Swim start was chaos. Had to swim out to the first bouy. Before half the wave got there they started the race. My buddy looked at me and said "are we racing?" Not sure why but I had a bit of a panic at the start. Not sure if it was because I wasn't ready to start the race, or the first time in the wetsuit, or what, but the first few minutes were not good. Lots of negative thoughts flying thru my mind and really had some doubts about whether I really wanted to be out there. Got ahold of myself, tried to calm down my mind, and started to swim. After the first bouy I was fine and ended up having one of the best OWS ever. Only trouble was navigating around a couple of guys who I couldn't seem to shake. One of them zig-zagged the entire race and it seemed like he was always zigging and zagging into me or into my line. I made the turn in 18+ mins which I thought was great considering how much time I wasted at the beginning of the race (probably lost 3-5 mins there just by simply not swimming full out). I got a little wide on the way back but the upside was that it was clear sailing. Had lots of room and could just swim. It was a lot of fun. Got out of the water my watch said 37+ which I was really happy with. Long run to transition and I stopped to get a pair of sneakers. Had I looked closely at the course the day before I probably would have not brought the shoes. It was paved and pretty clean. Not a biggie.

Test the wetsuit before race day. Trust my ability and not panic. Swim from the get-go.

Ran out of time in setting up transition so I just decided to put my shoes on in transition. Didn't have time to BG my ankles so it took some time to get the suit off.

BG my ankles.

Probably started out too fast eventhough I was trying to be conservative. I did well during the first half but the second half was a little more difficult. The big bridge was a bear on the way back. I drank enough, but I was lucky in that it wasn't hot at all, a little cold actually,so that helped to conserve energy.

The shield on my aero helmet was a godsend as it kept the water off my face and provided some good visibility despite the weather. I'm not sure when or if it stopped raining while I was on the bike. Stacey said it stopped and started a few times.

Overall I had a good time on the bike. It was fun and a few times I caught myself singing "the wheels on the bus go round and round, round and round" just because it seemed like a fun thing to sing while I was out there pedaling away. Pretty dorky, but whatever I've got little kids, I hear that song all the time and it was appropriate! Ha.

Put in more base training over the winter in an effort to become a stronger cyclist. Other than that, the bike portion went as well as I could have hoped for.

One thing I need to stop doing is barking at people who are drafting. This group of 3 went by me like they were on a group ride and I got smart with them. I really need to just keep my mouth shut and not worry about what other people are doing. I'm not racing for the podium so I really shouldn't give a crap. It's just that I see it as an integrity issue. These people know the rules and yet they have no problem breaking them. Pet peeve I've got to get over.

Sat my ass down and dug out my dry socks. I'd double-bagged my running shoes and you should have seen the amount of water that poured off the top bag when I picked it up. Whoa did it rain.

Nothing.

Felt great coming out of transition. Saw Stacey and planted a big kiss on her as I was running. She definitely didn't see that coming. First few miles were great but I had to step off the gas because it was going to be a long run. At mile 2, we turned down onto the dirt/gravel/rock path that we'd run out and back on. When I say DOWN, I mean DOWN. That was a huge hill that I was not looking forward to climbing back up. The run out was good. Felt great and my pace was good. Saw Bill at mile 5ish which was a nice pick-me-up. After mile 6 things started to tighten up so I had to start making deals with myself. Run to the next water station and you can walk it. Run to the next, same deal. It worked out for the most part until about mile 10 when my calf and hammy both started giving me problems. Decided to run/walk to the big hill and re-evaluate. Walked the hill and then could only really muster a run/walk the rest of the way. This wasn't a surprise as my run training wasn't what it could have been. Go back to the campground and still could only manage to run a little way before the calf and hammy said NO. Got to the gravel path that led to the finish and sucked it up. Saw Stacey and friends right before the turn to the finish and that helped a lot. Told them I was fashionably late since my buddy had already finished. Turned the corner and saw the line. Had a little wave of pride run over me as I had accomplished my goal of finishing and I was happy with how it had gone.

Put in more traininig, but I knew that going in.

Got a hug and a kiss from Stacey and posed for some pics. Grabbed a sandwich and savored every bite of solid food. Won't ever forget how good that turkey and cheese sandwich was. Mmmmmm. Finished munching and eventually made my way over to grab my stuff. Everything was soaked, just drenched, but at that point I really didn't care.


Lack of consistency in training. I could have been more disciplined with completing my planned workouts and it would have definitely helped on race day. That said, I'm cool with the outcome and I'm looking forward my next race.


I'd do this race again because it was close to home and cheap, but I'd like to do different HIM next time. It was a no-frills HIM, but I knew that going in.