About the first 300 meters I struggled to find my stroke. Most likely due to open water nerves. After that I swam pretty well (for me). Navigation on the other hand was very poor. I found myself constantly trying to make the course longer. At least 3 kayakers had to back up so I wouldn't swim behind them. It was a little choppy, but it didn't seem to bother me.

Practice open water navigation.

Had two issues. One was finding my bike. I did not think to walk the actuaol path before the start so I was a little lost. The second was pulling my jersey on. It got all rolled in the back and it took me a few seconds to pull it down.

Walk the transition area in the path I plan to take before the race.

I am pretty pleased with this. The thunderstorms kept me on my toes. some of the course was chipseal and/or unimproved.
Nutrition: left T1 with 16 oz of gatoraid and 24 oz of water. Drank both over the course of the race and took a water bottle from each aid station. Ate one gel at start of bike and continues to have one every half hour.

I forgot to leave my riding glasses in the transition area, so I had to do the whole ride without. Wasn't too much of an issue, a couple close calles with some bugs and the rain wasn't pleasent but manageable.

Although I remembered I had my sunglasses in the transition bag at around mile 40 of the bike, I forgot by the time I got here. No sunglasses for the run either...

Thanks to whichever volunteer covered my running shoes with my wetsuit in an attempt to keep them dry during the t-storms. This was a really nice surprise when I got back in!

Remember things better. Leave an extra gel or two to start the run.

When i started out I looked at my Garmin and saw 7:50 and said to myself "This is way to fast." I ended up hovering between there and 8:30 for most of the run. I waled for a few seconds at each rest stop starting at the third. this was to actually get water and victory flavored HEED into my mouth. I took a water and HEED at each rest stop and had a gel somewhere along the way. The last 2 miles hurt, but I managed to convince myself to keep going despite sore legs and being very tired.

I walked in most of the rest stops and for a minute on the gravel hill at mile 7. Next time I will try not to do that.

Met up with kel and the kids (my cheering section). Took the pee I had wanted to since mile 40 on the bike. Drank some, got some food, tried to keep the legs moving and not cramped.
went back to the finish and cheered people in.


I think I did very well for my ability/training.
In 2010 when I did this race before i completed it in 6:48:02.
My goal this year was to break 6 hours.
My super secret, everything goes well goal was 5:30. I beat both. I couldn't be more pleased.


This is an awesome race. The director and volunteers put on a great show. A lot of the town comes out and cheers people on during the run.