What a mess! It was foggy for the start which wasn't bad except you couldn't see any buoys. Luckily there was a rope about 5 feet deep that the buoys ran on that you could use to sight. Unluckily, everyone was using it so it was a brawl on the rope. I stayed about 5' to the right of the buoy and still got mugged. The fast women in the wave after mine were the most aggressive.

Swim faster. That would mean more pool time though....

I felt like I had swallowed half of Lake Stevens by the end. Very bloated and that awful lake water taste in my mouth. Took my time getting changed and sorted out. By the time I got out of transition felt better but still bloated.

Still feeling bloated. That was the theme of my whole race really. Had to stop at a porta potty around mile 20 or where the second water stop was. There was a line. No problem peeing but still very gassy. Eating and drinking fine. Uphills were just okay but descending was awesome. No speedo so I don't know but I blew past a lot of people on the downhills. Got slowed down by an ice cream truck right before transition.

More hill training. Taking 3 weeks off training from July 1st from getting my tonsils removed and my nose fixed didn't help either.

I was getting off my bike when the announcer was welcoming Michellie Jones in from her race. Yes, she finished the same time I started running. Jeez.

Still a lot of bloat and gas which had me hit a couple of porta potties again. Never got rid of it during the race and it caused a lot of cramping in my abs which contributed to cramping in my legs. I was able to keep a steady pace. Mile 3 was done in 9:40 (after porta potty stop #1), the rest were in the 10:30 to 11:30 region.

More run training.

Does collapsing under the pizza table count? Basically, that's what I did. Oh, and stopped at an Irish Pub on the way back to Everett for a Guinness, the world's best recovery drink. :-)


Weight, training, heat, cramps, bloating, do I need to go on? :-)


The swim started 10 minutes late. I think it was due to the fog. It seemed like this caused them to push the waves closer together which didn't help slower swimmers like me at all. My wife was volunteering and she noted that they were short volunteers everywhere. Some just left when they wanted to. All in all though, I thought the event was done pretty well. I would do it again.