KET Fitness

Pre race:

Started changing meals for increased carb intake on Friday at lunch. Pizza. Dinner: pancakes. Saturday breakfast: egg whites on a bagel (2). Lunch:French toast. Dinner: pasta with olive oil, onion salt and garlic salt. Also some bread with olive oil and a bit of salt. Drank water consistently along with water mixed with cran-grape juice. 1/3 juice 2/3 water.

In bed at 8:00 asleep by 9:00. Woke up at 2:30am. 3 packets oatmeal one banana. 4:00 bagel with peanut butter and banana. 4:30 check in. 5:30 finished prepping TA. Ate another bagel and banana between now and start along with water and electrolyte drink. Took E-caps just before start.

The Race:

Swim:
So they ferried us from the dock to an island where we all sat for roughly 75 minutes. The wind made the already cold temperatures (50’s) feel freezing. By the time he race started, the water actually felt warm at 66 degrees.

The waves from the wind made sighting extremely difficult. I’d guess I had to stop and tread water at least a dozen times to get my bearings. It didn’t help that my goggles constantly fogged. Need to get a better pair of open water goggles. The buoys weren’t staying in place making difficult sighting nigh impossible. At one point I looked up at a kayaker and shrugged. He pointed me in the right direction.

I did not panic during the swim and I did not tire. It was just frustrating to have to keep adjusting every couple of strokes because the current or the wind turned me the wrong way. By the time I got out of the water I was sure I was the last one out. I was shocked when I got in the TA and saw so many bikes.

Bike:
Got in and out of the TA without issue. Made myself eat the honey stinger chews within the first few miles. Felt very good on the bike but I rationed my effort per your advice. Had a slight intermittent knee irritation on left side that came and went after about mile ten. Speed was on target. Power on target. What surprised me was my average cadence was 80 when I’ve never tested even close to that high.

I believe I kept it high to ration my effort throughout the bike. I was not passed by anyone on the bike and passed many people. Felt comfortable the whole ride save the occasional knee irritation.

Run:

Immediately felt stomach irritation on the run. Not sure what it was. I don’t think I ate or drank too much ( unless river water counts) but the discomfort was enough to bother me the entire run. Despite that, I was able to pass probably 6-8 people and maintain a good pace.

I did not wear my garmin during the swim as removing the watch to get the wetsuit off would have slowed me down and it wasn’t fitting under the suit. I did use my bike garmin (new purchase) for the ride and I staged the watch in the TA with my run stuff and strapped it on while running.

My legs felt a bit crampy toward the end of the run but I was able to push through it and not lose speed.