Savageman HIM - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

started in the back of the pack due to finding fault with my goggle strap. it was rotting through and i was afraid i would have to stop alot to adjust them and dump out leaking water. but things went very well, stayed CALM, focusing on long stroke and breathing. i beat my estimated swim time by 5 minutes.

start out more towards front, and show up with race ready goggles.

about what i figured i'd take to do this.

eh. arm warmers ticked me off. should have donned a long sleve shirt and just went.

by now you all probably know what Savageman is all about. its HARD, but fun. made it up the wall handily! my wife got me on video which is good because the videographer had equip. malfunction. the noise at Westernport just seemed deafening and my adrenaline spiked WAY early. i was almost totally gassed by the time i got to the top of the third block because of all the "rush" that had just passed through my body. i remembered hearing about people who had ridden the course in training and made it over the wall, but on race day had not succeeded. i did not want to be one of those and used everything i had to get over the top. i kept my head down, although i heard so many screams and bells and my wife right beside my helmet screaming at me! man what an experience!!!! i didnt race anyone on the hills afterwards since i kept getting passed on them, but i could hang with them on the (few) flats just fine. everything went very well. i rode the course just a tad harder than i did in my training runs. as per the training rides before, my quads were just moments away from seizing while climbing Miller. Once past Miller, they were pretty much done. but i was happy inside!

train more. and on more hills.

didnt care.

bring a folding chair to make tying my shoes a bit easier after a ride like that.

i came off the bike with good legs. i times my first 2 miles and they were 8 minute miles, but they got worse each successive mile. although there were hills involved, i was looking on the bright side. Because i had to go up hill meant that there was also a downhill involved too. so i made a deal that i would walk the uphills and run the flats and downs. i got through the first loop and was so elated because that meant i had one more to go! but then around mile 8 i was getting a little loopy and i could tell my stomach was empty and needed calories so i started taking in Coke's at any station that had them. they really perked me up!! my first time taking in HEED too was on this run. Weird stuff...not sure what it is....lemon flavored ocean water?? anyway, towards the finish chute i heard a woman yelling to her husband to catch up and pass me, but i was like "awe hewll no!" i seem to save just enough for a final sprint in all my races just in case this comes in to play at the finish line, which it has a few times. so i poured it on and sprinted through the finish chute and through the gate.

not walk so much...run more.

i was looking for a coffin....
no seriously, i just sat down and relaxed and drank some fluids.


my current level of fitness.


i basked in the feeling that i completed something i had been training for for the last 6 months. all the early morning runs and swims, the time on the trainer, everything. i completed the Savageman triathlon and i earned a brick, something i can go back to years later and remind myself of this occassion.
thanks to all of you guys whom ive talked with in the discussion forum, shared Inspires with, and had the oportunity to meet. congratulations to all of you who finished this race.
Kyle, thank you for such an awesome race. the champions dinner was superb, the shirts are awesome, the brick idea is the bomb, so many helpful and friendly volunteers, every aspect of the race was perfectly executed. What a great place and what a great race. I'm going to try and talk some others in to doing this race in the future because it is SO worth the pain.