Timberman - Half Iron - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

I started out reasonably well, found some feet to draft off, but ran into major navigation issues. On several occasions I found myself inside the line of the bouys having to swim back. The chop seemed to pick up also and I felt I was struggling through a bit towards last third of the swim. I did my best kept a decent rhythm throughout and did not give up when I checked my watch and realized this was going to be a very slow swim.

In truth this was a horrible swim for me, and I'm not happy with it. 7 minutes slower than my previous best at this distance in similar conditions. My goal was around 36 mins and I was too far off this. I need to be more disiplined about sighting in the longer races. More pool time and coaching needed.

Over 4 minutes? Yikes. So here's what I learned : a) get ALL your nutrition taped to the bike so you're not struggling to get the gels/bars into a wet Tri suit pocket with tired arms and b) put the race belt on last thing so it does not get in the way of trying to do a). I wasted 2 mins futtering around (my Scottish buddy came into T1 after me, said "hello mate!" and left before me) while I was messing around with all this.

Find a way to put all nutrition on bike and nothing in Tri suit pockets. I had packed a Bento Box already but felt I needed more so had them ready in bags. Taping to bike is probably the way to go. Next time this has to be a ~2:30 transition.

I really enjoyed the ride despite the rain, and it went according to plan. My goal was to do sub 3 hours, not crash in the inclement conditions and I achieved that which was great! There were some tricky hills but I did not suffer on any of them and kept my heart rate around 145-150 for most of the ride. I passed quite a few people but was also passed by a lot as my overall rank would show, one of whom was Sam "The Man" who waved as he cruised on by looking strong. I deliberately avoided hammering and when I felt I was pushing it I reigned myself back in. Every 20 mins or so I asked myself "Could I do a half marathon right now if I got off the bike?" with the goal of having the legs to do a sub 2 hour half marathon. I ate like a fiend, probably too much, to avoid bonking and took down 2 bottles of Infinits/Carbo Pro (2 x 380 cals) plus 1 x Power Bars (220 cals) plus 2 bags of Power Bar Gel Blasts (2 x 130 cals) for a total of 1240 on the bike. At the point that I was finished my bottles I picked up a Gatorade from the support folks at an aid station, took a big swig of it and retched immediately. At the next station I chucked it and got some water instead. It's just not my drink, blegh! Support all over the course was amazing, and the general vibe and chat amongst the riders was great.

If I had more long ride/long run bricks in the bank during training I would have felt more confident about having the base to push harder on the bike and look to do about 15 minutes faster. Overall I'm happy with the decision I made to pace myself with a view to not suffering during the run for my first HIM. This bike split was about racing smart for me and pacing myself to be able to run after it.

Pretty much in and out, I did not rush it.

I'd invest in a pair of lighter Tri specific water running shoes, my Asics were soaked from the rain and felt heavy.

I felt very good coming out onto the run and my legs quickly settled into a rhythm. That helped to greatly boost my confidence to get the job done. I said hi to Millman and some buddies from GC Tri looking good on the run. I had just one bad patch around mile 9/10 where I had a "side stich" pain and I just had to try to run it off. The course was challenging enough, but the conditions were very favorable, and the on course support was excellent. I took down 2 Espresso gels at start and middle of race and sipped water and coke throughout the remainder of the race. Happy with the consistency on each split. Crossing the line to receive a medal from Chrissie Wellington was pretty special and hugs from family even more so.

RUN SPLIT 1: 3.275 mi 3.275 mi (28:46) 8:47/mi
RUN SPLIT 2: 6.55 mi 3.275 mi (28:16) 8:37/mi
RUN SPLIT 3: 9.8 mi 3.275 mi (29:50) 9:06/mi
RUN SPLIT 4: 13.1 mi 3.275 mi (28:15) 8:37/mi


Not much really I was pretty happy with how this run went considering this was the longest back to back ride & run I did this year.

Headed to transition, grabbed my gear, said hi to some GC Tri folks. We had to hit the road for an ardous 6 hour drive in torrential rain back to NY, so we hit the bus to Gunstock, had a quck beer and hit the road. Next time I do this race I will stay and make a 4 day weekend of it I think.


Not much really. On the day I did the race that I'd trained for and my estimates were accurate.


Amazing race, fantastic local support, superb aid stations and really well organized. NH is a beautiful location to race I will definitely do this again. Meeting the BT folks and sharing their experiences this year on the forum was awesome. One slight negative; I think I was very lucky leaving early as I was only in line for about 10 mins to get back to Gunstock. I heard the line was over an hour later on.