Without a doubt, the best swim of my life. I'm not talking about time, I'm talking about comfort. My effort was nice a smooth the entire time. Never felt anxious. No panic attack! Got pulled, pushed, kicked in the face...none of it phased me. Walked into the water while the others agound me were running and dolphining, and just started swimming. I tried to draft off a guy, but kept hitting his feet, so I passed him. Passed alot of people in the groups ahead of me. Sighting was tough on the way back in, but I managed to stay on course.

I like to wear my race number under my wetsuit, but you could not get these cheap a$$ numbers wet.

I let some people pass me, or go ahead of me to keep from swimming over them. I went out of the way to pass some people on the left. Should have been more agressive, started in the front, etc.

It was a long way from the water to the transition. Sprinted through the crowd, got out of breath, walked to calm down, then jogged. Already had my shoes on the bike. Beat my buddy Joe out of the water and out of transition.

Did not hit my lap button until I was at my bike. Avg HR 169, Max - 174

Nothing

I used the first 3.1 mile out and back as a warm up. My buddy Joe passed me at the 3 mile mark. My HR when I got comfortable was in the 140s. I was very pleased, so I picked the pace up a little. I went into the race wanting to average 18.5. I knew I would have a head wind for 1/2 if not more of the course, so I decided to take the free speed when I could, but at the same time keep my HR below 165. That had me going about 21 for most of the first 1/2 of the ride. The turn around was crowded and I almost lost it. On the way back the head wind that I was expecting was waiting for me. I did the best I could. I got caught up in a group of about 6 on one of the turns. I was right in the middle on the inside, no where to go when an official wroke my number down. A drafting penalty I guess. There was nothing I could do. It did, however, move me down about 7 places in my AG. Overall, I am very pleased with my bike.

I finished one bottle of 800cal mix and lots of water. Did not use my aero bottle, just grabbed water about every 10 miles.

Train more.

Put on socks, shoes, carried belt and hat.

Avg HR - 150,Max - 155

Nothing. One of my best T2's and the transition area was huge.

Came off the bike feeling great. All I could think about was how crappy I felt comming off the bike in my last HIM. I think I smiled for 12 of the 13 mile. The first 3 miles were right at 9 each. I stopped at all 3 aid stations briefly for water or gatorade and a sponge. Evacuated my bladder at mile 3. Pretty dark. Decided to drink more. Ran into Rebecca (steamy) at mile 4 and ran with her for 3-4 miles. Lost her at the mile 7 or 8 aid staion. It was at this station that I took my first gel. They were passing them out so I thought, "What can it hurt?" It was chocolate, and tasted great! Must have been mile 7, because I remember my watch was just over an hour. I liked the gel so much that I decided to take another if I found one. Well, I did. Mile 9, I think. Only this time, it was not chocolate, it was brown, but not as dark as the chocolate had been. I don't know what flavor it was, but it was terrible. I immediately spit it out, and rinsed my mouth out with water, but it did no good. It was about this time that I started to do math and realized that I could break my stand alone half mary tme if I stepped it up a little. I don't know what my pace was on the second half, the faster I ran, the worse my math skills. Did not stop at the last 2 stations, just kept running. I passed about 8 people in my AG in the last half. No one passed me. Passed my buddy Joe within the last mile. Felt great to finish that strong.

Read the flavor before eating it.

Massage. Strech. Changed clothes.


Lack of bike training and a bogus drafting penalty.


My best race ever. PR on the swim, bike, and run. PR by 75 min, but you can't compare this race to Clermont. Without the penalty 50/128 AG, 242/854 OA.

I can't describe the feelings I had during the race. This was one of the best experiences of my life. Everything went right (except for the penalty). I had an anazing time. Can't wait for my IM.