As I've learned in previous years, I lined up to the right of center and planned a straight-line course to the far buoy, instead of swimming for the first bouy. This eliminates a bend in the course and (theoretically) gives you a better line to the first turn. During the start I got tied up in a knot of swimmers from which I couldn't seem to break away. I finally swam wide to get some clear water and was able to fall into a rythymn. During the swim I kept feeling like I was wide, but I prefer this over swimming to close to other swimmers. I find this course to be very easy to navigate and I had little difficulty making my way through the course. I suprised myself by matching my PR on this course to the second. I came out 11th in my age group and 72nd overall, not bad in a field of 1500 racers. If only the bike and run went so well......

Nothing - I was happy with my swim. I wanted to have a good swim since I was pretty sure my bike and run splits were going to suffer, and I swam harder than I normally would have in an olympic distance event.

I suprised myself with a PR for this race by nearly a full minute. I didn't do anything really different, it just went smoothly. I think I had some extra time before the race to really make sure everything was in place and that helped. I also have become more used to stripping off my wetsuit, which came off easily.

Someday I'll try having my shoes on the bike and putting them on while mounting the bike, but I have other more productive fish to fry in this sport....

My bike training has been weak this year so I did not expect to set any PRs on this day, especially after being sick all week. Still, at the start of the first real climb on Homewood I was shocked at how weak my legs felt. I had nothing on the hills, so I just settled in for the ride and spun up the hills best I could. At times the hills knocked me below 10 mph, but I just didn't have enough strength to push a higher gear on the climbs. In the end I was 4 minutes slower than last year and almost 6 minutes of my PR. Still, it's hard not to enjoy being on my bike, no matter the conditions, and I just tried to relax and make up some time on the downhills.

Drink less - I consumed approximately at least 36 oz Accelerade along with 2 gel packs and I felt a little bloated. I think I was sub-consciously trying to find the 'magic energy' I was missing and I over consumed. In the cooler air the fluid loss due to sweating was less of an issue in this race, so probably 1 large water bottle would have sufficed.

An uneventful trainsition, but I did PR by 30 seconds. Learning from past mistakes I peeled my cycling gloves off while running to the racks. The bike racked easily and my speed laces made the shoe transition easy. I skipped drinking in T2, opting to wait until on the run course, and I grabbed a few gel packs and pocketed them.

Not much, except someday I may work on coming out of my shoes while still on the bike. But again, I have other areas of improvement that will be far more productive.

The first 2 miles my splits were a respectable 9:02 and 9:06, but after mile 2 things just fell apart. I never did re-gain the strength in my legs to handle the climbs so I found myself walking some of the steeper sections and walking the water stops. Miles 3 and 4 were the low point, battling the hills in the neighborhood, averaging 10:30 miles. Miles 5 and 6 improved slightly as the end of the race approached. In the last 100 yards I was passed by 3 runners in my age group, I just didn't have anything left to hold them off. My time of 1:01 is several minutes off my PR on this course.

Once again I overcompensated with nutrition. Back off of the gels a bit to avoid some of the bloated feeling I had during the run.

Undertrained. Overweight. And getting sick the week of the race didn't help.


This is, without a doubt, the premier olympic distance race in the Mid-Atlantic, perhaps in the country. Race organization, direction, volunteers, and police and community support are all top notch.