Bike

• 4h 09m 12s
• 75.02 miles
• 18.06 Mi/hr

Rode the IMWI loop course twice with John. We originally planned on doing 3 loops, but decided against it after the second lap. Legs way too tired from last weekend's race. Temps were a little cooler when we started and wind was minimal. Temps eventually rose to the mid-80's. Kept it easy on the uphills. HR was mostly in Z2, but climbed to Z4 on some of the hills. Ate a stinger waffle at the 1:30 mark and a bonk breaker bar at the 3:00 mark. Stomach wasn't holding nutrition well. Lost a water bottle at mile 10, which wasn't a huge deal since we stopped in Verona to re-fill water. Stayed in aero on the flats and some of the downhills. Need to bring up my aero bars so they are parallel.

Swim

• 46m 36s
• 2400.00 yards
• 01m 56s /100 yards

WU: 400yard pull buoy, 2x100yard corkskrew, 2x100yard SAD, 200 yard paddles

Main: 4x200yard increasing speed each set w/ 10" RI, 4x100 yard bi-lateral swim

CD: 200 yard swim/backstroke alt

Did the 200 yard main sets in (3:34, 3:33, 3:31, and 3:23).

Run

• 29m 18s
• 4.00 miles
• 07m 19s /Mi

Brick

After the swim, I ran a quick out and back on the trail towards Riverside Park. Began the first mile in Z1, mile 2 I was in Z2, back to Z1 for mile 3 and finished in Z2/Z3. Legs were a little sore, but the run was good. Temps were lower than normal which also was good.

Bike

• 1h 33m 01s
• 30.01 miles
• 19.36 Mi/hr

Legs are less sore before this ride than they were in the morning. Rode west and south of Janesville. Winds were out of the NW around 10 MPH. The first 10 miles were in the wind. Rode mostly in Z1/Z2 with some Z3 and Z4 on hills and into the wind. Felt comfortable and smooth on the bike. Wish I had the Zipps back on.

Strength

• 30m

Core

Swim

• 20m 05s
• 1000.00 yards
• 02m /100 yards

Very easy recovery swim. Did a 400 yard warmup followed by a 100 yard backstroke and then a 400 yard swim with pull buoy and a 100 yard back stroke.

Run

• 18m 43s
• 3.12 miles
• 06m /Mi

Got to the race about an hour early to see if I could help with set up. Everything was set up so I chatted with some friends and did a quick warm up before the start. Having just done the DC HIM on Sunday, I was worried how my legs would hold up. Temps were in the 90's with lots of sun and some wind. When the race started about 6 people sprinted out in front. My goal was to stay with them as long as I could since it seemed like they were going too fast for me. I ran 5:50 for the first mile and was still near the front pack. Around mile 1.5 I tried passing this kid who wouldn't let me pass him and kept nudging me when I tried. I figured he'd tire out soon based on the way he was running. Once I passed him I gradually made my way closer to the race leader and passed him before the turn around. My legs were feeling good and my breathing wasn't too erratic. Around mile 2 my legs started to fatigue and I thought Jen would pass me, but I kept looking back and I couldn't see anyone. I finished strong once back on the road to the finish line. Other than the Survivor Series, this was my first 5k. It was a fun race and the course, volunteers and aid stations were awesome.

Bike

• 1h 01m 13s
• 17.82 miles
• 17.47 Mi/hr

Easy ride out and back on the Peace Trail and STH 11. Wanted to get my legs moving again. Stayed in a comfortable gear. Some wind heading east on STH 11.

