Lots of contact at the start and then it thinned out a bit, only for the men's wave behind me to catch up. Took an elbow to the head and the guys tried to swim over me. Managed to get to the left and had some clear water

Swim faster but this was decent time for me...would have preferred around 2:00/100 but I'm still pleased with this time

Wetsuit strippers did a great job. About a quarter mile run from the beach to T1. Threw some powder on my feet and threw on the bike shoes. Granted that it was a long run to transition, but not sure what I did for all that time though. It didn't feel like it took almost 5 minutes

Move faster

Very short portion of the road that was terrible. Once we made it to hwy 35, road was nice. Planed 15-17mph and was right on pace, had to make a bathroom stop just after mile 35 and the volunteers held my bike for me. Came out of the bathroom and tried to get back on the bike but there was gravel stuck between the tire and the frame. Spent a minute or two picking gravel out so the rear wheel would spin freely. Overall the bike felt good, didn't feel like I pushed the legs too much.

Drink less towards the end of the bike as my stomach felt "sloshy" on the run

Once again, not sure what took so long. Did sit down to change my shoes and took time to put on socks.

Move faster. Wear different running shoes. I had been debating on whether or not to wear my Nike Pegasus or my Zoots. I have been using the lots for racing all season and they felt great. I have put it in several longer training runs at home and they felt great. Unfortunately, on race day I was wishing that I had worn the Nikes. I will change this for next year. I was worried that I would end up with lots of water in my shoes from the sponges, sprinklers, etc. and wore the Zoots as they have holes in the soles to drain the shoes. I ended up pretty dry and didn't need the drain holes. I needed the extra support of my Nikes.

I started off feeling great. Legs felt good. I planned on running 10-11 min miles and after mile 1 I looked at my my garmin and went out for 9:30...too fast. I tried to slow it down. My plan was to run and then walk the aid stations. I think I drank too much water at the aid stations 1-4. My stomach started sloshing. I wasn't drinking any more than usual but the temps were cooler than in training. About mile 5, the hills really got to me. I didn't train enough for the hills. My initial plan of walking the aid stations turned into walking uphill and running down hill. My lower back and hip flexors got very tight but didn't quite cramp. They got so tight that I had to stop several times just to stretch out. I took one GU at mile 4 and had planned to take another at mile 8 but my stomach was sloshing all around so I skipped the GU and sipped a little bit of cola. Somehow made it to the finish but my hope of breaking 7 hours slipped right through my fingers with that run performance.

train more hills!! I think I was so worried about the bike segment that my run training was sub-optimal, especially for the hilly course

None. Walked to meet the family, sat down on the ice chest and headed back to the hotel.


Run training


Fantastic volunteers. They had almost more volunteers than racers! Great support. Overall happy to complete my first 70.3 but disappointed in my run. Trained to run 10-11minute miles and completely fell apart on the hills