Comments from the other competitors had this course about 100 - 150 yards long. This was a crap swim for me even though my volume was down for the last two months. I figured I would come out 33 - 34 minutes or so.

Just keep up the volume.

Actually took my time. Took a leak. Got the heart rate down. No problems here.

Ahh, the bike at Clearwater...

First of all, let me start by saying that I did not want to pass judgement until I was there. Yes, there are packs. I saw 4 big ones...three passed me, one was in front of me on an out and back section of the course. It was pretty blatant. Since I really can't keep up with some of those guys/girls, I could not stay with those packs if I wanted to...so my 2:30 was dead nuts clean.

The bike started out great although my MPH was around 19 - 20 so was getting a little nervous that something was wrong with me or my bike. After the race I was told that the first 15 miles were a net uphill. OK... When we hit the highways I found out why this course is so fast. It is dead balls flat with great road surfaces. MPH went way up and I hit the first 25 miles at about a 21.1 average. Pretty respectable for my big-ness. The next 30 miles were solo hammer fest with a couple of packs passing me. At around mile 45 I broke my arm rest for my bars and had to be gentle for the next 10 miles. Not a big deal. Got off the bike feeling awesome. Kissed my wife and the boys and headed out on the run.

NOTHING! This was a great ride. Clean and fast for me. VERY happy with the performance.

No picnics. They take your bike!

So this is where I throw the brakes on and the reason why I rolled down for my slot becomes clear. I still weigh 217 and at 5-9 can't run a half like a can a 5k. My previous time for the run at this distance was 2:30...so I was looking to improve.

I wore a stopwatch for the swim and switched to a Garmin when I got on my bike. I stashed the stopwatch in my pocket for use some time during the run to see where I needed to be relative to my goal for this race (5:45 or so). I knew I could break 6 hours just because of the course...how much less than that was up in the air. I did the math in my head and figured I had a shot at 5:30 but would need to keep the miles under 10 MPM. This was a maybe...

First three miles were great. Really tried to keep the pace under control. The next 6 miles I just tried to settle in to a nice pace, keep cool and enjoy this experience. At the turn around for the last three miles I decided to pull out the watch...in disbelief, I found that I had a shot at 5:25. This would be a 45 minute PR at this distance. At this point I was pretty much spent and a 29 minute 5k (while pathetic) was going to take the rest of what I had left. The first mile was a strong effort and I went through the marker at 9 minutes, next mile had the bridge and pretty much sucked...the last mile would take an 8:50 or so with the .1 at the end. At this point, adreneline kicked in and managed to hold off the cramps that were coming. Hit the finishing chute, waved at the wifey and finished with a 5:24:47...2:09 for the run. Pretty freaking sweet for this clydesdale.

Nothing.

After I hit the finish I was hit with a wave of emotions...did not expect it. Felt amazing that I went as fast as I did (for me...folks). Chilled out at the finish area with the family. My body felt great. No problems post race or the days after at alll...my lack of energy really kicked in a couple of weeks after the race.


Weight...although this is as low as I have been in almost 10 years.


I loved this race. The draft packs were bad but moving the race to vegas is going to solve nothing...no matter what the talking heads on slowtiwch say.