Memorial Hermann Ironman 70.3 Texas - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

this was a great swim...i like the chop and current...the first part of the swim was just getting into a groove and staying as close to the bouys as possible where it wasnt as crowded....the pack opened up about 500 meters into the swim.....my sighting was dead on and i was able to keep a good pace throughout the swim...

nothing

little longer transition than i would have liked but not disappointed

nothing really...just doing more and more races will make transitions faster

all in all a really good ride but sometimes a really good ride will set you up for a not so good run...hint hint..prob gonna be something in the run report about pushing too hard on the bike ;-0....i followed my nutrition plan as planned...sports drink every 15 min and a GU every 45min and a Clif bar at 90min...held about 17.5 mph on the way out at 90 cadence and around 22mph on the way in at 80 cadence...i rode it like it was a race so i was happy with my new ride :-)

not eat the clif bar..i need to find something else to eat..i ate them on training rides but it just wouldnt go away in my stomach...it was like a piece of petrified wood in my stomach for the first half of the run...everything else was dead on

rolling dismount worked perfect...fellow bt'r racerrik was volunteering the bike mount and dismount so i got 2 shout out's from him...gotta love those volunteers...

nothing really

...ok remember the comment on the bike portion about going a little too hard on the bike and also not eating a Clif Bar again on the bike...well that has alot to say about the first half of my run performance....coming off the bike i felt good as i always do because the run is my favorite part of the race...coming out of transition i felt good and hydrated at the first water station with gatorade (which i was told would be Ironman Perform/ green flavor..but oh well)made the first turn and was about to go over the first little hill there and i felt like i hit the wall and i thought too myself holy sh*t this cant be happening..i havent even been 1 mile yet...so i had a lot of thoughts going thru my head..positive ones of course ;-).....so i was thinking what the hell is happening to me..my HR was not too bad but i was just not right...i felt my stomach feeling very heavy so i thought ok well maybe i just need to let out a good burp and relieve the pressure...when i did that...oh boy was i in for a big surprise...when your in the process of letting out the burp of a lifetime and your surprised by pieces of clif bar and gatorade it gets your attention in a hurry...so now i have even more positive thoughts running thru my head ;-)...the demons were knocking but i wasnt about to let them in....so then i thought well maybe i can relieve this pressure in my stomach in another way which i dont think i really need to go into details with that one...all i can say is...mission not accomplished there either...i wasnt brave enough to flip the coin on that one to see if it would work...so the first port o potty i saw i ran...well walked slowly in and pee'd which seemed like it maybe was going to be the answer to my problems but it was short lived....so now im only about halfway thru with my first loop and i am telling myself..if i have to walk to finish this race i will but i didnt think it would get that bad..so i finished my first loop still feeling like hell and when i saw my cheering section i didnt give them the big smile and thumbs up i just gave the shake of the hand that meant something just aint right..the second loop wasnt any better and i was only pouring water on me and ice and squeezing the hell out of those sponges on me because if i would try to drink anything i would immediately belch and throw up in my mouth so i was starting to get dehydrated..i wasnt thirsty yet so i knew i had some time left to see if my stomach would break that clif bar/gu mountain in my belly loose...after finishing my second loop i was getting more worried but i was halfway done with the run so i kept good thoughts running thru my head like how nice its going to be at the finish with family and friends and how good that beer and pizza is going to be...so starting the second loop jeenifer runs up besides me and says "are you ok" and i immediately said yeah you guessed it..No..."im dehydrating because i cant keep anything down, and i am throwing up in my mouth when i try to burp" ...and at that point i told myself great, you just let everyone know your not doing good, and that's not like me so i made the decision that at the next water station i would take 2 gatorades (because at this point i was starting to sweat less and i had to get fluids in me) and force them down and pick up my pace to 9:00's and see what happens..well the run gods were shining down on me...along with the sun gods...the gatorade went down and i picked up the pace and my HR stayed around 167 which i was happy with and i kept it up...it was actually the happiest i was all day because i was hearing the ole familiar run cadence that im used to and at times i was between 8:00 and 9:00 min miles which was a great feeling...i kept that pace for the last two loops and the last mile i dug even deeper and dropped down into the high 7:00's for the finish and it was a very good feeling...the way i see it i would rather do like i did and take it easier when im hurting and try to find ways to fix it and hope like hell it works out and finish strong, rather than do something stupid in the beginning and have to finish in pain....negative splitting the run is the way i like it....

maybe just eaten half of the clif bar on the bike....and not have pushed it quite as hard..oh well its a race...now looking at my HR data on the bike it was a little higher than i should have let it get...there will be many more races to learn more and more

i wanted to go sub 2:00hr but i am very happy with my run even though it was a beast the first half i was able to run my run the 2nd half of it which is what really counts to me

medal,water,picture,try to take it all in and realize what i just accomplished given the cards i was dealt on the run


very well run race..lots of volunteers..couldnt say thank you enought to them yesterday...

I did Ironstar HIM in 2010 and did it in 6hr 08min
My goal was to go sub 6:00hr in this race so I am very happy with reaching my goal and finishing 5:52...my swim and run #'s ended up being the same as Ironstar but i shaved about 15min off the bike