The first 400m I was freaking out; everything was a shark. Guy bumped my leg and I was sure it was about to get chomped. After the first buoy, this other guy and I were on the same pace together for a bit, and he could not swim straight. He kept veering left into me (I was on the outside and sighting straight as an arrow). I finally stretched out my stroke a bit and put some distance on him.

At the end of lap 1, I stopped at the turnaround buoy and stood there for a good minute to see if I could watch Paul come out of the water, but he had a slightly slower swim than he planned, and wasn't right on my heels.

Note: I peed 4 times during the swim, at least! Right before the start, twice on the backstretch, once at the turnaround, once again on the backstretch, and then within the last 200m or so...make that 5! I was fully hydrated it seems.

Given my fitness, this was a good effort. Not fast for sure, but left me feeling good coming out of the water to get on the bike.

Well, I planned on a 5 minute T1. The family was right beside me across the fence, so I was just chatting along with them, unaware that time was flying by...suit was massively stuck on my calves, armwarmers were inside out, I was a mess. Armwarmers were a last-minute idea, so I had not planned for them. Race adjustment 2. Finally, I got my act together and hit the road.

Focus on the transition. I could've easily taken 3 minutes or more off here.

My plan was between 19.5 and 20mph average. Lap 1 I held a rolling average of 20.3 (was 2:12:40 at the turnaround). Lap 2 (plus transition plus mile 1 of the run) was 2:26:14. With a T2 of 1:30 and a mile 2 of 7:24, I'd venture to say lap 2 was in the 2:17 timeframe (matches up with the 4:30:17 above). That 2nd lap was a bitch.

I stuck to my plan though. I was not passed by anyone except on lap 2. It was Chris Lewis from Wake Forest, running disk rear and aero helmet. He stalked me for a few miles after the 18-mile turn, then came past very strong before we got to Bath. I rode up a bit to sit about 3.5 lengths back, to see what he was going to do. He slowed a little as we went through Bath, and I slowed too. He was just regrouping it seems, as once we made our 2nd left turn after Bath, he roared by for good, putting a good distance on me. I decided to stick to my plan, even verbalized it aloud, not to give chase again. Race adjustment 3. I've been a stronger runner than him, and I hoped I would have something left to offer on the run. Coming into T2, he had a 2:54 lead on me.

Not stop on loop 1, but I REALLY had to pee!
Don't stop for the water bottle (learned that lesson on lap 2 when I took a bottle on the fly, refilled my own bottle on the fly, and then tucked the donor bottle into my tritop to drop at the next water station.)
Run some aero goodies (rode on the Vistas, with the clunky helmet. Everyone else it seemed was sporting all the goodies.

This was better. I took my last gel at the entry into Washington Park (about mile 87.5) and had already done housekeeping cleaning out the tritop pockets. I spun up my legs for about the last 1.5 miles, but was still very unsure what I'd have in them. Racked, helmet off, armwarmers out of tritop, shoes on, grabbed my water bottle/racebelt/visor combo (velcroed together with the pocket flap) and was on my way.

This was pretty good. Not going to overanalyze a 1:30 after 4.5 hours on the bike.

Man, I was really hoping for sub 8 miles, but once I passed Chris, and saw I was holding some distance, I really eased off. I didn't realize I was also catching the other Chris, and that John was only 6 minutes ahead. Taking some time off the swim (the minute I waited at the turnaround), T1, and then pushing the run some more, who knows?
However, as I rounded the turn back in Washington Park, and saw the finish ahead, it was game on. I was yelling out in pure joy as I ran closer, then picked up the family and they ran in with me. I really enjoyed that.

Not sure why the gut shut down, other than the effort on lap 2 of the bike. It was just a tough day for me at the end, and I did NOT want to 1)get caught by Chris again and 2)DNF.

Chatted with Lainey, the kids, then Scottie, Jen, and Tara Wind. Went to the water, looking out for snakes. Lainey paddleboarded (thanks Mike Beaman), the boys and I splashed around a little. Then I went up and got a beer and some pizza. Then another beer :). Felt really good, not the same feeling I had at White Lake 2008. I just had that low spot during the run that flat coke and pretzels helped.


Swim comfort in open water. Swim comfort in shark-infested Long bike rides, long bricks off the long bikes. Nutrition planning? I felt pretty good for most of the race.


The only comments I'll add are some participant safety concerns; I don't recall seeing any EMS or first aid anywhere on the course, and there was a bike wreck in T2 that required a participant to take herself to an urgent care for stitches. They had to scramble for at least a first aid kit (this is all info relayed from my wife). That would be the ONLY suggestion I'd make; a well-defined medical location or EMS support.