Since this was only my 2nd open water swim in a triathlon (with the first being Playtri which was a TOTAL disaster!), I was actually pretty pleased with my swim. I know it's slow, but I'm always slow at swimming. I had trouble sighting after turning the 2nd bouy, so just kept following the caps ahead of me (which were mostly from like 2 waves back at that point..HA!). Just kept plugging along until I was done, which really didn't seem like it was 55 minutes.

Take swimming lessons in order to fix my stroke and become faster.

I did run up the hill from the water to T1, but was not in any particular hurry. Didn't clean my feet off...just put them dirty and wet into my cycling socks. Put shoes on, helmet on, sunglasses on, ate 1/2 of a peanut butter sandwich and off I went.

Nothing...I wasn't trying to be fast.

Felt great on the bike. Drank all my Perpetuem/Sustained Energy bottle, ate a couple slices of my peanut butter sandwich, had about 2 Power Bar gels out of my flask, drank all my Gatorade and water from my Podium Quest bottle, drank another bottle of water I got from the 40 mile hand up. I held back quite a bit on the bike...my heart rate was in the 140s most all of the time. The hills felt easy..I never got out of my big chain ring. About mile 46, my stomach started to hurt a little bit, but it went away after a few minutes. Didn't stop at all on the bike. Was stuck behind a white pickup truck about 4 different times though. I even passed it, but then it passed me a couple minutes later. I guess I got some good drafting in while stuck behind it though...if only it were going faster! I had to ride my brakes because it was going so slow.

Nothing...the bike felt great. I could have pushed it a little bit more though.

When I first climbed off my bike, my legs were so wobbly! They felt better after I racked my bike though. I wasn't in a hurry here either. I actually changed my socks from my cycling socks into my Wright Socks I wear for long runs to keep from getting blisters. Took helmet off, put running cap on, put race belt on, and ran out of transition.

Nothing.

Had to stop at porta potties right after leaving T2, so a few minutes there is included in my run time. After leaving the potty, I started running. I was amazed at how GOOD my legs felt. They felt great! After leaving the park area and getting onto the road, I noticed I had a side stitch on my left side. I thought "That's weird...I never get those anymore". I had become used to running through side stitches several years ago, so I just kept running thinking it would go away soon. But no, it got worse and traveled to the middle of my stomach also. So, I think "I'll just walk up this hill, then it will probably be okay". So, I walked a bit then ran the downhill portion and my stomach was hurting even more. The heat didn't seem to be bothering me and my legs still felt great, but my stomach was killing me. I drank Gatorade and water at the aid stations and put ice inside my hat to keep cool.

I saw Sue after the U-turn in front of the expo center. I was walking at this point and she was running, so I thought she would catch up fairly quickly. My walk/run pattern continued. About midway though the cross country section, Sue caught up. I was glad to have someone to talk to and we walked together. My stomach was hurting REALLY BAD at this point, and I was trying everything to get it to feel better...the defizzed Pepsi, ice, bannana, but nothing worked. Just after we passed the aid station with the "Halo" women, I projectile vomited 3 different times into the trees. This was all yellow/greeen Gatorade coming out...probably a good 40 ounces. Sue stood and waited for me, but couldn't get too close or she probably would have puked too!

After that, I actually felt better. My stomach didn't hurt anymore and we actually ran some and I felt good. I thought for sure Sue and I would continue running/walking and finish together. But, about mile 9, my stomach starting hurting really bad again, worse than before. I started walking slower and slower. Sue and I made a stop at the porta potties between mile 9 and 10 and I was hoping that would make my stomach feel better. No such luck, I felt worse than ever. Sue was feeling energized from our slow walking spell and was ready to run some more. I told her to go on and I would see her at the finish.

A couple minutes after Sue started running, I felt the puke coming on again. This was about 50 yards from the mile 10 marker. This time I threw up, walked a few steps, threw up again, walked a few more steps, threw up again. All with lots of spectators walking past. This time the EMTs riding motorcycles were coming from the other direction and saw me throwing up. They sped right over to me and started getting all sorts of supplies out of a bag off the back of the motorcycle. One of them took off his jacket and had me sit on it on the street and started wiping off the back of my neck and face with water. He also had another guy take his jacket off and use it to create shade for me while I was sitting there. They were filling out some type of report on me also...name, age, allergies, what I had eaten, yada yada. I told them this was the 2nd episode of vomiting and that my stomach felt pretty good after doing it. I felt pretty wiped out at this point though and they said I was severely dehydrated since I puked out all my fluids. Luckily my blood pressure was really good, so they let me keep sitting there and gave me a bottle of water that I had to drink in front of them. After about 20-30 minutes, they said they could transport me to the hospital via ambulance or the gator could take me to the medical tent at the start. I said "Uh, NO!!! I only have 3 miles to go. I'm going to finish!". I promised them I would walk and not run and I would drink the 2nd bottle of water they had given me. They said they would keep an eye on me until I entered the park. I had to sign the report saying I refused transport to the hospital and they let me go.

I walked really slow from this point on hoping I would not get sick again. I was so tired...not physically tired, my legs felt like running, but my head was hurting and I felt so sleepy. I plugged away one step at a time, with lots of people passing me both walking and running. Between aid stations when it was very deserted out on the course, I was just praying I wouldn't pass out or something because it would be a while before someone found me. Close to the finish, Maurice had come back looking for me. It was nice to have company for those last few minutes. When I finally got to the finish area, I ran the last little bit in and was finally done.

I honestly don't know what happened to me out there. Was I sick beforehand and it just manifested on the run? Was I overheated? Was my mixture of Perpeteum and Sustained Energy in the same bottle what caused it? I don't know the answer to any of it. I can pretty much guarantee that I could do a long run every single weekend for a year and never have as bad of experience as I did on Sunday.

Some moments I'm upset about my performance. I know I can run, and that was just pathetic. Other moments, I'm just extremely grateful that I was able to finish and still be conscious at the end. I started to have my doubts about that many times during the run. All in all, I'm so glad I finished and didn't require any major medical intervention!

Well, I walked to the medical tent and plopped down on a cot. They put ice in all sorts of areas and started an IV. 3 IV bags later, they said I was sufficiently recovered to go home. Missed out on ALL of the post race food, beer, tea, etc. I was happy to just be laying down though!

My body was totally messed up though. My legs felt great...not sore AT ALL. I've been more sore from 1 hour group exercise classes at the gym than from this HIM. But, my body was retaining serious water for days after Sunday. I'm finally starting to feel pretty normal and it's Friday now.

I really want to do another HIM just to see what I can do in more favorable conditions. I wish I could do another one next week, but it looks like it won't occur until next spring at the earliest. Now, I need to focus on the other aspects of my life that have been on hold during this whole training process.


You're kidding right? I think that's obvious!