She seemed really happy just to finsh even with almost everything packed up and all the people gone. Just the clock, sitting on the ground and Brent making sure she passed that spot, marked the finish line. Brent was great with all the stragglers.



Bursitis still healing or just finally healed. Lack of solid cycling training. Weather.


As Carol said, this race is worth it just for the swag. I could have done much better with better weather, but I'm not sure I would feel as good about it. This was a memorable experience.