For the swim, my plan was to conserve as much energy as possible. The water temp made the race wetsuit optional and I had made a decision to wear it regardless of temp (except in very high temps) and keep steady pace to ensure I could get out of the water. Due to the temps, the wetsuit athletes started 10 minutes after the non-wetsuits. This was an additional bonus for me as the start never felt chaotic. In fact, it was much less so than the small prints I have done at home. As far as the course, it sighted a lot to ensure i stayed on course. I did run into a couple of people that seemed to be criss-crossing a lot and no matter what I did to try to avoid them, they kept coming unexpectedly from the left or the right without warning. The swim ended up being a non-event for me, just as I had planned.

Nothing. For my next race, I might try to actually race on the swim portion or at a minimum, push the pace a little to see it I can bring down the time a bit.

T1 went fairly smooth. I only had a bit of trouble putting on my arm compression sleeves. Taking the wetsuit off was very easy thanks to the peelers.

I would probably get my arm compression sleeves on just over the hands and adjust them once I was on the bike. probably lost 60 seconds or so trying to get them right at the tent.

it would have been a great ride if it was not because I broke a cardinal rule and tried something I had done in training. I decided to take in IM Perform at every station. Each bottle has 200 calories which when combined with my nutrition plan of 250 calories per hour, resulted in feeling bloated at the end of the bike leg. While it did not impact my bike segment, it destroyed my run leg.

stick to the plan

Transition was fairly smooth. I did not know that I could have handed my helmet to the bike handler. I went straight into the port-potty and came back out to change sock, shoes, add hat, race and fuel belt. I also put a fair amount of vaseline around arm pits and privates.

Conditions were hot and I had wet. During the run portion, I also dumped a lot of water on me to stay cool. I should have taken the time to change into running shorts and tshirt to avoid the rashes that ensued under armpits and hamstrings as a result of a wet bike shorts pad.

not much to say. I was bloated and could not run. did a lot of walk run due to how I felt.

force myself to throw up or sit for 30 minutes to wait for the IM perform ingested during the bike portion to be digested.

just hung around the finish line. Did sign up for a short massage.


the IM Perform ingested during the bike portion.


for my first IM, it was a good experience.