Panicked a little at the start when I realized my goggles had come unglued from the seal and were just hanging there. I was able to push them back in and they did hold up for the swim. Note to self- always check goggles. Anyway, got in the water and all 200 of us were off. I used to panic at the drop of a hat in the water, but I've gotten to where I really enjoy the chaos. Took a few kicks (to the face, shoulder and belly) but nothing painful and finally got into a groove. Started out going in a straight line but then made the mistake of drafting which led to lots of zig zagging. The river was surprisingly clear. There was a bit of seaweed, nothing major. Still, I'm a weak swimmer so I was thrilled with finishing in the top third of my age group. Would have LOVED to break 30:00 and missed it by less than one second!

If I had to do it over again I would not have drafted.

This transition involved about a 200m run on the grass up an incline. There were wetsuit strippers that were incredible and had my wetsuit off in about one second. Did not rush through transition. Had a drink of gatorade, and jogged the bike on the grass about 100 yards to the bike out.

I could have hurried a little but in a 70.3 it was fine.

I was delighted with my bike. I was pretty conservative, and it was easy to keep from going too hard because of all the traffic the first half. I've never seen anything like it. You would weave in and out of people constantly. I think I wasted more energy maneuvering than I did pushing the pedals. Some of the roads were very rough, and there were bottles, sunglasses, cages, tubes, etc. all over the road so you had to be on the lookout. I throughly enjoyed the ride, and never felt like I was pushing it.

I think I fueled too much because I finished feeling too full. Had 24 oz GU brew, and another 30-40 oz water but it was a cool day and I may have over-hydrated. Also, had two honey stingers, a gel and a small "chunk of energy." Had another gel entering transition.

Smooth transition. Had a gel and two salt pills.

Felt bloated when I started the run. Also, my Garmin watch stopped working (due to a full database) and I pulled over about 100 yards in and fixed it. That probably took a minute. Anyway, I went out WAY too fast on the run. My first 3 or 4 miles were 7:18 to 7:20 and I had planned on 7:35. About mile 6 the wheels started to fall off. My stomach was too full and I was belching a little and couldn't get comfortable. And then the pain set in. My legs suddenly felt like it was the last 4 miles of a marathon. Everything hurt- hips, quads, knees, feet, etc. One mile in there (mile 7) was a 9:13 pace. But then I was able to lock into an 8:20 or 8:30 pace and make it to the finish line, where I suddenly felt MUCH happier!

Check Garmin before the race. Not fuel quite as much on the bike. START SLOWER. Never had to pee during the race so that was a nice bonus

Sat in the grass stuffing pizza down my throat.


Not swimming straight in the swim. Not checking Garmin. Going out way too fast in the run probably coast me 5 minutes and kept me from breaking 5 hours. Over-eating on the bike.


Excellent race! Best volunteers ever! Highly recommended! I can see how these half Ironman races are addictive:-)