Imagine a highway with a service road; I was riding in the grass next to the service road I was so far to the right of the preferred line. I was fairly straight and steady the whole time I just stayed too far off course this time and added some distance. I kicked very little this time because I thought I kicked too much last time. I estimated 45 min for the swim so I was pretty close to what I had planned.

Stay a bit closer to the pack

Good transition. Straight jog with breathing under control to the strippers and jogged straight to the bike. It helped a bunch having the light pole on the row of bike I was on. I decided to run with shoes and no flying mount since my transition spot wasn't far from the bike out at all. Mount went very smooth and I didn't struggle with the shoes like at the DU.

nothing

It seems this is the only portion of this sport I am any good at. I stuck to my power goal and pretty much nailed it on both the out and the back. Picked almost 4 mph with a bit of help from the wind on the way back. I picked a lower power goal than last time hoping to run more. I didn't get as far under the goal as I planned but I was easier on the pedals than last year.

Go even lower on the power goal after training even harder. My last power test on the bike was the highest ever so my training was solid. I just need to dial it back even further to be able to run at this distance.

This did not go very well. I rode on top of the pedals coming back into T2 since this has worked well for me a few times now. Dismount wasn't pretty and I almost laid the bike down. I couldn't find my spot and seemed completely lost. Someone had draped something (wetsuit I think) across my number on the rack but I should have figured it out using the other numbers but Math wasn't happening for some reason. I didn't even realize the chain came completely off the bike until we were packing up the bike.

Much better dismount and pay attention to the color of my towel or something when searching for my spot in T2.

Here we go again.... the dang half marathon.

I raced a friends bib from this same race 2 years previous. He was fighting for his life in the hospital while I was racing. He gave me the bib and wrote his 5:26 time on it for motivation in my training. As I came out of T2 and got to my cheering section I got pretty choked up. I felt great and once again it seemed like I had a shot at a sub 2hr run and a great race. The cramping started much later in the run this year than last but haunted me from mile 4 on. I started walking at each twinge (started walking at mile 6)to prevent stopping all together to wait on the cramps to pass like I had to the year before. This kept me moving at all times during the run except once. I was able to get running again if I walked the twinge away. I was within 1/2 mile from the finish and planned to jog it in even with the cramps coming but they took both legs out for a bit and I had to wait on them. When I turned to get the shoot I started to smile really big. I was looking for anything short of 6:35 on the clock since that should get me in sub 6 hours and that was all I had left to hang on to. I knew I had managed to get the 13.1 done quicker than last year and in less time than the bike this race. PR by about 20 minutes and a step in the right direction. I did everything different in my training, hydration, and nutrition but had a similar result. I quickly chalked it up to part of the learning experience and smiled at my PR. Legs cramped really bad as I hugged Brendan and he had to hold me up for a bit while they moved the chair behind me.

Slow down even more on the bike. Try another plan on the nutrition. I used a Carbo Pro mixture, salt tablet and a bunch of water. I almost had to pee on the bike and on the run and I went much closer to the finish of the race so I think I did better on hydration. Not enough to allow me to run like I train so keep trying.

Eric helped me get further in 12 weeks than I would have without him. He gave me a plan than prepared me very well again and I appreciate that.

No post race activities for me again since I just wanted to hang out with my family / friends that came to cheer me on.

My parents came in to watch me race for the first time and it was cool to have them there. My family was there except for Cory that could not be freed from work. I managed to run through my cheering section each loop. They are all awesome. The Waxlers came all the way from Conroe to cheer for me! WTH I don't deserve that, but thanks! Justwood and Rachel were in other places on the course which forced me to get my butt moving in more places than I may have without them - THANKS!

Thanks to my wife for getting me in this mess and supporting my journey - love ya.


Temp / humidity - Although this winter was much warmer than last it still didn't get me ready to handle 6 hours in the Texas sun / humidity. Maybe once I've been here 20 years I will be used to it? Honestly, we got pretty lucky with the conditions and couldn't have asked for a whole lot more.


I LOVE THIS RACE. The size of this race is just amazing. Almost 400 men in my dang AG. I saw Lance leading the bike on his way back and thought I caught a glimpse of him when I started the run (bunch of cameras on him the whole way) Someone punk'd Lance at the line and he ended up in 7th by :01 second. Way to go Tim O'Donnell for the win!

The volunteers were awesome and the aid stations were outstanding during the entire run. The bike hand-ups were pretty solid and the course was well protected.

Special thanks to the guy CRANKING the rock music at one point on the run. I never walked past him and it was another place that kept me going.