I borrowing booties and hat from Don. That was a life saver. I never felt cold. I'd guess the water was 58.
Lots and lots of contact, much more than imaz. One person lurched onto my legs and wrenched my back. That hurt the whole swim and bike.
The second loop was CHOPPY, which I never anticipated. Second loop was 5 minutes slower.

I made a real effort to hurry through transitions, and it paid off. I cut nearly 9 minutes of transition time from my previous IM.

The crowds in cda are amazing. This Isa pretty course, very scenic. By scenic, I mean hilly as hell. My lower back hurt whenever I was in aero, so thank god more than half the ride was up hill.
Miles 75-90 were climbing into a stiff wind. The sun was combing out, and it was warming up. Around 95 mi we peaked, and turned around. I grabbed 3 bottles from aid station to pull me downhill the last hour. Weeee, fast return home, love that.

Complete nudity, shorts, shirt, hat. Quick change. Saw the family, kissed everyone twice. I told them I'd be back in 4 hours. (not quite, it turns out)

Immediately, this felt different from IMAZ, so warm and so hilly. Again, the crowds were insanely fun. I walked a bit of the nastiest hill. I started walking the aid stations. Then I started walking one minute of each mile. I've never walked in a race.
At mile 10, I pulled my hat over my eyes so i didn't see the road ahead. Then I began to close my eyes as long as I could and run sort of straight. I dreamt of laying down. My goals kept changing, 11:30, then 11:45, then 11:56, and 12:00. Each one had it's own math. I was targeting 10:00/miles.
At the final turn around, I thought I had 1:08 to run 10km for a 12:00 finish. That was great motivation, and I didn't walk any more. The downhills are so hard on dead legs. I saw the family just before the chute, and I saw 11:55 on the sign, so I booked it in for a 1 minute PR.