I had my Tempo Trainer set at a cadence of 48 and wanted to do the swim in 30 minutes. I did have a hard time hearing the TT during the swim. Doing the swim the day before was a big benefit. I discovered that I would swim straightest when breathing to my right and pulling a little harder with my left arm. I general I would wander to the right. So I set myself up to the left side of the start on the front row. If I wandered to the right, it would take me right to the right-hand turn. The first 300 meters were a little crowded but it not bother me. Whenever I made contact with someone, I just tried to muscle through them and take a quick peek to check my direction. At the right-hand turn, the lake narrowed as we were going under a bridge. I just used the right wall for my sighting. I did have a near miss of the no swimming sign along the wall. As I turned to breath, I saw a shadow in my way. I sighted and veered to the left just in time to avoid hooking the sign. Going around the bouy went much better than previous OWS swims and I headed back using the wall again to site going under the bridge. After the bridge, I kept things going pretty straight as long as I would pull a little harder with my left arm. With about 100 meters to go, it flashed in my head about kicking to get some blood to my legs. I had never actually practiced this but it just happened as I thought of it. I had been worried about feeling off balance after the swim because that has been what happens at my longer swim workouts. I got to the ladder and pushed myself up to the first step and got off my knees with the help of a volunteer. I was pleasently surprised to have a volunteer undo my zipper as I got to the top of the steps(things that sound dirty but are not). I pulled off my goggles and cap and pulled the top off as I ran toward the transition. Doing the kicking must have helped because I did not feel off balance at all as I ran to the transition.

This was the straightest I have ever swam in a race. I have never been in the top 50%, in my AG, for the swim before. The only thing I would do different would be to place my Tempo Trainer closer to my ear. This was an excellent swim for me.

15/33, Everything went pretty smooth except when I grabbed my bike, I noticed that my race belt was hanging from the right handle bar. I had to stop and balance my bike as I put on the race belt. I ran a little beyond the mount line to get a clear spot for jumping on the bike. Got clipped in pretty quick and off I went.

Put my race belt on before grabbing the bike.

My plan for the bike was to keep a cadence of 95 and keep an Ave. HR of 155. As I started the bike, my HR was at 165 even though I felt comfortable. I knew I had to get my HR down to prevent from blowing up on the run. It seemed like it took forever to get it down to 155, but when I looked at my watch it only took about 7 minutes. At this pace, I felt like I could push it harder but I wanted to stick to my plan. Toward the end of the first lap, I realized that I had got caught up in passing so many people that I had forgotten to hydrate. I promtly started drinking more and ended up finishing my aero bottle a couple miles before the finish. For nutrition, I did 1 shot block at 15, 30, and 45 minutes into the bike. Near the start of the second lap, I struck up a conversation with a girl doing the 1/2 IM. We kept passing each other so we just started talking to each other. She was down from CO. to get a 1/2 IM done before she goes to Germany for the Roth IM. She is originally from Germany. It turns out she finished 2nd overall amongst the female AGers. The wind did not bother me until about 15 min. left. I just tried to ignore it and keep my pace to the finish.

Nothing, I stuck to my pace plan

1/33, Who's your DADDY!!!

Nothing

My plan for the run was to keep my HR at 155 until the turn-around. Then up it to 160 until the final mile. The final mile I would go as hard as I could. I had my Tempo Trainer set for a cadence of 90. I wanted to run at an 8 min/mile pace. As I started the run, my HR was in the mid 160s. I started to slow down and eventually got my HR to 155. When I got to 155, I did not feel as if I was running at an 8 min/mile pace. But, I let my HR rule my plan. I did not want to blow-up on the run. I carried an 8 oz bottle of diluted GU2O to stay hydrated. I prefer to do that instead of drinking from a cup and having the water go up my nose. With the little sport bottle, I can just squirt it in my mouth. At the aid stations, I would get a cup of water to dump on my head. The sport bottle lasted until the turn-around and then I upped my HR to 160. My legs were feeling good and I wanted to run the second half faster than the first half. I was still feeling good during the second half, but I was ready for the finish line. After the last aid station, it was time to slowly build to my Max. I ended up finishing in a sprint.

I wish I would have done the run in 50 min, but I had a plan based on my HR and I wanted to stick with it. I did not want to start cramping or slow down for the second half. So I guess I would not have done anything different for this race.

My legs really felt good and were not getting tight after the finish. I walked around and looked for other BTers and cheered on 1/2 IMers I knew. Drank water and ate some bagels and twizzlers. I probably met 7-8 new Bters on Sun. Everyone of them was great to hang out with.


Experience. This was my first Olympic. Now I have a base to build upon.


This was a well organized event. It would be nice if there were better things to eat at the end of the race.