I made sure to start out easy to warm up. Everything felt really good and I had started out to the left so there was minimal contact. Once I hit the first bouy, I tried to find a pair of legs to draft off of and was pretty successful for the most part. This allowed me a nice long break from sighting so I could relax and concentrate on breathing. About 2/3 of the way through I came up on some traffic from the two waves before me but it wasn't a problem getting through. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the swim and felt like I could have done another lap.

Nothing. All I wanted to do was establish a fairly easy pace and control my breathing...mission accomplished

I was in no hurry in the transitions and man, does it reflect that in my times. I had already decided that a couple extra minutes wasn't worth missing something or being uncomfortable. I toweled off my feet, applied some body butter and took a quick inventory of all the things I needed. I might as well have made a sandwich for the amount of time I took.

Realize a little sense of urgency.

The bike is my weak link so I was just making sure I survived. The first 20 or so miles felt really good and it got progressivly harder from there. I tried to make sure I wasn't pushing too hard so that I would have something left for the run (which I would need with that run). There was one downhill that I hit 41 mph and thoroughly enjoyed it. That's a new top speed for me...not many hills in Houston to fly down. The last 10 miles or so were geting tough as the sun was coming out and it felt like the hills were growing. The whole ride I was worrying about the last two hills. I had worked them up to mythical proportions in my head by the time I got to them, but they turned out to be better than I had imagined. It felt really nice getting off that bike back at the park.

Just more time in the saddle. I think this would be a fun course to train on.

Again, I wasn't in much of a hurry...obviously. I took off the tri top and put on my Nike Dry fit t-shirt. Slapped on a new pair of socks, the running shoes, race belt and hat and started running.

Hurry up!

Started out and felt surprisingly good. The first 4 miles went really well and I was averaging 8:00 min/mile. Got back to the transition area to start on the off road portion of the loop. The now infamous hill on the backside that runs along the road broke me. I actually ran the whole way up but after that, everything changed. I had to walk portions of the rest of the uphills. Pace dropped to about 10:00 min/mile and I kept calculating the time remaining to see if I could break 6 hours. The resat of the run was a little bit of a blur and I just tried to make sure to run the downhills and flats and do the best I could on the uphills. My sister joined me once I got back to the transition area on the second loop. I only had about 2.5 - 3 miles left at that point but I was really struggling. Having her next to me definately helped. That last two miles was the hardest thing I've done in my life. All I wanted to do was walk but I knew I would be disappointed if I had and then didn't break 6 hours...I was so close! There are only a few things in life that have looked as good as mile marker 13. Checked my watch one last time and brought it home in 5:52:34. I had planned on finishing in 6:30 so it goes without saying that I was very pleased. I actually started to get a little emotional right after I finished...that was one hell of an adventure! I know I gave every last ounce of energy I had.

Nothing. I couldn't have asked for more for my first half ironamn

Sat down and relaxed!


Endorfun puts on one hell of a race. I can't imagine the amount of time and planning that was put into this but everything was awesome from the start. I don't see how you could run a race any better!