The start was pretty uneventful, not much bumping or anything. The first leg was straight into the sun, so I just sighted on the sun and that worked well. The 2nd buoy was pointy so I thought it was the turn buoy. I started to turn and popped up to try & find the next buoy but I saw everyone else still going straight so I changed course. Didn't really lose much time though. It took a while but I finally felt like I got in a rhythm going down the back straight. By this time I was into the earlier waves (and later waves were into me) but I was swimming pretty straight so I only ran into a few people who were stopped. Other people mentioned they thought the course was long. Hope they were right but there isn't really any way to know.

Not really sure, aside from just keep working on my swimming. I was a little slower than I expected even though I was (just a little) faster than last year. My time at the sprint was two miuntes faster so I ws expecting at least that much over last year but it was only around :40. I could have pushed maybe a little more but I felt like I was going at the right speed most of the time.

Went fine. Socks and shoes on and the running jump onto the bike was good.

Nothing.

Plan was to stay in z3 until Old Stage so I tried to get my HR down after leaving the res. Did a mostly good job of keeping HR where I wanted and felt like I held a decent pace nonetheless. I felt good going up the hill and passed quite a few people but looking back I may have pushed a bit too hard. Lots of people cheering and in costumes got the adrenaline going though. Tried to recover some on the downhill and then have fun down the canyon. My legs started to burn a bit going down Nelson Rd. so I started to think I might be pushing a bit too hard but I liked the pace I was doing so I didn't let up too much but tried to take it a little easier on the downhills. Had a bottle of accelrade, picked up a water bottle at the 2nd aid station & then had a gu. Got stung on the arm by something going down 63rd which took my mind off my legs.

Weeeellll... Not really sure. My goal was to go under 1:20 which I did although I thought something close to 1:15 was doable since I've been feeling good on the bike lately. Not sure if maybe I had taken it a little easier whether that would have had any effect on my run or not. I think maybe I should have taken it a little easier on the hill and then pushed a little harder afterwards. I may have let the excitement and surprise of passing people and feeling decent doing it dictate my pace too much. Probably a lesson here somewhere...

Except for standing there for a second feeling like I was forgetting something and looking dumb it was fine.

Nuttin'.

Along with the Long Course run, this was one of the toughest runs I've had. Tried to keep my HR z3 up the 1st hill. Got a bit of a sidestitch at the start of the dam - it got worse if I tried to push the pace from z3 but was manageable otherwise. This time it was my legs that was my limiter. Threw a water over my head at every waid station but it wasn't especially cold. I had a hard time turning over the legs starting on the 2nd dam and the hills were ruthless. The sidestitch was mostly gone by the turnaround so I had a gel and decided to make a point of trying to negative split. I was able to hold a better pace (or at least it felt like a better oace) but again those little hills just took anything leftover out of my legs. Actually walked for 5 breaths on the short dam section just because I couldn't turn over the legs any more. Hit the last aid station & got passed by a guy in my age group so I decided to try & stay with him as best I could. Got into a rhythm on the long dam and then that f*cking hill thru the marina felt like I had a pit bull pulling me backwards, but then I pushed on to the finish.

This run was actually slower than last years. On the plus side, while I did have a sidestitch, it was mostly managable and I had no stomach issues or cramps. My legs were trashed not too far into the run though so I don't know if that was because I went too hard on the bike or because I've been slacking on my running lately and haven't done a long (or hard) run in at least a few weeks. Probably both. Wonder too whether nutrtion was an issue here. Had a bottle of accelerade and a gu on the bike, maybe I should have tried to take in a little more, but I was wary about upsetting my stomach again.

Had a beer & hung out with Mark & Richard & Stacie & Ben. Grabbed a little food & sat in the shade. Everyone I talked to seemed to have had a tough race and have the same stories (turning at the buoy, slower than normal swim, tough run...)


The two main things I think were my slacking in my run training lately and the heat.


Only improvement would have been to have some cold water on the run course because without any shade it was rough. Like other people noted too the shirt are ug-ly, but the race is really well organized and run and the course is pretty fun once you get over the hill. Went 4' faster than last year so even though my run was slower and I know I could have done better there, for a non-'A' race it was a success. And with so many friends and BT'ers there not to mention the very competative field it makes for a fun race. In retrospect anyway.