Once I got in the cold water, I felt like my neck/spine locked up. This made the swim start a little difficult. In the first 20 yds, I got kicked square in the jaw - - I even have a small cut on my face (could it be from a toenail? Gross.)
After turning the second bouy, I settled into a groove and started to loosen. Due to my neck pain/stiffness, sighting was difficult and my navigation was way off.

Sight/navigate better. I cold have swum faster too. I need to play to my strength much better.

T1 and T2 times are included in the bike leg. I had some difficulty getting my wetsuit off. I beat my training partner, Matt, out of the water by 2 minutes -- but we left the transition area together. That sucks.

Peel the damn suit off.

Mistake #1 - -only had gatorade on the bike -- no water. It was too warm and sticky-sweet. I could only muster about 1/2 of a gel because I didn't want to drink. I did force myself to hydrate, but I should've had some regular water.
The hills were killer. I don't know if there was a way to prepare for them without actually riding them. It was over 3000ft of climbing (over 1800 from top to bottom).
My neck pain persisted here and I never got in aero

Biking is my weakest leg and even worse when there are hills. I was hoping for around 1:30. I need to bike more (nothing I don't already know).

Giving myself an 'average' here because of the difficulty. I have been riding more - -but it wouldn't show on this course.

Probably the best thing I did was getting out of my shoes while riding. I was able to get out of both and ride with my feet on top of my shoes. (Hey, a bright spot!)
Racked my bike, slipped my shoes and hat on, grabbed a small flask (more gatorade) and I was up the hill.

This transition was much, much quicker.

eeeee...I'm a much better runner than a cyclist and I thought I could make up some ground here. Between the hills, the wind, and my lack of nutrition - -I could not get it going. was it my lack of nutrition? who knoews. I don't feel like I bonked, but this was a terrible run for me.
I saw a guy ahead of me that I was determined to pass. I eventually did, but not after about a 10 people passed both of us. I actually lost ground here, where I usually make it up.
I ended up walking up the parts of the hills on the way back. I couldn't have been moving much slower running up them, so I figured to save some energy. I need to HTFU.

Save more for the run? Be smarter and have some water on the bike.

Saw Matt and his family. Grabbbed some water (HOORAY for water!) and some oranges and watched some other people finish.


The course difficulty, neck pain/stiffness, wind, and my own stupidity as far as water/nutrition goes.
As far as the race, it was a very humbling experience. I know that I've been training better, but it would not make a difference on this day. While I'm not sore today, I feel like this is the most difficult race I've done.
The good news is that it should make the rest of my season seem easier (except IMAZ).
Don't worry BT - - I'm not down on myself - - I just know what I'm capable of (or what I believe I'm capable of).


A very. very challenging course. If you're looking for hills on the bike and run, this course is for you.