Success!

Well mostly. I completed it, but missed a lot of my goal marks. Weather will be blamed for some of this though as it was 90* and humid, and there was a pretty steady headwind most of the ride.

Basic numbers:
Place: 102/230
Time: 6:09:57
Field avg.: 6:22:02

Swim place: 25th
Swim time: 33:01
Swim avg. speed: 7:48/500 yards
Field Average: 41:22

Transition 1:  3:42

Bike place: 67th
Bike time: 2:58:20
Bike avg. speed: 18.84 mph
Field avg: 4:20:01

Transition 2: 3:11

Run place: 102nd
Run time: 2:31:43
Run avg. speed: 11:34/mile
Field avg: 2:23:41

The swim was definitely a surprise. I had to double-take my watch when I got out of the water. A solid 5 minutes faster than I expected and I was throttling back so as not to go out too hard. Good start for the day.

My first transition was pretty fast. I had trouble getting my wetsuit into the transition bag which cost me probably 10-15 seconds. I also had to run out of transition in my shoes carrying the bike. The corral was on a grassy field with lots of stickers to eat up tubes. I saw a lot of flat tires in the first 1-2 miles of the ride. I did forget to put sunblock in my bag though - ugh.

The ride went pretty well. I was staying on my food/salt/drink schedule pretty well until about 30-35 miles in and my gut went haywire. I think it was because I had too much drink and not enough water. Unfortunately, that was just after the second aid station so I had to go another 10 or so miles to get water. Until that point I was holding a steady 21.4mph. The gut issues dropped me down to the 16-17mph range and perfectly coincided with the hills, which was a bad combo. I lost a lot of time there. I refueled at the next station and was off and kicking right away after drinking a half bottle of water. I was able to get my speed back up to 18-19mph, but the damage was done. Not a lot, but enough.

The start of transition two was amusing. Getting off the bike into a run was comical. Imagine having two dead legs and being told to run up a hill quickly. That's basically how transition started. I was in the back at the top of the hill. Not a steep hill, but about 100 yards with a 10-20ft elevation gain. Doesn't sound like a lot, but enough.

The actual transition was fast. I almost forgot my salt tabs, but thankfully checked my pockets before I jumped up. My life would have been miserable without them. I also caught the sunblock guy before I ran out. The only had one guy and he wasn't right next to the exit.

Starting the run went well, but the hills. The god damned hills! I ran the first 1.5 miles and hit the hill. After that point I ended up walking up most of the hills. The heat was full bore and I could not stay cool. I was dumping ice down my top every aid station, which were roughly every 3/4 mile. Heat or not, I need to work on my running.

In the end, there are some things that I can do better and others things that I learned.

Swimming: Keep doing what I am doing. Brett and Peter make for a great coaching team.

Transition 1: Remember sunblock and to bring a floor pump to check my tires day of.

Bike: Have one water bottle empty holding a tube and tools. Carry minimal Gu and Chomps and one bottle of water, as you can reload at aid stations. Time Trial helmet: over a 50 mile distance you can save 3-4 minutes on a helmet alone. Aero wheels are good for another 2-3 minutes. I didn't get passed by many people on bike, but almost everybody who did was on aero wheels with a TT helmet.

Transition 2: Sunblock up. Maybe quick tie laces, but I'm pretty fast already.

Run: Just keep running and lose another 20lbs. I just need to spend time getting my running muscles stronger. When it's hot, do anything to stay cool.

My shoulder did act up and I will be scheduling with an ortho soon. I need to have it looked at to see if it's time to fix it. God forbid my shoulder give me proper leverage while I am swimming and not falling out when running.

On that note,  I'm going to sleep. Oh, and my ass hurts. Along with every other muscle in my legs.