Well, you can never plan for an equipment failure...
Travel: went into this race feeling really really fantastic. Everything checked out nicely during my taper week and energy levels were great. Kristin and I flew down to Miami on Friday to relax a few days before the race.
Pre-Race: Had my normal pre-race meal and was feeling quite full. After several "potty" breaks I was ready to rock and roll. Got down to the race site in the pitch dark of the morning and went out for a pre-race ride and run - everything in good working order and ready to rock n' roll.
Swim: got down to the swim start late due to an unplanned "potty" break and missed my warm-up. This ended up being a problem. We (elite males) started with the pro men and women and elite females - not sure why they put us all together but it was not ideal and I'm sure the pros were not pleased. BOOM!! I let the pros clear out a bit and then grabbed the front elite wave. I was doing well until after the first buoy and must have been grabbed by a few ocean swells. I looked up and the group I was swimming with was far to my right and I was completely off course. Not good. Spent the rest of the swim trying to recover but this hurt me big time (or so I thought). Gave up about 2-3 minutes out of the water to the lead male.
T1: OH CRAP!! Rolled out of T1 and heard an odd noise on my rear wheel. I initially thought this was a break rubbing and it would loosen up. Got about 2 miles into the ride to realize my rear tire was completely flat. Race support rolled by twice, no stop. REALLY GUYS?! I decided to walk back to transition - longest walk ever. I finally found a pump and tire was good to go so I decided to finish the race. 45 minutes wasted. Still no clue what happened. Very disappointing as I feel I could have been in contention for a podium had this not happened.
Bike: Decided to ride hard but not all out since I was already out of contention. Had a pretty solid ride on a fast course - 1:00:42. Took in half and EFS liquid shot and EFS drink in my Torhans bottle. Popped a honey stinger gel 10 min before getting off the bike and onto the run....Felt great coming off the bike.
Run: Pretty technical course and it was super crowded since I was now with the middle group of racers. Again, I decided to run hard but not race pace - no need to kill myself. Legs felt really strong and ended up having a solid run to go with a good bike effort - 37:45.
Final Quote of the trip: "A long way to come for a flat tire"
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