This was my first dab as this distance. I went into the race feeling strong, tapered for a solid week. I had the following race "plans" going into this race:

A) Finish around 4:40 and hope to score a rollover pass to Clearwater
B) Finish under 5:00

I checked my bike in on Saturday. Have to say that bike check in was organized very well. You could ride from the parking lot to the transition or you could take a bus which would transport your bike as well.

The night before the race I stayed at the Orlando Vista hotel, which is a decent hotel but... They had a HS senior class staying at the hotel. So I went to bed at 9:00 PM hoping to get a good nights sleep before the race. That wasn't gonna happen as yelling and belly-flops at the pool continued till about midnight. Then the party moved to into the hotel - teenagers yelling and screaming, doors slamming. Sheer insanity. I called the front desk and bitched, the only guy working the desk said he's trying to resolve the issue. At 1:00 AM I tried taking matters into my own hands, went into the hallway, told everyone to get into their rooms and STFU, then threatened to break the nose of the first punk who makes a peep. I must have looked convincing since they listened. Half an hour later they were back with even more force. The front desk guy said he called the cops. Half an hour later I heard "It's party time, bitches!" and the fire alarm went off. That's right, some punk pulled the fire alarm. The entire hotel was evacuated. At which point the night manager forced the entire class to leave the hotel. I went to my room, stared at the ceiling for 30 minutes and my alarm went off... time to go race!

I am a very strong swimmer so the swim wasn't a big deal for me at all. I practically chilled for the entire 1.2 miles. All I could gain was maybe 2-5 minutes if I pushed myself so I just chilled. That kind of time is super easy to make up on the bike. [Swim time 36:14, 1:54/100m pace]

I went out quite strong on the bike, just flying past people from the groups that went off before mine. About an hour into the ride, when the route took us to some serious boonies, the wind picked up. I was still going at it but I have to say I was starting to suffer. At one point, about 5 miles from a turnaround point, the wind was so strong all I could crank down a very steep (about 12 degree) hill was 21 mph. I felt as if the wind was pushing me back uphill. I saw a guy with a disc wheel run off the road, saving himself from a crash. The wind took him like 2 feet sideways in a split second.

I continued pushing, crawling at 18 mph, expecting a very fast ride with the tailwind later. And guess what? As soon as I got to the turnaround point the wind changed direction. I almost cried. By the time the route led me out of the wind I was spent. I downed my last PB&J sandwich and cruised waiting for some energy to come back. At that point I was seriously bored and wanted it to be over. I finally got my energy back and sprinted to the finish, thru the wind. I was still making good time, more or less still within my plan A. [Bike time: 2:39:24 @ 21.08 mph]

I came off the bike feeling ok. It usually takes about 2 miles for me to get into my running pace. As I was waiting for my legs to start firing the trail went from pavement to this grassy field... This is the second time I am in this situation, completely unprepared. I was hoping the grassy part would be short but I was very wrong. That part was the majority of the ~4.3 loop, three loops of that. I never trained on grass or any kind of trail cause... what kind of a triathlon is done on grass? So I suffered like a bitch running in my super thin Newtons that are practically track shoes and provide absolutely no ankle support whatsoever. I couldn't keep my stride no matter what -- grass provides no feedback at all, all the power just sinks into the ground. My hopes for qualifying for Foster Grant dissolved when I realized I was running a 10:00 pace. I had to stop and walk a couple of times just to reassess the situation. Every time I'd start again I'd get crushed mentally by my inability to run on that terrain. Not only that it was hot as hell, maybe hotter. Staying cool was a huge problem, the first loop I was running past the aid stations just grabbing water, on later laps I was grabbing ice, sponges, whatever. I carried a small bottle with me (don't like fuel belts) that I'd pack with ice at each aid station. It turned out to be a life saver.

Going into this race my biggest fear was bonking but I was okay on energy just couldn't get moving! At that point I knew this race was to be written off as a learning experience. My plan B was falling through as well. So right there I set a new goal - finish in 5:30... which was falling through soon after. I was so frustrated I wanted to scream.

When there was about 4 miles left I thought to myself "they have medical staff at the finish line so let me push myself for all I got and hopefully they'll resuscitate me there." I went from 10:00 pace to 6:45, I seriously was gonna blow up. I was actually yelling at the people in front of me to get out of my way... somewhere along the way the contents of my stomach came up but I wasn't gonna stop. So if you were at the race and you happened to be a victim of my run-by puking, I am very sorry. [Run 2:08:19, pace 9:47/mile]

That was the most painful run I've ever done. I finished in 5:30. Placed 91 out of 412 in 30-34 age group.

Now... one of the things I look forward to after each race is eating a ton of fruit, yogurts and other light foods provided after the race. This was a total disappointment since the only food that was available was Pizza. Generally Pizza isn't a bad thing but it's probably on the bottom of the list of things I'd want to eat after nearly killing myself in 90F+ degree weather. C'mon!