This swim was incredibly smooth and fast. I generally sighted really well and perhaps had my best swim of the season in terms of actually swimming a straight line. I got punch in the back of the head in the first 100m, but it didn't really phase me and I just picked up the pace a little to put that guy behind me (total arm swinger type).

Not too much.

Dawdled in transition a bit. My girlfriend and her daughters were there to cheer me on, so I stopped briefly to give them a big, wet, post-swim hug before running out with the bike. I was feeling surprising well. Took a gel before heading out.

Could have moved faster, but I wasn't sweating it.

This freaking hurt. With probably 12 miles left to go, I was actually thinking of DNF. The legs never cramped, but they felt fully on the verge of hardcore cramping.

By the end of the first loop, I was feeling parched. I felt like I couldn't get enough water in me, and I realized at this time that I did a particularly terrible job of hydrating in the days before the race - especially the day before. Ended up drinking one bottle of Perpetuem and three bottles of water and still felt a little behind the curve going into T2. Granted, this was a tougher course with the hills, but this bike split was exactly 5 minutes slower than my last 70.3 three weeks ago... that seems like a lot, to me.


Hydrate better the two days before a race.

Took my time here. I wasn't in any rush, and honestly, I wasn't feeling so great, so I was embracing the brief respite. I took another gel after putting my run shoes on, and then headed out.

Nothing.

This. Freaking. Hurt.

Two lap, out-and-back course.
It took about the first 5 miles for me to get any semblance of run legs to me. I started off by taking water at every aid station, and walking every aid station. At the turn-around for the first lap, I grabbed a Coke purely on a whim. I don't know if that was what made the difference, but once I had belched out the carbonation, by the time I hit Mile 5, my legs & I started to feel a little more normal. Things still hurt, but I was fully in that "it isn't going to hurt any more than it does right now" zone. I continued to walk every aid station (and then a little) until I hit the turnaround on the second lap, then I just kept my pace and ran it all the way in, passing every aid station. It continued to hurt, but I actually felt like I could have kept this going for a long time, which was super reassuring being that I still have B2B Full coming up in a month. I'm pretty sure that Coke will be part of the B2B run plan for me from Mile 1 onward.

When I got to the finish line, I tried to get my girlfriend's daughters to cross with me, but they were too shy and didn't want to, so I just trotted across the line solo, stopped the Garmin, and smiled because it was a P.R. by 4 minutes

Eh, this is what I get for letting my training languish all summer long.

Drank some water and chatted with folks. Didn't feel hungry at all, not even for soup or PB&J. Put my compression socks on as soon as I could get to them and wore just those and flip flops the rest of the day.


Me.


The post-race activities were slim compared to what you'd expect at most other HIM's, but it still felt great because this race had a very "family" feel to it, and the race is typically the season finale for triathlon in Ohio. The only downer was that they were out of finisher's medals by the time I crossed the line, so I have to wait for mine to be mailed to me.