The water was very choppy due to the wind and there was some white caps starting to show, The first 100 m or so was just running into the water, it was extremely shallow the entire way around the course with some guys getting up and walking small sections. My first 200 m of swimming I decided to take easy, did a little breast stroke just to get my bearings and avoid the other swimmers. Once I started freestyle I passed a bunch of guys in front of me, but the chop made it super difficult to breathe without getting a lung full of water as well as sighting was almost impossible from this position as I could just see the wave in front of me. So sighting was done with 2-3 strokes of breast stroke and then back into freestyle. Once we rounded the buoys and started coming back the waves helped a little but sighting and breathing was still difficult. I got passed by a few racers in the next wave, which is not uncommon for me. I swam until my fingers were hitting the bottom and then stood up and almost laughed!! I had another 50-75 m till the exit. I just decided to run out as it was too shallow to swim. Got to the stairs and was able to run to transition.

Nothing. Hope that it wasn't as windy so I could sight and breathe better.....but c'est la vie.

We were not given a transition split as they were included in the bike split, my Wife timed me, just by chance so I was able to get the time. Ran to my spot, HR was through the roof!! I always feel dizzy and disorientated in T1, still haven't figured out how to deal with this. No wetsuit to take off, so just had to put on the helmet, shoes, etc and go. The transition was large and it was a long distance to the exit point. Eventually got there and *hopped* on the bike. (it was a horrible mount but I didn't crash!! Pride still intact!)

Learn the shoes on the bike mount, not be dizzy in T1, as well as by able to calm my HR...... Still things to improve on.

The first 3 km was nice and flat with a gentle climb to the first turn, then the fun started!! The hills were not too steep but some were long and sustained while others were like small steps to get up to the next hill. This did not bode well for me being a bigger guy, but man were the descents fun!! I hit 83.7 km/hr on one of them. A small section near the town of Austin had some pretty bad roads, with big potholes and cracks but other than that the road was decent. I spent a lot of time in my smallest gears grinding up some hills and was starting to get pretty hot from the climbing. I ended up pouring some water on my head from my bottle to try and stay cool. The last 2 km was a nice reprieve to spin the legs before the run and get set-up for dismount.

Train more hills!!! and know the course better, I had never ridden this course before so I had no idea what to expect, it will be a different story if I ever do it again.

Again no official time, just what my wife timed for me. Pretty good considering the size of transition. Helmet and bike shoes off, hat and running shoes on...off I go. There is a long run to the actual run course as you have to run through a "corral" around transition and then back to the start of the course.

Nothing, went fairly smoothly, learn to dismount with shoes on the bike. But this was much better than T1 so I was happy.

So this is where the wheels feel off... :( Started out with a good pace, got water and gatorade at the first aid station and kept going, HR kept climbing and I knew I was in for a long run. The bike took a lot out of my legs and my goal of 3 hrs was going to be close. I ended up walking a couple of small sections as well as most of the aid stations, continuously pouring water over my head and taking in some gatorade. Some of the community were out with their hoses and would spray us down if we wanted which was greatly appreciated and much needed. There is a nice downhill section on a shaded path that when I was on it I felt 100X better so I knew that I was overheating. By the second lap I was getting goosebumps and decided to walk again to try and cool down/monitor my HR as I know this was getting bad. Finished off the last 2 km *strong* (considering what I had left). Originally I was hoping to do the run in 55 mins but considering the conditions 10 mins slower was not too bad. Still pretty disappointed as I missed my goal by just 5 mins!

Considering the bike course and the heat, not much, try and stay cool, but did that as well as I could.

Ate some watermelon and did some light stretching. I was exhausted and just wanted to lie down on the grass.


Heat, Hills, Choppy water.......Anything else I can blame it one?!?!? (note: sarcasm...red font won't work)


The race was well done, fairly organized, the only thing I would have liked to have more aid stations out there as it was super hot. The post race food was decent but nothing superb.