First wave of the international distance swim started about 20-30min late. Water was way warmer then the air. It was really neat to watch the sprint guys do their swim. Seeded my self at the far left of the wave. I did not want to fight around the first bouy. Before the first left hand turn we ran into a bunch of weeds. It was pretty nasty. A couple of people from the Sprint talked about getting hung up and pretty freaked. It was the only section with weeds on the course. I found my pace/stroke after second left hand turn. Sited every 4-5 strokes. Except for the beginning I was not able to draft that much off people. I couldn't really find anyone and felt like I was by myself most of the time. Maybe I swung out to far. I know that I got passed by a group of people from the next wave on the end of the first and second second lap but I really wasn't effected by it.

Looked at the watch coming out of the water it was in the 25 range=smoking swim.

Not much. I did pretty well on the swim.

Took too much time again. I spent more time here deciding what to wear and mentally preparing for the cold hilly ride. Wish that I had shoe footies/warmers for the bike. Put on a long sleeve t hoping it would be enough.

I need to practice transitions from swimming to biking. I have always take a ton of time during this transition.

My bike computer was f'd. No speed, no cadence, no nothing. So I went off of my HRM and RPE. The hills were brutal as expected but I played the first loop conservative and then hit the course a little harder on the second.

My feet went numb about half way through the first loop. My legs were okay but cold. Upper body needed the extra protection provided by the t-shirt. Gel at 45 and 1 shot block every 20 after. I hydrated as much as I could but with it being cold I didn't want to drink cold fluids.

I sat in the saddle for most of the hills. A couple of times went to the third ring (lowest)... and spun up the rest of the hills.

I did not get passed by that many people but I felt like I was alone for a lot of the second loop. This is by far my weakest event in triathlon. I need to work on biking a lot more. I caught up with people on the hills and on the turns but the just could crank out a better pace on the flats.

I did really well when you look at my averages and I am proud about keeping my pace up without knowing cadence or speed.

Get some more TITS. Have a bike computer that didn't go on the fritz.

Transition was okay. Took the LS-T off because it was now in the low to mid 50s and okay to run with short/no seleves. I started to run out but forgot to take off my cycling gloves... DOH!

Not much... except remember to take off gloves.

My feet were numb. I could not feel the right foot until mile 1 and started to get feeling in the left at mile 1.5. The fact that I did not get feeling back at the same time made it worse.

I did not drink a drop on the run but didn't feel thirsty.

First 5k lap was around 25:30... which was at training pace. HR around the 160's. I picked it up at the 10k turn around and even more at the 5mi mark. Second lap was great and I felt strong. I looked down at my watch coming past the 5mi mark and saw that I was going to crush my goal of a below 3hr Oly. I was really happy to see all the training paying off. I did not have much left in the tank coming to the last .5 mi but kept my pace.

It was neat to hear the announcer call out my name as I was running to the finish. I crossed the line at 2:35 to my wife smiling and clapping and jumping around.

Other than not have numb feet... not much.

Drank some water, ate my remaining shot blocks and gatorade.


Bike and run speed. I am a good swimmer... I just need to find my fast.


HFP put on a good and cheap triathlon option across much of Ohio. No frills, no special food at the end, just a well put on race.