There was a run in from the beach, all the men in one wave about 5 minutes after the teams. Sort of went in the middle of the wave and stayed to the left as it appeared the current was going left to right. It didn't really appear to affect things. Had a draft for a short bit but then he went to breast stroke, so I went around on the left. I played around with doing 20 strokes of build and then 20 smooth, couldn't keep a pattern with that though. I stayed wide and most of the folks were to the left. I came around the buoy awkwardly wide. I tried to follow a couple of folks but then went left and I wanted to stay closer to the return dividing line. There was another individual near me to the right that we kept pace together, no drafting though. I hit the beach at 6:3# and was very happy because I was expecting 8:30. I ran up the beach and hit the T1 at 7:06.

Stay closer to the line and draft better. Maybe swim the whole course in warmup to give me a better idea of the distance when the swims are this short.

This was again very disjointed. I struggled rinsing off my feet and getting my socks on. Finally I just slowed down and focused on each task and things went better. This was slower than it should have been without having a wet suit to deal with.

Be smooth and steady, not rush. Have a better concept for rinsing the feet.

Took off out of transition and wasn't settled into the ride yet, a couple of people went by me in the first 1/3 of a mile. As I got settled, rolled by one of them and then as the climb started going by a number of people, some folks were really struggling with it ( I think they were on teams), I repassed the other one who passed me during this time. Got to the top of the climb and headed east. I was moving quicker and easier then Friday's pre-ride. I figured out that the wind was more out of the south east than strictly out of the east. I worked to keep my HR in zone 4 and not go higher on the way out. I passed several more people during this part, then I started looking for the leader to figure out how far behind I was. I passed him shortly after I went by the 5 mile marker. I then saw a lot more people between there and the turnaround than I had hoped for after the swim I had. I hit the turn around in about 28 minutes and didn't pass anyone on the way back in. Saw Ben (on of the folks I met at dinner) a little behind me then Scott and Eldon, then saw Josh (check out his report for a story in determination and perseverance - SFBIGGESTLOSER). I got passed on the way back by a guy who was riding strong (he ended up with the fastest bike split in my age group). It woke me up a little as I had let my HR dip into low zone 3. Turned the corner and was going down the big hill and it was a monster cross wind. Felt like I was riding at a 65-70 degree angle to keep upright. The road turned a little and could relax and go a bit harder. Hit 43.3 somewhere in this stretch.

Stay focused. I probably could have pushed harder, and should have a bit, but was trying to stay below LT.

I am not sure why this took so long. It was a small transition area and I really didn't have a lot to do. Seems like I am going through the motions and not really focused. At least the motions are making progress.

Focus

I went out on the run pretty close to the guy who passed me on the bike. He started off strong. I caught up to him and spoke for a bit and ran with him for a while and then I got settled in or he slowed down, I don't know which. Looking ahead, there was no one I believed I could catch so I just tried to run a steady tempo. This run was work. I made it to the turnaround grabbed a drink and a cup to dump over my head. HR was right at LT. Came back and saw the folks behind me gaining on me. Ben was making up ground, he had cut the deficit in half about then I saw another guy I met in transition running strong. I just kept plugging away, I couldn't pick it up any. Last week in the heat and humidity, I could run with a HR in the low 180's for a couple of miles (7 beats over LT), today I couldn't do it. I settled back and just pushed what I could. I heard someone coming up on me and thought it was Ben - I was asking myself could I push myself to run with him to the finish and out kick him? He is built like a runner - well anyway, it turns out to be the guy who was running so strong. We had about 3/4 of a mile left and I tried to run with him for about 10 strides but couldn't do it - at least I didn't believe I could make it to the finish without walking at that rate so I backed off. I did the cardinal sin and looked back. I saw Ben back and figured okay, stay steady to the corner and be ready to kick if needed. He didn't seem to close as quick as I thought, I made the corner to the campground and edged the pace up a little but I had nothing to push. As I rounded and that the final stretch to the line, I lifted the pace some more just to ensure I broke the next minute barrier. I felt flat, like I didn't have any top end to give but I also had my splits messed up at the turnaround. I was moving quicker than I realized and maybe I just metered it out better over the whole course instead of having a lot left for the last 1/2 mile to mile. Turns out that this was an "outdoor" PR for a 5k for me (or at least anything since High School - don't think I want to put in the work to ever actually PR a 5k I would have to run sub 18)

Yesterday I was thinking about several things I would do differently. Today I can't remember any of them

Found my family, cheered on some other folks.


Lack of training time this week, lack of quality sleep the last week, excess pounds from time with family. WIND,


Fun race, best pre-race stuff I have experienced. Director was very outgoing. Had door prizes afterwards and made sure everyone from out of state got something (we got a $25 gas card which came in handy and made the race itself only cost $5.00)