Had assumed all along that this would not be a wetsuit-legal swim, but I brought mine just in case. Last Saturday night, I saw CTA post that the swim would in fact be wetsuit legal at just under 76 degrees. For some reason, this really bummed me out; I hate swimming in a wetsuit but I feel like if I don’t I am just giving up time to others.

Finally decided that I was going to hot enough the rest of the day, so I left the wetsuit at the hotel. Turned out to be a good decision – the water felt glorious and I really enjoyed the swim. After all the jellyfish hype, I didn’t see a single one. I probably gave up about 2-3 minutes on my time due to the lack of wetsuit, but on a day like today it was infinitely more important to be having fun.

I did a very good of job swimming straight for the first part of the race. I kept picking my head up to sight every 10-15 strokes and was right on target. On the back stretch I figured there was no point at all to sighting since I was swimming so straight, so I put my head down and put in 300 yards or so. Felt really good – I could feel myself pulling away from the pack, and in no time I was in clear water. Then I eventually picked my head up and almost hit a kayak. Whoops. Turns out the reason I had clear water was that I had veered to the left by about 30 yards. Oh well, I guess I do need to sight sometimes.

Finished up with no further issues. My swim time was right around what I was targeting, and felt fresh and hadn’t overexerted myself.

Nothing, except don't get cocky on sighting.

My plan in transitions today was to take my time and really lather myself up with sunscreen. I burn easily and this was going to be a long day in the sun. I am actually surprised this time wasn’t slower.

Felt fantastic on the bike. Started out slow and had planned to keep the pace around 18.5mph, which wasn’t taking much work. Then the course turned South and we were with the wind and my speed picked up to around 21mph without much real effort. The last turn back North up Egypt Rd was into the wind again, and rough at times, but I felt like I did a good job of keeping my effort steady and just letting my speed drop to around 17.

At around mile 35, I got swallowed by a huge draft pack of about 15 riders. I was stuck and couldn’t get out. Finally I just coasted for a few minutes to let them all pull ahead. Kind of annoying, but about 5 minutes later a race official came by and busted at least 4 or 5 of them for drafting. Glad I got out when I did.

Was surprised at the number of women who blazed passed me – what a fast female field! I don’t think I have ever been “chicked” that much in my life. Of course, I didn’t mind, as there were certain, um, benefits to the change in scenery.

Overall, I was really happy with the bike leg. I went a bit faster than I had planned, but finished the leg feeling great.

Nothing really. Had targeted 3 hours on the bike and finished a bit under.

Again, this was mostly sunscreen time, as the sun was now high in the sky. Why was the exit to T2 so far away from bike racking? Seems like they could have put it closer. Ha, I guess I am looking for any excuse to run 50 yards less.

Felt just great at the start of the run – as good as I have ever felt coming out of a T2. I had taken Endurolytes on the bike (I don’t usually) and I think they may have helped. Ran the first 4-5 miles feeling pretty strong, even in the heat – actually passed a bunch of people on the run, which I almost never do.

At about mile 5, things started going downhill. I wasn’t really tired, but my body seemed to lose the will to run. Took a couple long walks through rest stops and tried to drink a lot, but it didn’t seem to be helping.

At mile 7, I looked down and noticed I had totally stopped sweating. I normally sweat profusely, so this was concerning. And I had this weird bright-yellow sheen on my forearms. I was a bit dazed but was with it enough to know this wasn’t good. I took it down to a walk for the next mile. (And a pretty slow walk to boot – I distinctly remember people passing me who were also walking and thinking to myself “how the heck are they walking so fast?”).

At the mile 8 rest stop, I tried to get more water, but couldn’t seem to pick up the cups. I had lost most of the motor-control in my left hand. I remember being very confused at why I couldn’t do something as simple as pick up a cup of water. At this point I freaked out a little and decided that “not dying” was probably more important than finishing in any reasonable amount of time. I walked most of the rest of the way in – did a couple short jogs, including the last mile.

In hindsight I guess I was having some combination of dehydration and heat exhaustion. I felt like I drank so much on the run – stopped for multiple cups at every rest stop – and I really don’t see how I could have drank any more. I was already getting that “sloshy” feeling in my stomach and felt like I might throw up the water I was drinking. I heard later that the temperature on the pavement was 107 degrees.

As disappointing as this was, I really don’t know what I could have done differently. I took it easy on the bike, I drank as much as I could possibly drink, I dumped ice in my hat, down my top, and pretty much anywhere else I could dump it.

The most frustrating part is that I finished the race and my legs weren’t even tired. I definitely had plenty in the tank to give a better effort, but the heat just got the best of me.

I given this a bit of thought and am really at a loss.

This is such a great event. It’s really amazing the way the town of Cambridge comes out to support it. We showed up at our hotel to find a giant table of Gatorade, bottled water, cereal bars, etc. waiting for us. And the hotel opened breakfast up at 4am so we could grab a bite before leaving. And the volunteers and support on the course was just great. It seemed like every 10-20 houses somebody had set up a sprinkler to run through or was pumping music over the loudspeakers. I felt bad not having the energy to even thank the volunteers on the run course – I hope they know!

In the end, I don’t really know how to evaluate my performance. This was my first HIM, and I signed up hoping to break 6 hours. And I feel like I could have done in on a cooler day – I definitely had strength left that I didn’t get to use. The swim and bike went as well as I could have hoped. But the run was just so frustrating with so much left in the tank. I just don’t know what I could have done differently.