Swim

• 37m 20s
• 2112.00 yards
• 01m 46s /100 yards

Got to Murphy park around 6:45 and set up transition area. Nick and I then went and did a quick warm-up before the race. Water temps were announced at 74 degrees, but they were much cooler. The water was very calm and there wasn't much for waves which was nice because there were huge waves for the sprint tri the day before. I was very calm walking up to the start line which was about 50 feet into the water from the beach. I lined up in the front left. Waves were organized by age group and our wave had around 70 people in it. Surprisingly I didn't have issues swimming around people or getting hit by other swimmers. Once we made the first turn I stayed along the buoy line. My pace felt good and I didn't have any issues with shoulder pain, lower back pain or breathing issues the whole race. I felt like I could have held that pace for much longer. When I got out of the water into transition, I was surprised with my time and thought I would've been faster, but I was still happy with my time. Felt a little nauseous in T1 and decided to take it easy and make sure I had everything for the bike.

Bike

• 2h 37m 19s
• 45.81 miles
• 17.47 Mi/hr

The bike course had a total accent of 980 feet according to the race guide. It was really flat for the first 35 miles or so with a couple of hills, but became hillier the second half of the course. Rode with a rented set of 808 Zipp FC wheels. I was a little nervous that there would be a strong cross wind which would've impacted my handling. Temps were starting to rise and winds were light around 5 MPH. I felt like I hydrated well, but didn't take in enough nutrition. Around the 1.5 hour mark I ate a stinger waffle. I wish I would've took my bonk breaker bar since I was training with it, but decided not to. My other nutrition consisted of hammer gel, perform and water. Didn't take it as much as I needed to since it was warm and tasted bad. This was the first race I did where drafting was enforced. However, it was kind of a cluster at the beginning of the ride where so many people were drafting or riding in groups. It was also hard to pass at times because people were riding near the center line. Really crushed it in the beginning and went back and forth with John until around mile 30. I probably should have slowed it down and paced myself, but I was feeling good. I did have issues with my Garmin reading innaccurate bike pace since it was reading from the wheel sensor and not the satellite. I never knew my true pace for the whole bike ride. Started feeling some fatigue around mile 40. i also had soreness on my side like it was a cramp that never went away. Passed Nick with about 1 mile to go. It was pretty cool that Nick, John and I all got to transition about the same time. When I got to T2 I went down the wrong aisle and couldn't find my area. Should've taken better mental notes of where my area was coming in the transition area. Once I found my spot, I put on socks and my running shoes and sprinted out.

Run

• 1h 41m 10s
• 13.03 miles
• 07m 45s /Mi

Once I got out of T2, I knew John and Nick were close behind. I took my water bottle with my perform/water mix and salt tablets. The perform was warm and didn't taste good. My legs felt good and my first mile was 7:08. I knew I needed to slow down so I didn't bonk. John caught up to me around mile 1.5 and asked about running together, but I told him to go ahead since he was running harder than I wanted to go. I walked at every aid station so I could get water and ice. I felt okay for the next few miles coming into egg harbor. Hit the first big hill around mile 6 which I had to walk most of it since my legs were fatiguing. I saw a couple of other people cramping up or hurting, so I didn't want to push too hard. My pace was around 7:45 for the next couple of miles before hitting the big hill at mile 9. Had some encouragement from my friends before the hill, but I knew it was going to be tough since we drove it the day before. I walked up the hill since my legs were hurting at this point. Once I got to the top I dunked my head in the water tub at the aid station. The next 3 miles were going to be tough since there was no tree cover, the temps were in the 90's and the roads were long and you could see a long way. I pushed really hard and was starting to be impacted by the heat at this point. I ran mile 10-11 at 7:33, mile 11-12 at 7:27 and finished strong on the downhill to the finish line at a 7:07 pace.

Overall this was my favorite triathlon I've competed in so far. very well ran and the aid stations, volunteers and spectators were awesome. I was hoping to finish around 5:15, but finished 4:59.55 which really surprised me. It was fun to race with all my friends and John also finished sub 5 at 4:57. I felt that my running and biking have improved the most since last years HIM. I need to work on faster transitions, pacing on the bike, nutrition on the bike and run, and hydrating on the run. Overall I finished 62/877 participants including relay teams. In the male division I finished the swim 228/550, T1 200/550, Bike 101/550, T2 156/550, and the run 32/550.