I know for some, the wrestling match at the beginning of an IM is part of the thrill of doing the race, but having done 2 branded races, starting with only 26 other racers was king of nice. I am not much of a drafter anyways.
The outbound part seemed somewhat choppy and the last buoy seemed to be out there a long ways. I think that part of that was the way they spaced the buoys as the first 3 were tight and the last one was way out.
After the short cross to the line in I turned back towards the beach and that section seemed to move faster. I thought I was alone, but once the chop was to my back there actually a few people around me.

They set the swim up so that even though it was 2 loops, we never had to get out of the water or stop swimming if we didn't want to. I did stand up for a second to check the time and adjust the goggles.

Other than coming up on some of the HIM swimmers towards the end, the second loop was just more of the same.

I think the course was long, the Garmin showed a couple of hundred more yards which ordinarily I wouldn't put much stock in but all the times seemed slow with the exception of a couple of fishes (Dudley!) I also heard that they had some trouble setting up the buoys for the race.

I don't know if I will ever excel at swimming although I have gotten to a point where I tolerate it and actually train the swim more. I probably could have done some more swims with the full suit leading up to this.

Considering I decided to go with socks and took the time to dry off a bit since it was cool, I am not disappointed with the time in a long race.

nothing

I got into a pretty good rhythm right away of drinking and eating and maintaining the goal watts of between 170 and 180. First loop went by quickly and passed several riders from both divisions. Skipped special needs the first time by and was surprised to see Dud in there. Turns out he had a flat on that loop.

Second and 3rd loop provided more of the same with the exception of stopping at the aid station with Y and Y's mom. Gave me a chance to stretch and use the rest room. This was a planned strategy to keep the ITB and lower back in check, which for the most part worked. I also threw in some stretches at special needs after swapping out the bottles.

I must look faster than I am as the 3rd loop saw me passing some other full distance athletes that asked if I was on the 4th lap. I wish! LOL, but I think I was still catching some of the faster swimmers at this point.

I keep the gel flask on the top tube with Velcro and sometime on the 3rd lap I lost the bottle for the second half. So the last time by special needs I grabbed my emergency PB sandwich, That may have been a mistake. I also grabbed a banana at the aid station which could also have been the mistake.

Towards the end of the last loop the stomach began to sour and nothing tasted remotely palatable. But I finished strong on the down hill, even passing cars going through town. Returned to the park, racked the bike and sat down.

I think the nutrition plan worked up until loosing the gel flask. I believe either the banana or the sandwich had gone bad as nothing made the stomach better and sitting here the next day writing this it is still out of sorts.

I didn't think the extra 4 miles would make a big difference and I guess in the grand scheme of things it probably didn't but it sure added about 15 minutes or so.

Put an extra gel flask in special needs just in case. My cycling is improving and with over 5200 feet of climbing, I am happy with outcome. Especially with 3 restroom breaks and the chatting at the aid stations with Y and her mom. They put in a long day doing that and then waiting for Dud and I to do the run.

Small transition area made getting in and out of transition pretty easy. Once I was seated I really didn't want to get up, but I did.

Stayed there! LOL!

Well it didn't take long to realize that the stomach was going to be a problem for the rest of the day. I had some EFS with me and that didn't want to stay down. I tried some water and ice at the first aid station and that didn't help. So I settled into a run till I wanted to puke and walk until it went away for the first lap. Towards the end it just never seemed to get better.

As I was making the turn for the second lap, Dud was coming out off the bike so I waited for him and did most of the second loop with Dud, His knee was acting up about on the same schedule as my stomach so we walked a lot and ran some. Tried different drinks to see if it would help, coke was the only thing remotely close to settling things.

By the end of the second lap, the stomach was acting better so I left Dud and tried to run most of it. I guess I was about 80% successful, but still struggled with the stomach and now due to lack of hydration and nutrition, the legs were starting to cramp.

So the 4th lap became a run some, walk a lot proposition. I was hoping before the race started to be back and packed up before day light, so it was a disappointment to have to take a flashlight from the volunteer with about 4 miles to go.

But, I push the walk pace along and other than stopping to say good bye to Bill who after his race volunteered at the first aid station for the rest of the day. Who also was the only one not to abandon his post until the race was done!!

I got to the last turn off towards the finish and started running again, It didn't feel good, but I didn't have any interest in walking the finish. Unfortunately the finish line was all but abandoned with just a few volunteers and Y, Shirley and Dud waiting for me.

It was surely a relief to be done.

I don't know, but I guess I will make sure I don't go off plan for nutrition and make sure I have extra with me just in case.

The disappointing part was that the legs responded well to the running when I didn't feel like hurling. Hell, I would have been happy to hurl as I think it would have helped!!

Loaded up the gear into the truck and try to wind down some.


Poor nutrition choices


This was a first year race put on by racers trying to keep the cost of long course affordable. Subsequently there were few frills but I think the success in keeping the costs in line. Hopefully next year the participation grows. Not sure I would do the full again, but I would certainly consider the half.