had a bit of chip-anxiety after my danskin experience, so I stopped a few times on the first stretch whenever it felt like it was moving. realized that I wasn't really kicking b/c I thought I'd lose my chip. got over it. settled in and swam my pace, got my breathing in a good rythym, but didn't sight terribly well. only really rough bit was 150 yards from the finish when someone from the wave behind me literally swam over me... I guess she missed that there was 30 feet of clear water on either side of me. saw Nikki right at the swim finish.

not stress about my chip.

looonnnggg walk up a decent hill. and as part of my "don't kill myself early" strategy, I walked it. worked very well. got all my stuff together and headed out on the bike

nothing. keep working on getting in better shape so I can run transitions... and oh, maybe one day I will do a race that doesn't have a long trip from swim finish to T1.

fun course - saw Adam and Laura a couple of times. no big hills for a change, so I really got to push (well, for me). hamstring was bugging me quite a bit, so I decided that since it was likely I was going to be walking the run, I might as well do what I could on the bike. also was nauseous off and on throughout the bike leg.

got passed by lots of nice bikes. passed a decent number of people. saw Jorge jumping up and down yelling.

rest the hamstring a bit more? nothing, really. I was happy with my bike leg considering how long we've been at this.

was terribly bleary in T2. racked bike, then just stared at my neatly laid out run stuff and couldn't figure out what to do for a second. took a second, drank some more gatorade, took a hit off my inhaler, and got it together.

increase brain power?

well, I decided during my leisurely T2 that I would walk the uphills, and run the downhills and as much of the flats as I could, assuming the hamstring held out and I didn't puke. there's a decent uphill to start the run, so I just walked as fast as I could, and then everytime it flattened out or was downhill, I ran. The first mile seemed to go on forever, but I was at 13:30 so that wasn't bad (for me). Saw Max at the water stop. Didn't realize it was Max, thought he was a runner who somehow had enough energy to pick up cups from the grass.

After mile 1, there was a long gradual uphill, so I started running/walking... two light poles of running, one of walking. Did that until it flattened, then just tried to run as much as I could. As I came past the transition area into the big downhill to the finish (back by the swim) I saw Adam and Laura, who ran with me for a bit as they were long done. Depressingly, Laura decided she needed to pee, so she took off. All sorts of people walking up the hill were clapping for us, so I told them all that Adam was done, so they should only clap for me. Finished strong.

nothing - did better than expected.

saw Nikki, handed in my chip, got my shirt/water bottle.

drank some HEED, had a mini bagel. walked up the big hill to transition to get my post-race food (brought cheese with me since I'm allergic to domino's pizza, the big post-race chow). wandered around and watched the awards, saw Max, and DK (both volunteers)


training, and 70 extra pounds.


had a great race and a great time - will do it again. Beat my time from Danskin (2 weeks ago) by five minutes, even with a longer swim and a longer run. Quite happy with how I did.