Ironman 70.3 Branson - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

I am satisfied with this swim (a first)I only broke my stroke twice, once when I got sandwiched in traffic between 2 swimmers and once to get a clearer picture of where I was. I guess I was summer where in the lower middle of my wave, I stayed with blue swim caps for the first leg, caught some pink caps and was overtaken by yellow caps later. I had predicted 45-1hr finish with a secret goal of 40 or less so 47:55 is ok ad the face that I had no problems, swam steady and never panicked is a bonus.

Nothing other than see about some coaching this winter

Transitions were slow. We set up T1 the night before during the rain and I packed my helmet, gloves and shoes to stay dry. Unpacking these and then packing the wet suit in my bag to be transported to T-2 took extra time. I did not get to lube up my ankles before putting the wetsuit on and it hung up a bit there.

Not sure, maybe save my helmet/gloves/shoes for race morning vs set it up the night before that way I can stage them properly

This is a challenging course. It gets plenty of discussion on forums as a tough course. We were blessed weatherwise-the clouds broke, sun came out and began to dry the roads. I enjoyed the course, cooler temps than others had experienced helped I'm sure. But my focus was to not trash myself on this ride and keep my mind on a strong run.The hills were not "brutal" very steep but they were long. It is a mental thing mostly, accepting a prolonged climb at 6 mph. 1 bathroom break on the second lap.

Simple answer is a bit more training. I put a very heavy run emphasis on my training but have neglected my rides other than my long rides. I think 2-3 more rides during the week and some power/speed work would help. Even riding conservatively I should be able and wanted a 16 mph average not 14.xx

Another slow transition for the same reasons, frustrates me a little because I consider myself "good at transitions". The rain that had held off during the swim and bike started while I was changing shoes and became a torrent as I left the TA

nothing, perhaps have my shoes out but covered, but that wouldn't have helped either, there was just too much water running across that parking lot.

Great run! The rain came down big time early in the run. I stepped carefully through puddles, jumped over the mini rivers that crossed the course at first. I was concerned about stepping in a hole or something and also had some funny thought about not getting my feet too wet-after lap one that became pointless. I kept my planned 1 minute walk at each mile marker and held a decent pace. I wanted something in the low 8's but 9+ was ok since I set a PR for that distance. I carried my own gu packets for nutrition and took water, G-ade and some soda on the course. One bathroom break at mile ten. Late in the run I briefly flirted with trying for a 2 flat or sub 2 and it seemed in reach but digging in for that hurt. I shifted my focus to a sub 7 hour race which I got and still had a good run split.

nothing really. Hard to argue with a faster run split than I have done all year during my stand alone long runs!

Keep moving, talk to my wife, nephew and bro/sis in law who spent all that time in the rain to support me!, paced some, I was getting crampy..eventually loaded my gear up. I was grateful for all the help as I was really starting to struggle with things. Little things would make my foot or calf want to cramp.


Other than the fore mentioned bike training-which I put in every race report, nothing. This was my first 70.3 so I had little to compare myself too.