Jumped in the water and it was still colder than I expected. We swam about 50 yards to the start and I was gasping for air and could not hold my face in the water. As we waited I was able to get somewhat relaxed and adjusted to the temp. Water was cold enough I forgot to pee!

I took the inside line, I found some open water early on but as we caught the earlier waves it got busy. This was really my first experience with traffic and it showed. The far inside worked until the end U-turn. I ran into one guy who was swimming in the wrong direction. There was also some chop which gave me some difficulty. At this point I was also being caught by the last wave swimmers. This lasted about 100 yards and made the turn to the finish. I read from other BTers to hug the shoreline which I did. This saved some distance, got me into open water, and I was only about 50' from my family cheering me on! I was able to finish strong without much pace change.

Wetsuit hung up on watch, bumped the lap button which I was afraid of so threw off my 910. Thought I had my cap, goggles, ear plugs wrapped up in my sleeve but realized I lost my googles so I guess not.

Struggled a bit getting my suit off which pissed me off since I have done it a ton of times after wakeboarding. I put on socks because I was afraid of getting cold feet. As I put the first one on I realized how sandy it was but put them on anyway. I was hoping this would not be an issue during the run and thankfully it was not.

Rented 808's front and back from my LBS. I am glad I did this and not from the race because I was able to get a couple of rides on them. The first ride made me nervous because it was pretty windy. Luckily race day wind was a lot less.

Took me about 1.5 miles of messing with my watch to get it going again. That gave me a chance to gain my legs and not take off too fast. Once I settled in and got up to pace I quickly realized there is a lot of traffic to deal with. For the most part I didn't have any too much trouble, but it amazes me how people are clueless to their surroundings. I found myself a couple of times settling in behind (legally) other riders. I got over that and just went for it and put the pass on even though it would take me out of my comfort zone.

There were 2 good size hills that forced me out of my saddle. Definitely could use more hill time / 10 less lbs. Overall stayed in aero most of the ride. Started to get a little tired of being down at the end but made it to the end. Once I came in to town saw my family whick was really cool and made my way to T2. Overall great ride and I think I pushed it just right.I drank 2 bottles of gatorade, had about 5 Gu's and half of a banana (which was a quick grab after dropping 2 Gu's on a handoff)

We were assigned spots that were labeled. Even with that they had volunteers directing you to your rackChanged up fairly quick I stood there for a second thinking I must be missing something. Quick bathroom break right out of T2.

Ran in my bike shoes and I had a long ways to go. Next time I will probably leave them on the pedals.

Run was as expected based on my training. I seem to start out going faster than I think I can off the bike. I told myself I need to slow down the pace, but I also feel my knees only have so long in them no matter how fast I am going!

Saw my family for the last time around mile 8 and was feeling really good. I knew I was starting to slow up so I deceided to get back under 9:00 min/mile. That lasted about a 1/2 mile and I started to blow up. At this point on I walked the aid stations.

At the aid stations I took in at least 1 cup of gatorade, 1 cup of water over the head, drank water on some, and took in some ice down my shirt a couple of times.

The last few miles were rough. I walked up one of the steep hills once and almost did not get moving againg. From there on I told myself I wasn't going to walk again. Forced myself to keep moving.

I was spent. Didn't even have the energy for a good finishing action photo :) I grabbed some water, there were big lines at the food so I went out and found my family. Sat down for few as I was a little light headed. Went and got a message where there was no line so that was good. After that grabbed some food and felt much better.

I wasn't quite sure where I finished since I did not check on my waves official start time vs the pros and the finishing clock. I thought I was over my goal. After I found my wife she pulled up the results and told me the good news that I beat my goal!



Need more running. I could cut a significant amount of time off the run.


Ton of volunteers, aid stations were loaded with people. The run course was crowded in some areas. I wanted a big event for my first HIM and was very happy that I picked Oceanside. It was run great, lots of cheering, and was overall a great experience.

Also love the Ironkids run the day before. My 8 and 5 year old daughters did it and they are sooo proud of their medals.