Walked out to waist deep water (which I love). Decided to go left and towards the front. Some jostling in the beginning but then I settled in. A large wave, I always had people around me, so sighting was good. A few fish from the wave behind me caught up and I was able to use them to keep my line, unfortunately they were too fast to draft. A bit choppy at the midpoint just enuff to make it interesting. At the last turn I did get on a guy's feet for a while but felt like I was wasting energy so I let him go. I remember smiling as the beach approached, my first HIM swmim done!

Pretty happy w/ this time. Hoped for 35 minutes but I felt great coming out and that is my bigger goal in the water.

Given the weather and this being my frist HIM decided not to go w/ the shoes on the bike and take my time here. Had only about 15 yds to the exit.

No regrets

Loved this bike ride. As we headed out the roads were wet but the rain stopped. First 10 miles had the hills including one long one. I was prepared for it, thanks to my Harriman rides. I saw the infamous Devil Woman, I told her I had heard about her, she said she loved me too! Big smile!! Then the long out and back. I felt great and maintained 20 mph for the first 40 miles and even felt like I held back a bit. Given that average, I had a bit of a dilema. I had to pee and I wasn't going to stop. It took a lot of effort to make "it" happen. Even then, it was just enuff to relieve the pressure. It was easier the 2nd time! By design, and cuz there were more hills on the retun, I barely used the big ring. I wanted to save something for the run. The last 10 miles the rain returned (hard) and I backed off even more thinking I'd come to far to lose it now. Had one nice descent where I went over 40 mph but realized it was better to be safe. The one good thing about the pouring rain near the finish was I able pee for the the 3rd time so I wouldn't have to on the run. Oh by the way, a big mouthful of water spit on the thigh really seems to wash everything away. My wife is utterly grossed out by this however. The good thing is she's buying me a new pair of shoes! I managed 19 mph overall. Better than all my training rides that included hills. I felt really good the whole time and great getting off. My nutrition, as practiced, was spot on - grabbed a water bottle at every hand-up, exchanged Perp (3 scoops) for Gaterade at the 2 hr mark and alternated 3 Gels and 2 Uncrutables at 30 min intervals. Probably cud've taken in a few more enduralytes (only 4)..

Nada.

Sat a minute to dry my feet and get some nice dry socks on. It was worth it even tho it wouldn't last long!

nothing

I really felt good for most of the run, especially the first half. The crowd support and aid stations were phenomenal. Loved the Jamaican aid station. I thanked every volunteer and spectator I cud. 2 moments stand out.. A gentleman yelled out "you look great #697" I replied "You don't look so bad yourself" laughs from all his friends. Fun. Then, at about the 4 mile mark a man said I looked completely relaxed. That made me feel really good. When I passed him later he said the same thing only I wasn't feeling it. I did thank him and told him I really appreciated it.I had mixed feelings about the 2 loop format and passing the finish chute to head back out. We had to go over the wet, muddy grass and it was wierd passing the finish line. However, the crowd support mitigated both. As expected, the second loop was much harder than the first. I kept telling myself it was just another 10k. I was running these regularly in training and enjoying them. Just hold it together, I thought. At the 10 mile mark (and the 1 big hill) I felt my left hammy tighten. At my first 1/2 marry I tried to run through it and I paid. This went through my mind. Reluctantly, I decided to walk. After only about 100 yards the cramping subsided. Still on the hill, I was able to start running again and passed all of the people that passed me as I walked. I was still aware of the hammy but managed a decent gait. When I saw the 11 mile marker I felt it was going to stay at bay. Soon thereafter, I saw Rob going the other way and told him he looked great. He congratulated me (thnx Rob!). And then it hit me, I was going to finish my first HIM! I got a bit emotional (yes I can admit it!). Then I picked up the pace to finish the task at hand. As I made the last turn at a FINISH sign I yelled out "FINISH" and the crowd responed, they really were great throughout especially considering the conditions. I sprinted down the chute with a huge smile on my face, heard my name announced and finished w/ my hands raised! I finally got to see my family who I missed on the entire run but at least they saw me cross the line.

My HRM came undone right at the start and I threw it into the transition area and later retrieved it. I dunno, maybe it was good thing bc I was only able to guesstimate my splits. Rather than focus on splits I was able to really relax and enjoy the run. Being my first HIM I'm fine w/ that. I'm going to focus on improving my run and next year I will push it. This wasn't the year for that.

The culmination of 20 weeks of training. For 5 months I was focused on T-Man. That focus got me through the training. The training got me through the race, comfortably. Yeah, the weather good have been better but really had very little effect on the outcome. It was worse on the spectators, volunteers and post race festivities. In the end you can only control you and that's what I did. This weekend was awesome, meeting BT'ers, having my family w/ me and getting results that exceeded my epectations. I loved this venue and the distance suits me to "T". Finishing at 5:33 makes next year's goal pretty obvious... return to T-Man and go sub 5:30! What an experience.