really a good swim for me. Still not below 2:00/100, but getting closer. Probably was right at about 2:00/100 given that I probably swam closer to 1700 meters due to my stellar navigating skills. On the first leg, I went a tad wide :) After I recovered from that, I got to the first turn buoy ok. Then on the second leg, for the first part it was very narrow. I was back in the crowd. For the first time in my racing experience, I got kicked in the face and my goggles got knocked down. I think the guy was going perpendicular to the flow of traffic too, which confused the hell out of me. It took me a few seconds of floating on my back to get the water out of them and get them back on my face and swimming again. Then on the last leg I went a little wide, but not as wide as the first leg. Between my navigating skills (or lack of it) and getting kicked, I am pretty happy with the swim. Also, the exit from the swim is like White Lake in that you have a decent run from the water to the timing mat. Plus, this one is uphill. I guess they figure that is a good warmup for the rest of the course.

Navigate better, not get kicked in the face.

a little slow. had some balance issues. I forgot to mention that earlier. before the swim, I was standing on the beach, which is on an angle, but i had some balance issues/light headedness for a brief second. Figured it was lack of sleep and went on. Overall, I think it was really being tired given the rest of the race.

This is where my lack of intelligence comes into play. I rode the new bike. Legs felt great. Legs felt great coming off the bike out of transition. I think I was so determined to break 20 mph that I pushed harder than I should have. (and I didn't even manage that) After duke you would think that I would take it easy on the bike and try and smoke the run. but nooooo. that would have been the intelligent way to race, but of course, I would not be able to write this wonderful race report for you (and me) to learn how not to race.

Not push so hard. Maybe if I had done 18mph, I would have had my legs for the run

good transition

Well, this was not a good run. My legs felt great leaving transition. I think that has a lot to do with the new bike. I felt like I was running pretty strong, but the first mile seemed to take forever. I almost thought they had forgotten to mark it, then I came to the first aid table which was at mile 1. Kept running, but felt like the energy was draining from my body. Patellar tendons were sore, probably not fully recovered from the hills at duke, but really what I noticed was the lack of energy. Finally around mile 3 or so, I felt like I could lay down on the side of the road and take a nap. I have never felt that before during a race. Now, I have had to fight the urge to sit down and quit because I hurt, but not to lay down and take a nap. After that, I alternated running and walking the rest of the course.
Afterwards I noticed how heavy my shoes were and how wet they were. In addition to the hard bike, I think I let the humidity sneak up on me. I never felt hot, but clearly I was draining my energy stores.

not push the bike so hard. take my salt pills to the race. take my red bull to the race

got my recovery drink from my bag and walked around while I drank it. Did some stretching to get the tightness out of the hips and upper legs.


Two things affected my ability to perform better. One, I didn't take the race seriously enough. I went in to this with the mindset that I had brick workouts that took longer than this race was going to take. I did not take my salt/electrolyte pills. I did not have a red bull to take with me on the run. I did not have any gas pills to help me burp. I should have done all these things just like I do with my half's. Two, I pushed the bike too hard. I did not retain the lesson from duke.
Overall, I need to work on my bike. I need to get stronger on it so 19mph is an easy ride, with legs left to run for days. the swimming is improving, and duke showed the run can be there if the legs haven't been butchered.

Overall, I can't be that dissapointed, though I am. My goal coming in was 2:45. I missed it by 6 minutes. As bad as the run was, I wasn't that far off. If I race like I had some brains in my head, I break my goal, I'm sure of that. this is one of those learning experiences that I think (hope) will make me a better racer next season.


I would recommend this race to anyone. The swim is great, the bike course is challenging, but not tough. The run is a challenge, but I think it can be done much faster than I did it this year. I will come back to do this race.