I was most pleased with this part of the race. My goal was out of the water in under 50 minutes. As I reached up for the ladder my HRM was reading 50:20 and that was after we let 2 fast ladies go ahead. My sighting is so bad. I pull to the right and if the swim course is curving away from you that makes for some interesting angles. This swim took 5 minutes longer than it should have but the actual swimming part was no problem. I kept to my usual start off slow and finish with a group of people who have caught me. There is logic to perhaps starting off faster? This time is about 5 minutes faster than the only open water swim time I have from last year.

Maybe start a little faster but concentrate on swimming straight and sighting. I was halfway done before I had settled into a really good method for incoporating sighting into the stroke.

This actually took a little longer than expected but it has more activity in it than any other race I have ever done. The wetsuit was a little difficult getting off but not too bad. I took a shot of gel and water and sprayed on some sunscreen (not enough and not very well)

Go to the bathroom! This cost me dearly 1 hour later. I had been feeling this coming since before the swim start and should have jumped into a Port-a-John at the enrance to transition.

This was a great learning experience. As I mentioned in the T1 section I had to go BAD! I absolutely could not get into aero for the first 53 minutes and it was killing me! A friend caught me and knew exactly what the deal was as it happened to him last year. He told me to pull off as quick as I could and go. After turning onto 210 I finally found a road into the woods with a metal cable across the entrance to hang the bike on. I thought I must have peed for 5 minutes and the HRM says I was stopped for 6 so it was close. The course is good. After the stop I was staying well above 18 mph until hitting 53. The road surface of 53 sucks the speed out of you and I was getting some tired the last 10 miles (backache, buttache, etc). I had mixed 4.5 scoops of perpetuem into a bottle with 6 endurolytes (2 per hour for 3 hours). The mix worked GREAT and I just kept filling my aero bottle with water. Also had 2 gel shots on the bike.

Ride the whole ride like I did the last 2 hrs. I could have got a sub-3 hr time for this ride without certain "issues". However, April's weather really hurt the bike and run for me as several long ride and runs had to be dropped. This was a good time for what I actually brought to the race.

Made a mistake here. I took 2 more Race Caps here with an endurolyte and gel shot. Stomach did not feel right and I think it was the Race Caps. I normally take them 1 hour before working out.

Not take the Race Caps.

Had a bit of stomach issue after T2 but it was not major, more of an uncomfortable feeling for 45 minutes. However, I was running about a 10 minute mile during this time. I had 2 bottles of Perpetuem on the fuel belt with 10 oz in each and I was drinking water at every rest stop. I got lax on the gels and endurolytes and it cost me on the second lap. I was afraid to gel due to the stomach issue and afraid to take endurolytes for the same reason. I did take one endurolyte at about 1 hour in. I was actually surprised at my time as I had to walk for 10-15 minutes on the second lap. One of these times was just at the end of my first lap at a water stop as Jeff Bostic caught me. We talked and Jeff said if he stopped one more time it was going to be very tough to get going again. I knew then I was not the only one feeling rough and that picked me up immensely. As bad as things got I still got pretty close to my goal of 2.5 hrs. I think 2 more endurolytes and 1 gel shot would have made a big difference.

I was happy with the HR (it was actually sort of low when running) but I needed to take the endurolytes more consistently, probably 1 every half hour. Second lap was rough and I was feeling bad after turning back into Waterford. My last 2 miles were extremely slow running as the left quad/calf was beginning to cramp but I was so close to finishing I did not take anything.

Walking around, eating cookies, spent about 10 minutes in the lake.


Training and nutrition. I knew coming in I was going to pay somewhere for not getting enough run and bike miles in during April. Getting off slightly in nutrition during the run was more mental. I just was not thinking clearly.


As usual, SetUp does a great job. The race itself is always well supported and I cannot begin to say enough about the volunteers for this race. They are simply awesome. This race was such a good learning experience for me. I did not finish with a "I'll never do this again" attitude but a "come on Duke" attitude. I enjoy these longer races and would like to see what I can do when really in shape. A big thanks to Jeff Bostic for picking me up just before he finished and a huge WE MISSED YOU and get better soon to the Wakeman.