Was breathing to the left and over time became oxygen deprived so switch to right sided breathing. Shoulder pain I had in training came on and got worse when I realized I was not kicking. So while I made some initial forward progress, i slowly lost momentum and finished below expectations.

More open water training as opposed to almost exclusively pool training. Better warm up. Breath to the side most comfortable, don't try different technique on race day.

Everything was in bags and left in transition the previous day. I could have taken everything out and placed them on the ground, but at this distance of a race I was not too concerned with a smoking T1 time. Transition went smoothly and that was more important then time.

Lack of nutrition prior to race came out to get me. By mile 35 I was toasted, was able to take a good solid break at last aid station before Snow Canyon climb. Legs went out about mile 45ish on the last portion of the climb. Full quad lockup, thought I might be done for the day. Luckily after some massage and walking I was able to finish but I honestly could not wait to get off the bike.

Better nutrition plan, lighter bike and lose about 15lbs!

I did not know had fast T2 was coming up and it was to late to get feet out of shoes, so just unclipped and jumped off and ran in with shoes. Had some congestion heading into the racks. Had a little stumble getting into running shoes, again everything was closed up in a bag, so all the running gear had to come out of bag and all bike gear had to go back into the bag. I also stopped at the sunscreen station and got lathered down, that felt SO GOOD!!!

Nothing

Hot, windy, I was cooked off the bike, it was a tough run. Started out as a run/walk for the first 4 miles. After a few aid stations I was able to regain some stamina and run between the aid stations. The last mile seemed like forever.
The volunteer and community support where the best, without them it would have sucked soo bad, but they made it fun, they called out my name, they cheered, they sprayed us down with hoses, it was actually quite nice despite the suffering.

Poor nutrition planning prior to the race just cascaded into the run.

I got my medal, drank water, grabbed my bike and gear and went home and plopped into a cold tub!


Poor Nutrition prior to the race.


St George is an amazing venue. It is a tough course for sure, one of the toughest halfs in North America. The town of St George really pulls out all the stops to make this a top tier event. With 2,600 volunteers and the entire town rallying to cheer you on, you can't beat it. With some of the most stunning scenery you will experience and lots of outside opportunities to visit Zion and Bryce national parks, its just really one of the best events I have been to. Will be returning next year for sure.