My olympic race report
Not going to say much other than if you listen to the coaches and others advice you will do well.
I did no taper for this race, I did my EN ride on Saturday as planned and just figured I would take it as it came.
The swim was interesting as the water temp in the river was 80 freaken degress 
, so wetsuit were optional. I planned on wearing mine no matter what and was told I would not be eligible for prizes, I looked at the official and calmy stated "look at me does it look like I will win a prize" and with that finished my pop tart.
The swim started and I was in the back and just focused on form and going easy, I must of passed people as when I got to the turn around I was told I was right in the middle of the pack SWEET just what I wanted. On the way back it was hard sighting as the sun was right in my eyes but did the best I could. I came up a few times coughing and gagging, who knew you can't breathe underwater 
the lifeguard asks if I am okay and I say yep just trying to drain the river down a bit. Came out of the water feeling good.
T-1 just practiced smooth is fast fast is smooth and was in and out as fast as I could be.
The bike was good, I passed a bunch of people and I got passed by a few but realized some of those were the sprint racers, all in all I was very happy with my bike time. I avg 19.5 or so on the bike which is my fastest bike split in a race
T-2 was the same nice and easy but 2 big things no race watch and no bottles for my fuelbelt.
Now in case you don't know we have been racked by heat and high humidity around here for a bit and abominal snowman like myself melt in the heat.
I knew within about 1/4 mile I was in trouble, as I started to melt right away. I had a hat on instead of a visor which I believe helped. I finally got to the first aid station, about 1.2 miles in and grab a bag of ice and a few cups of water and douse myself. I put the bag of ice in the front area of my suit. AHHH this is helping.
I get to the next aide station and think if one bag of ice is good then 2 is better, repeat the same process, now my body is feeling better and I can run.
As I make the turnaround I see one of my teammates and she is suffering, she had passed me around mile 1, I stop and ask if she was okay and she needs some ice. Being the guy I am I hand over one of my bags of ice and she sticks it down her back. We start running together and I can pick the pace up a bit. I was feeling good now, which I believe is a result of good mojo for helping someone out. I then went back to one of my old tricks for running, which is to run telephone pole to telephone pole. This way I break the race down in to very small bits, it does not matter where the finish line is just the next pole and I was able to hold a decent pace.
I see another one of my teammates he is heading to the turnaround and thats when he yells out "how the hell did you get in front of me" (he would always beat me at races). I just smile and keep running.
I finished which is always good and the lesson learned was how to control my body temp on hot days. This will be good going to my A race in August. Ice packs placed in certain spots makes the body feel oh so good. I need to make ice holders for my wrists. And to wear a hat during hot races and nice wet hat with some ice is good. Of course I put on my old visor after the race to walk around.
I have to say EN helps as I kept saying to myself during the run, Given what I have what can I do? It's when you remember that you make smart decisions.
Thanks EN
Comments
CC
way to get 'er done! great report... I was cheering for you as I read. I particularly like the pop tart before the race. I must have missed that in the EN nutrition guidance, but hey, if it ain't broke...
Well done, Steve-O. Which one was it? Black Fly or Colony?
Look out Timberman!
Dave
Dave, it was the Mill City Tri in Lowell. The run is and out and back on a piece of road with little to no shade.
My nutrition plan in not for the faint of heart
This is the REAL secret of EN.
Here is proof of it, a kid comes up beside me on the run and I say to him, "how is it going pretty hot out here" he does not even look at me does not even acknowledge that I am there. Okay be that way I think, mile 4 1/2 there he is bent over on the side of the road suffering all by himself.
As Al said the real secret is we are all in this together.
Patrick
At Xterra Richmond, I saw Conrad Stoltz (who won the race) grab 2 ziploc bags of ice from a small cooler (which was a Nascar Jeff Gordon cooler) he had in transition as he ran out of T2. The race course had no ice at the aid stations and it was 90 degrees. Something to think about doing if it's the same situation at Timberman.