Hilton Head Island Triathlon - Triathlon

Started on the beach and did a good job of "dolphining" out to deep enough water. Swim was pretty crowded and actually realized at one point I was swimming to the left of Brad. He then proceeded to hit me in the head, but apparently, I got him back. Swim was pretty quick and finally we were rounding last bouy. I saw a bunch of people walking in thigh deep water, but I kept swimming. I remember hearing somewhere to keep swimming until your hands hit the bottom so that's what I did. I saw our family cheering for us and started the .18 mile run from the beach up to T1 (over dry sand, through a parking lot, across the road, etc).

Nothing...maybe swim more prior to this race as I didn't log a lot of swim time.
Glad I actually ran the whole way from the beach to T1 instead of wussing out and walking.

Pretty uneventful. Had no issues getting wetsuit off. Quickly rinsed feet w/ water bottle to get the sand off. Went sockless so shoes and helment were on and I was off.

Nothing, just hustle more.

Had no issues getting comfortable on the bike. Immediately got aero and settled in. Laps were pretty uneventful. After the first loop, I realized I would have a good bike...partly b/c I felt good, but also because it was a fast course. Had a GU towards the end of the 3rd lap. Made an effort to stay aero, despite some discomfort. I remembered a guy that passed me when I was doing Eagleman in 05. He yelled, "Get down and stay down" so that's what I did. I realized I was being passed by a lot of guys which I figured would happen. I kept looking for women in my AG, but didn't really see too many. With about .4 miles left, a woman in my AG passed me. I made a mental note of what she was wearing and said I'd try to keep her in sight while racing my race. And that maybe I'd catch her on the run. Pulled into T2 to hear our group cheering. Nice thing of being 4 loops is that I could see them a few times - yelling and ringing cow bells and cheering.

Maybe push harder, but I was afraid I'd blow up.

I saw the chick in my AG in T2 and then I saw her leave. I racked my bike, on with the sneakers and race belt, grabbed my water bottle and I was off again.

Nothing

Started out breathing pretty heavy and having my legs feel like lead. I got into a rhythm with my breath and cadence and saw the chick in my AG that passed me. I still told myself I was running my own race and to not kill myself just to pass her now and die later. I kept getting closer and closer to her and was actually psasing her! I couldn't believe I was actually passing someone in my AG and it was on the run!!! I kept on going and passed a bunch more people. I fell into a pretty good pace with a guy around mile 2. We leapfrogged eachother which kept things interesting. I hit the mile 3 marker feeling pretty good, but ready to be done. Turned the corner and saw our crew yelling and ringing cow bells and had a good, final kick to the finish.

Nothing at all. Great run for me!

Grabbed some water and chatted w/ family before checking out the huge blisters on my feet from running sockless. Woops!
We stuck around for the awards ceremony and glad we did as I took 2nd in my AG and Brad took 3rd.


Lack of swimming and bricks.


Great race that we were able to tie into a trip to Hilton Head to visit Brad's mom and step dad. They've made some good improvements from when we did the race a few years ago. The course gets boring, but as I told Sissy, it's a course for the spectators as they can see the athletes about 6 times during the race.
Overall, a great race that I'm sure we'll do again!