Couple issues with the swim: 1st, I started in the 1st wave of swimmers as the email I received from the race director stated. "Males 59 and under, 1st wave at 7:30AM". I found out later I was suppose to be in the 2nd wave. Something different was announced prior to the start of the race (I must'a been in the water doing a WU during the announcement).

Anyhow, the finishing time I got from the official timer of the race was 27:19 for the swim and an overall race time of 5:54:17. I know that I crossed the finish line just after 5:57 so my guess is that the 2nd wave started 3 minutes after the 1st wave. So, I adjusted my time here (i.e.. added 3 minutes to the 27:19 time).

2nd. There is no way that the swim course was 1.2 miles. If it was that means that I swam the course at a 1:26/100 yard clip. I don't swim that fast. The swim course was short. With the wetsuit I normally swim about 1:47-1:52. Even in a race environment I wouldn't be able to swim at a 1:26 pace. My guess is that the swim was between 1700 and 1800 yards.

Overall, I felt super on the swim. It took a good 10-12 minutes to get a rythmn going but I finally got there. Finished strong. Swim was in a lake so the water was murchy, almost pitch black. Tight quarters for the 1st 800 yards and then things stretched out. Ended up doing 12 strokes and then a forward site. Worked very well.

I'll never be a FOP swimmer. Just want to develop the swim so that I can finish strong and not have any residual fatigue that carries over to the bike/run. Mission accomplished for this race. The plan I used to prepare for the race did a fantastic job of getting me ready. Going forward I won't change much. Perhaps some more OWS's and some siteing/technique work.

Wasn't really worried about T1 time. Took my time. Had some issues getting the wetsuit off (hard to get the suit over the timing chip).

Take a towel that I can sit on while removing wetsuit and putting on socks. Ground was wet so my hands, bottom and legs had tons of dirt on them before I got on the bike.

Surely the race director made up for the shortness of the swim course by making the bike course longer. Lots of racers were talking about it after the race. At least 1.5 miles from the turn around (the bike was an out and back) a racer came up beside me and asked where the turnaround was located. He had already gone 28.3 miles. Plus, when I looked at the mapmyrun for the bike course the actual turnaround point was further down the road than what was depicted on the race website. Anyhow, I guess you get some good breaks (short swim course), and you get some bad breaks (long bike course).

Unfortunately, my technology totally failed me at 1:20:10 into the bike leg. My Garmin froze solid (maybe rain got to it?). Didn't get another HR reading for the entire race. And for me that was like racing blind. So I have no idea how far we rode. Don't know what my HR was so I was force to ride and run by RPE.

Weather conditions where tough today. For the 1st 40 minutes of the bike it was raining, in some instances pouring. Soaked me. I thought that the wind wouldn't blow much in the morning and pick up as the day went on. Sure enough, that is what happened. Last 25 miles were into a direct headwind of 10mph and there were rollers. Gentle rollers but still rollers (I'm used to flat). They made life a bit more difficult especially with the headwind.

I also was forced to stop once on the course. I taped my nutrition (Cliff bars) to the behind the seat water bottle (which I don't use as a water bottle, rather I use it for spares tubes, CO2, etc.). Anyway I was trying to get the bottle out of the bottle holder so I could get to the taped Clif Bars and I just couldn't manage to get it done so I had to stop and unclip. Need to practice this for the future.

Lots and lots of people flatted on the course. Much of the ride was on that chip seal crap so maybe that's why. I was lucky, no flat. However, when I picked up the bike after the race the rear wheel was really, really low on pressure (about 80psi rather than 120). Not sure when that happened!!

tTSS: 253

I need to improve my biking. I didn't do badly but I think I faded during the 2nd 1/2 of the ride. I missed some key biking sessions in my specific prep. period and I don't think the base plan had enough volume. I know what needs to be adjusted going forward.

Also, need to figure out a better way to store nutrition on the bike.

Again, not concerned with my transition time.

Nothing really. Everything went smooth here.

By the time I got off the bike the rain was gone and the heat/humidity was in. Not like summertime heat, but the sun was out, temperature in the low to mid 80's and about 90% humidity.

2 loop run course. I felt really good for the 1st 6.5 miles. I know I ran the 1st loop in under an hour. The next 2.5 miles were OK. After mile 9 it was a different story. I really don't think it was a pacing problem because at no time during the run did I push the pace. Honestly, I think it was just a reflection of my aerobic endurance (or lack there of). I was looking good for the 1st 5 hours but that last 57 minutes did me in. I figure I ran the 2nd loop in over 1:18. Lost tons of time here (hammered into walking).

Because of the Garmie "freezing" I couldn't do my normal Walk/Run routine. Just a guessing game on my part and that hurt me. Like a big dummy I didn't wear a watch (because I have a Garmin!!). Another lesson learned. Always have a backup.

tTSS:176

Backup watch.

Aerobic Endurance.


Nice local HIM race. Need to get the distances on the swim and bike right. Would also be nice if they had coke on the run course.