Spirit of Racine Half Ironman Triathlon - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

This was a great swim. I started off calmly, found a nice spot, made the first turn with about 10 others, and then swam a straight line to the first buoy. I then found some feet from my group to grab on. He was swimming pretty straight, and just a bit faster than I wanted to go. Perfect!

Hung on his feet until the last couple buoys. I was working, but still breathing on both sides, which means I am in a good place and at a good pace. Did the last two buoys solo and started running towards the beach. Got to see Holly there and she was surprised to see me there so fast. I looked down at my watch and it was barely 21' and I knew it was a great swim, but also probably not a full 1.2 miles.

Nothing. This swim was the 4th best in my AG and 17th best overall...and that includes all the pros. I was only 31 seconds slower than the overall winner, Blake Becker. That is pretty cool! [wish I was only 31s slower on the run ;)]

I had a great rack space and I wore my sleeveless suit. I feel better in the sleeveless and I got too warm at MOO last year in the sleeves, so I wanted more time in it. Suit off, helmet on, and off I go with shoes in pedals. I spot Dumpster ahead of me by about 20s (started 3' before me) and realize I have to probably make an effort to catch him on the bike ;)

Nothing. Great location. Efficient getting to the bike and off I went.

Very nice bike ride for me. I saw coredump in front of me, but I didn't want to blow up my race to try and catch him. First order of business, was to get the HR down, and secondly start on my nutrition/hydration plan. Not to mention Chris has been really riding strong in our training rides, so I expected him to put a minute or two into me on this portion of the race.

Started to shoot for my power range, which was just over 200W. HRM was going whack and showing 177+, so I knew I was going to have to do this by RPE and power alone. Got a 1/3 of by PowerBar down and then started on the infinit. Realized I was gaining on coredump, so I decided to stay within myself, but push the top end of my power range (220W). RPE was fine, and I ended up passing him at the 7 or 8 mile mark. I slowly passed and just stared him down without saying a word. About 2 miles later, Chris passed me and did the same stare, no smile, no words. That was funny. We flip flopped a couple times and then he slowly started increasing his lead. About mile 30ish or so, I passed him again, but only because he dropped a bottle and went back to pick it up.

The rest of the ride was just trying to stay in my zone to set up a good run. Around mile 40, Holly and my cousins were out to cheer us on. I had just got passed by a pace line of 6 or 7 guys. I was sitting at 197W at this point, and figured I could pick it up a bit. So, I did and started to catch Chris and finally caught up with scott (sgoener). I wanted to talk with Scott awhile, but I had a peloton behind me and they start screaming for me to get to the right. Crazy. I got engulfed by about 10 riders, who were on each others wheels. I passed them back, and then told Chris they were coming. I couldn't keep that pace, so I started dropping back 3 bike lengths at a time. My watts were in the low 100s and I was still going 22mph..and I was dropping back. I told a few of them what I thought, but no matter. I just let them go and raced my race. With about 8 miles to go, I could tell Chris had had enough and he just started picking them off one by one. It was hard to stay out of the draft zone, so I just took off after him and did the same thing.

I was able to finish strong and still have some good legs for the 1/2 marathon. I took in 2 bottles of infinit, another bottle of water, and a powerbar. 325cals/hr, and about 30oz/hr.

Nothing. Having to go to the bathroom the last 1/2 hour made things uncomfortable, but not a huge deal. I had a great ride, felt strong the whole time and it felt short.

Pretty solid. I took my time here. It was actually kind of strange how calm and cool I was. Just efficient, and trying to let it happen, instead of forcing it to happen...if that makes sense. Put socks on, made sure they were on good, shoes on, grab hat and garmin and off I went.

Nothing.

This was one of my best runs off the bike in any kind of a triathlon. Again, I started off slowly, to let it come to me and find my pace for that day. I really had to go #1, but the 1st porta-potty out of transition was full, and so was the second one. At about 3/4 of a mile, I saw a dude come out of the one right at the water stop and I ran in there. At that time my pace was around 7:35, so I definitely lost some time. I was able to stretch out the calfs/ankles and catch my breath, which may have been a blessing in disguise. My legs felt great, and definitely didn't feel like I put 56 miles in them. Got some water and realized that Coredump had passed me again. So, now I just used him as my rabbit. I really felt good and since my HRM wasn't working, I just went by feel (maybe another blessing in disguise?).

At the fist turnaround at 3.5 milesish, Coredump sees me behind him and gives me the WTF look. I told him I had went to the bathroom, but I could tell he was actually trying to catch me and that was a surprise. I eventually caught him around 5 miles and we chatted for awhile and then I continued on. At this point, I was still feeling good, took in a gel and grabbed a water at the next aid station. Also, threw down a salt tablet for good measure. I then got passed by this small red headed girl in a well-fit outfit. I remembered her from last year, because she passed me about this point last year. I even told her that, but she was in her zone and gave me no acknowledgement.

