Horn goes off and right away the pace was fast but I felt great and my form and stroke rate felt fantastic. Maybe this would be an easy swim. I felt very even and balanced and the high stroke rate was working just fine. I was clearly broken away from the entire field on the left within 200 meters. There were a few guys off to the far right but I was not even concerned as they were going to be swimming much more yardage than I was where I was positioned.

I made the first right turn and felt fine. Made the second right turn and was slowing a little as I was catching the waves in front of me and it was a royal mess. I'd literally take 2 arm strokes and be on top of someone who appeared nearly 10 yards ahead of me when I was sighting. I tried to be as cautious and easy on them as possible and as soon as I felt someone I literally made a lateral move right off of them. Needless to say for some reason I swam way left on the way back. I wanted to be right on the buoy line on the way back in. Not happening as it was ultra crowded. But by the rock wall there was a huge wake that was bouncing off the wall. So I was swimming in what felt like ocean swell conditions.

Back to the exit and I went to get out and realized that the dam ramp was only 3 feet long and I was in 10 feet of water. They didn't put a lower ramp on to swim up on. So I literally had to do a push up to get out of the water. Think getting out of a pool at the deep end that has a 2 foot high bulk head. There were people there pulling us out but it was just not what I expected.

Nothing

Horrible mess here. Muddy, soft mud and puddles all the way through the transition area. The grass on the back end of the run was like 6 inches deep. Then to top it off we had our transition bags hanging from our bikes. All your stuff had to be packed back in the bag before you left. Well if you wanted it at the end of the race that is... I grab my bike and realize I can't see a dam thing with my glasses on. So I take them off and try to put them in my back pocket on my kit. Pocket is too small on the new kit and the arm snaps off my glasses. Good lord. I look down in the mud grab the arm. Snap it back on then sigh and keep on moving.

Nothing

Right away I knew it was going to be a long ride. As I went up the first hill in the hotel area towards the Westin I was with one of my main competitors. A guy I beat numerous times over the last three years. There's no way I should not be riding with this guy. We go up the hill and the pace is stiff and power is a little high but Im pretty certain that things will level out as we get out of the hotel are and onto the main part of the course.

By the time we got out on the main roads there was a group of 4-5 of us and everyone was not giving a single inch. We had last years AG Overall winner and then a few of the better guys in the Overall game all together. I look at my power meter and the effort is way to hard for my liking. Not to mention that my average power and normalized power is well north of what I would ride an OLY distance race at. Either Im gonna have a killer ride or there's going to be an epic melt down. One thing was certain, I was not about to let the top 5 guys ride away from me when I clearly know I should be riding with them.

By mile 20 it was getting really tough. Again the effort for me was way to high. I was really struggling with the amount of power. On a better day I might have been able to hold on longer but I think it would have been much smarter to smooth things out and ride a smarter race. By the turn around in the park it was a huge mess. The rubber band had stretched as far as it would go and I lost contact with the group. They were probably 40 seconds up the road but it was stretching. Now I was in no mans land and riding alone.

As I made my way back to Henderson I made and effort to keep my power in the 260-280 range and ride more smoother. What I should have been doing all along.

Approach mile 50 on Warm Springs Rd and BAM my left quad and hamstring locks to the point where I can't do anything. Standing and stretching is not even working. Sitting and stretching was not working. Some deep breathing and forced relaxing finally gave it enough to release. What goes through your mind at that point? Well, I've got 6 more miles of riding and they are all up hill. Oh and I have 13.1 mile run. Oh and hey look the sun just came out and it's an absolute steam bath.

Not race? Nope. I'll do it again next time. Maybe not as aggressive but I'm not traveling all this way for 10th or 20th or 40th place. I am however interested in finishing and quitting is not an option. Even when it does not go according to the plan.

Legs were very rubbery off the bike. Why? Well I over biked. Have not felt like that since my first triathlon that I ever did.

Nothing

I started off feeling a little rough. Expected. The first mile is down hill. The plan was to take the entire first loop easy and controlled but fast. Mile one on my watch was 5:55. I was ok with that. I was not pushing and I felt just fine. Mile 2 was 6:29 all up hill. I was pleasantly shocked to see that. Still feeling very good and my running legs are with me. 6:34 on the next mile and still ok. Head to the next down hill and back down to about 6:05. Next down hill is in the low 6s as well. Start to head to the up hill and I'm a mess. Completely overheating and short of breath. I'm still running but the pace is falling way off. Ironically Im still passing people in droves. Ok. Keep on moving and just get to the top. But the next section that has a short little steep section right into the aid station and then the rollers I was falling apart. I was so overheated that I could not do anything but slow down to a walk. So I walk the aid station get ice and water and cool off. I'm mixing ice with water since the water Im getting is piss warm. This went on at every aid station until the finish.

From here on out it was a huge mess. Run a little, legs cramp up. Run a little more legs are ok, I am overheating and short of breath. Walk a lot and run when I could. That repeated itself until the downhills. I made sure to run those as they were much easier on me.

I was glad to get to the finish line. The last mile was pretty interesting. Each step my legs were buckling beneath me from the cramping. I would literally place a foot down and near fall. Regardless I ran it in and was done. Very glad to be done!