So last year I did this race on a whim while moving my special lady friend to Champaign Il for Med. School. I finished 8th OA last year and won my AG while being completely unprepared due to an injury that had me off my feet for about 2 months. I had put a lot of time preparing for this race and was feeling VERY good going into the the couple days before.
Race Day: I woke up at 4:00am, put on some clothes and walked out the door (note to those who are newer; pack your car the night before, saves on race morning anxiety) I hit the road and drove the 1:15 to the race site and was able to get a pretty good spot on the second rack from the SWIM IN, RUN OUT. I set everything up and chatted with some guys in my rack, bathroom, stretch, fluids etc.
7:30 - I was the 7th heat of the day so after watching 6 other heats jump into the water I was ready to go! I didnt make many freinds getting to the front of my swim heat, actually took a nice elbow to the back from a guy who didnt think I should be ahead of him at the start (OH WELL!) GO!! Myself and another guy immediatley took off from the front, I was swimming through his bubbles and then realized that for some reason I couldnt swim in a straight line to save my life today! I was second out of the water (500 meters) in 8:34, not what I wanted but my swim was just off in terms of going straight today, I prolly swam 550-575 meters!
Bike - I jumped on the ole race rig and took off out of the park with another guy in my heat. This worked out great! I was actually able to stay about 25 yards behind him and let him pace me the whole way, I was comfortable but we were moving well, considering the fantastic wind and the nice hills the event staff managed to scrounge up in Central Illinois. 'This is an important point to remember for later' About 12 miles into the bike I tore a gel off my bars and when I went to squeeze it into my mouth it 'exploded' instead and preceeded to choke me for the next half mile. I could hardly breath, couldnt take in fluids, I was riding with no ability to breath or swallow it! I finally managed to get everything cleared out and worked back to get close to the guy who I knew was 3-4 OA in my race. We worked through the country roads and with about 2.5 miles to go I blew by him and took a lead of about 20 seconds into T2. 40k bike - 1:07, I was happy with this considering the wind more then anything.
Run - I was later told (by the guy on the bike I was with) that 'he' had just planned to run me down and wasnt worried about my lead too much <---- more on that later. I took off out of T2 feeling awesome! My brother/running coach had come down for the weekend with his wife and them/gf/parents had all made the trip up to the race from Champaign. I knew I was cruising and felt even better when my bro said I was looking great and that I was flying (HUGE MOTIVATION!) I went through the first aid station and didnt hear anything from them for the next athlete for a long time so I knew I was putting time on him. When I hit the turn-around I was 45 seconds up on 'the guy.' Remember the 'exploding' gel? Yeah this is where the ramifacations of that stupid thing caught me. If youve never had a case of 'gut rot' hope you never get one. My stomach locked up on me soo bad it was all I could do to stand up straight!!! GAHHHHHHHH!!!! After walking through the return Aid Station (and wanting to find something to hide under) I was able to run again for about the last .5 mile, yes I walked just over a mile. My smoking 5k time of 26+ dropped me to 8th OA and 1st AG. After the race I was yaking with 'the guy' and he said, "I knew my race was over when I got out of T2 and saw your run." Please slap me in the face haha, as much as I like hearing that my training is paying off I wanted to hide because I was indeed flying, not just encouragement from the fam. Oh well, if thats my worst run of the year then fantastic!