Started going down the hill for the 1/2 way turnaround and saw Holly and all the donks yelling and screaming. What a great lift. Craig actually gave me some bullhorn love and that was cool, too. Holly was out in the road, so I slowed down to give her a kiss. The crowd seemed to enjoy that, but I enjoyed it more. I could tell she was pretty proud of me and the race I was putting together. After I made the turn, Holly yells at me and says that Chris is right behind me. I tell her that Ben (bscharff) is right behind him...so, what does she tell me? She says, "You better start running faster!" [you think she is competitive?]. And that is what I set out to do. I knew I had the legs for a good finish, but I wanted to get up the hill before I started really getting into the pain locker.

The legs were feeling good, although my left foot had some numby tingling going on. I have had this before, and just hoped it didn't get any worse because I was on my nutrition and hydration, the weather was awesome and I was ready to tear the rest of the course up. Continued to take water at every aid station, but I wasn't slowing down. Just drinking on the run.

Around mile 8 I passed aaron (ajotto) on his first lap and gave him a little squeeze on the butt cheek. He asked me how I was feeling, and I had to be honest, and told him, "I feel freakin' fantastic!" He said, "That's nice..but I hate you for that!" I laughed and just kept it rolling. I saw Phil up ahead and asked him a question, "Why don't we make this course our B%tch?" He laughed but thought it was a good idea. Man, I was having some fun, but still running at a good clip.

Made it to the final turnaround by the lighthouse and now started to pick up my pace. I saw Katie (KTpitbull) going pretty good and gave her some encouraging words. Hopefully, she laughed, but she did tell me I was running good. At mile 9, I took in another gel and water and started to push a little more. At mile 11, I saw the little red headed girl in the well-fit jersey maybe 300 meters in front of me. I knew I had to run her down. My pace was getting faster and although it was getting uncomfortable, I knew I could finish strong. I passed her and she tried to stay on my feet, but eventually she dropped off. I just kept my pace getting faster, until I got to my top end right before the finish.

It was great to get to the finish line with all the donkeys in the house. Then closer to the finish line, Holly was there and I gave her another kiss. She is hands down the greatest suppporter and wife a dude could ask for. At least that is my $.02, y'all can form other opinions ;)

After I crossed the finish line, I told the catchers "That is how you debate"...a quote from Will Ferrell in Old School that I like to say when things have gone well ;)

Lap splits:

1m: 8:30 (bathroom break)
2m: 7:14
3m: 7:22
4m: 7:19
5m: 7:12
6m: 7:14
7m: 7:20
8m: 7:19
9m: 7:13
10m: 7:13
11m: 7:13
12m: 7:07
13m: 6:44
0.1m: 5:42

Very nice negative split. Although, that gets you thinking that maybe I should have pushed a little more ;)

It was crazy. Grabbed a water, told Holly I felt really good. This was nice since my last big race I ended up in the med tent. And I have always needed ice on my left foot at this race. No need for any of that today. I just hopped the fence (yes jumped the fence) and walked over to the tent to get my recovery drink.

Watched Chris finish, and all the other Donkeys. Had a couple beers and some good food, as all the Donks had brought something to the party.


Nothing. I had the excuse of too much volume the week of the race in my back pocket, but there was no need to pull it out. I couldn't have dreamed of a better race. A rare day where everything just came together. Finding the zone, if you will.

I did learn a few things, though.
1) In cooler weather, a liquid nutrition plan needs to be modified, or you need (at least I need) a hilly course, so I can use the bathroom facilities on the bike ;)
2) Starting out slowly and working into your pace works (yes, I know this, but I continually have to relearn it).
3) I didn't use my racing flats today and went with a little more support. I think that helped with the left foot. I use the flats on open 1/2 marathons and lower, and never have any issues. For some reason, though, in HIMs something doesn't work.
4) Porta-potty break didn't really cost me too much time (41s on the clock), but the break may have helped.
5) I don't NEED a HRM to race well. Suppose its more of a "want" just b/c I love numbers and such.
5) Volume is the new taper ;)


This is a very good race. My only gripe was that many of the roads are extremely bumpy. Saw a lot of bottles on the roads. The food this year was better than last. It is a great venue on a Great Lake. The run course is fun b/c you get to see everyone so often, so no time for dogging it. Wish it had a few more hills to separate out the packs, or maybe the marshalls should spend more time on the packs? Not sure.

I do love it and have heard that it is going 70.3 next year.