"Swimmers one minute!" literally one second later, the horn goes off. Guess he meant one second. I had positioned myself close to the right side buoy, near the dock, so this would be on the inside of the right turns. I also remember the WTC official at the brief, stating that the yellow buoys were course markers, and you could go on either side of them. The only ones you had to be on the left side for were the ORANGE ones. At the first buoy, a lifeguard was guiding everyone to the outside. Grrrr... As a result, it seemed like things took a long time to spread out, or maybe I was just a really average swimmer...

Work on siting more, get some more open water time in.

Gave up trying to do the put-shoes-on thing on the bike. Wanted to have socks on anyway, and I didn't want to trash them running through transition. Coming out of the swim, I had to pee, so I figured I might as well get it out of the way there, not really ready to pee on the bike, at least not for a HIM. Also re-applied sunscreen.

OVERALL:
Wow. Very happy with 23 mph, 78% FTP average.

Data/power notes: First year with the tri-bike and power meter, and only the second race. Plan was to keep average power at 80% of FTP for the course, and it came in at 78%, so that seemed to work pretty well. Very happy with the speed I held as a result, 23 MPH. Breaking the "no changes" rule, I tried using the "alerts" feature on my 310XT, to keep me in the power band. The watch was going off like crazy, I couldn't tell if it was above or below. Ended up pulling over since I couldn't make that change while moving, at least safely. ALSO, forgot to reset and start the timer on the bike GPS. Missed some data on that one, but the 310XT was in multisport mode, so it got it all.
Hydration:
Need to work on this some more; need to have a spare cage for bottle exchanges, if I'm going to take fluids at aid stations. Amount of hydration was good.

Consider starting with an empty bottle cage, or with a disposable bottle.

Didn't bother with flying mount/shoes clipped in, etc. Also had to pee coming out of the

Consider going with one cage empty or one with a disposable bottle, to do bottle exchanges

They said it would be hot, and it delivered. Coming off the bike, I felt pretty good considering I had just pushed for 56 miles. The wind also was pretty calm, so it suddenly got a lot hotter compared to the bike. Tried using a microfiber cloth, so I could wrap ice in it, to wring out over my head. Worked reasonably well, though it just didn't seem to be enough. Considering the heat, there wasn't much more I could do. You either handle the heat or you don't.

Kept walking, went straight to the firehoses


Heat on the run, crowded swim.


This was my first "real" HIM, i.e. one with a swim. I learned after signing up that this race drew more competitive athletes, and it didn't disappoint. The course is flat and fast, but hot. I wasn't able to run much the last few weeks due to ankle issues, so I didn't feel quite ready for the run. I t didn't matter anyway, since the heat was holding back any real effort. On cooling, I brought a small hand towel, that seemed to work pretty well. Soaking it with ice and water, I'd wring it out on my head.