Goal: Swim: Go as easy as possible and just maintain good swimming form. I expected this would get me at about 36-38 minutes if all went well.

For the swim, I started toward the middle inside of my wave. I really went out easy at the start to be as sure as possible to avoid the panic or whatever happened at Rev3. It worked, as I swam very comfortably out to the first buoy and turned left. At that point I was in the midst of the crowd and it was very physical, just due to the number of people all together from not only my wave but the other waves on their second loop. I decided to swim a little outside the main group, so I pushed a little to the right and had nice clean water. There were no feet to draft, but there was also no contact. It was very easy swimming and my breathing was very comfortable. The remainder of the first loop was just cruise control with the focus on steady breathing and easy pace.
On the second loop the crowds were largely gone as the earlier waves had exited. I took a much more direct course by following the turn buoys, though that meant going inside some of the directional buoys which seemed to be quite offline to me. On the backside of the second loop, my upper legs started to tighten up, so I tried to “stretch” them out as best as possible and use them by kicking a lot more to see if getting some more blood in them would help. They continued to threaten to cramp up, but I just swam to the finish and hoped for the best. When I reached the shore and stood up, my legs really tightened up and required a few moments of stretching to alleviate the cramps. Overall I was happy with the swim, though my time was 38:51 I was totally relaxed and felt like I didn't use very much energy on the swim, so I had plenty left for the bike and run, leg cramps notwithstanding.

After the swim there is a short but very steep hill up to T1. The hill run is actually a timed event to try to make it interesting that you’re climbing a big hill before you even start the race! I sort of walk/jogged and made my way up this hill to the transition area hoping my legs would loosen up but not wanting to overdo anything to stress them given the tightness.

Once into the transition area, there was someone in my row getting medical attention and a golf cart was there waiting to take him away. We weren't allowed into our row for a short time, maybe a minute, while they got him situated. You can see the affected athletes looking at T1 times for our age group as there are about 5 of us with about a minute more than everyone else. This transition was actually pretty smooth for me,

While we waited I opted for socks which I put on from the "back side" of the row, and also took my wetsuit off which was easier with the sleeveless version. Once I was allowed in the row, the rest of the change went smoothly.


Not much given I really didn't want to hammer up the hill given my leg cramps. If everything felt good out of the water I'd push the hill harder.

Goal: Accumulate less than 175 TSS for the bike. For my expected time, that would mean about 77-78% FTP (200-205 watts) with little fluctuation for uphills and downhills. This should leave me with plenty of energy for a good run. Most plans call for anything under 180 being fine, so this number seemed pretty conservative. I’ve had 2 very successful races this year which ended with the bike, so I did not want to fall in love with a bike split today.

Actual:
I started the bike riding my target watts of 200-205, which felt very comfortable though still requires focus. I was hoping that the cramps would subside with the riding motion, which is essentially what happened at Rev3 two weeks ago. The course is pretty flat and the hills are not steep, but more of the gradual/false flat type, so keeping the power relatively steady is easier than on courses like Timberman. After 10 miles, the cramps weren't going away, but at least they weren't getting worse. I decided to lower the watts to 195 and see if that helped. At mile 20, the cramps were again not getting worse but they were still present. Oh well, looks like I was gonna have to deal with it. So I kept the watts around 190-195 to be safe, so well below what I had planned originally. At that point the wind started picking up, so I really focused on staying aero and really keeping my body and head out of the wind.

From there to the end I just kept riding along at the new effort level which felt very comfortable and I tried not to ride too hard up any hills so as not to spike the power numbers. There were a few times I had to push harder to complete passes (once you start to pass you have to finish) but otherwise I really didn't have any power spikes. My final bike time was 2:39:02. I had hoped to at least break 2:45, so that time was fine and actually surprised me given what felt like a very easy effort. My TSS was well under budget at 161. I really worked hard on staying aero and setting the bike up to be aero, and I think it really helped.



Not too much I may have drank a little too much water. I've been tracking my water loss through sweat rate and it's very high, so I probably drank more water on this ride than I typically do. It didn't really seem to cause much of an issue, but I just felt a little bloated about mile 35 so I backed off. I did finish 550 calories of liquid nutrition and a 100 calorie gel, so that's 650 calories in a 2:40 ride (243/hour) which is almost exactly what I had trained for.

T2 was slow because I had to go to the bathroom (number 2) and there was someone in the only port-a-pottie in transition who seemed to take forever. I tried to keep flexing/stretching my legs and such, but they were still really tight and not loosening up at all. T2 was actually only 4:23, so it wasn't that long, but it probably would have under 2:00 if no bathroom break. I also forgot my race belt with my number, so I had to run back and get it. My spot wasn't far form the exit so that was a minor annoyance. Anyway, on to the run.


Run out of transition and use the port a potties which were used before the race. They were a little off the course, but there would have been no waiting! Not sure why I had to go, this has never happened before during a race. Maybe ate too much the day before, but the stir fry was really good!

Goal:
Start easier than expected pace for the first three miles, then spend 6 miles at target pace, then last 5k give whatever I have left. I was hoping to go under 2:00, which means 9:05 miles. I know the first two miles is downhill, so even with a low effort the first three miles would be under 9.

The run started fine, but my legs were already cramped and during the first mile I really wondered if there was any way I would be able to finish 13.1 feeling so bad at the start. But I had the pickle juice and was hoping for the best. With a goal of 2:00, I knew I had to average 9:05 to get it done. The first almost 2 miles is net downhill with no uphills at all, so it's a great way to start. I shuffled along at about 8:50 those first few miles and felt fine, or at least no worse. I decided to take a small shot of pickle juice at the aid stations as well as water or coke as I felt like it. I then did 3 pretty "fast" miles at more like 8:45 (these were faster since there were uphills as well) and still felt ok. My pace then slowed to about 9:05 for the next 4-5 miles with the same strategy, some miles faster and some slower mostly due to the hills. But the pickle juice then ran out. At somewhere around mile 10.5 my legs completely locked up where they had been cramping. I stopped but couldn't stretch or massage them out of it. I decided to start waddling and see if they would co-operate, but they never really changed. I walked most of the last 2.5 miles, with some short running/shuffling mixed in. I got to the top of the hill before the finish chute and stopped again and stretched and massaged them enough to make a good showing running through the chute at least. Run time was 2:07:49. Slow and missed the goal, but I was really happy with my mental toughness to run through the feeling for 10.5+ miles and then just get through it to the end.



Not cramp on the swim. I think this run was excellent given how I started. I really didn't think I'd be able to get through 13.1 based on how the cramps felt at the start. But the pickle juice, or the placebo effect, really kept the cramps at bay until almost the end. Maybe if I had enough pickle juice to get through the whole thing I'd have been able to hit the goal.

Lie down and eat a banana and a bagel. Legs were done.



I have no idea what is causing these cramps on the swim or why they won't go away, but I'll get it figured out. It may be just related to the lack of swimming all summer and therefore my legs aren't used to being in that position for that length of time. The sprint at Timberman went very well obviously, but it's very short (8:30).



Love this race. The only complaints are the swim setup, but with the small lake and 2 loop swim there's not a lot to be done. Maybe shorter gaps between waves would help, but not sure as they second loop of the early waves would probably still overlap.

Post race food is second to no other race. It's a full on home made buffet Thanksgiving dinner on real plates with real silverware, and homemade apple crisp and whoopie pies for dessert.