Square Lake Triathlon - Long Course - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

That lake is super nice and it was so calm. Everything was great until .6 miles into it and I notice the swimmer in front of me had a timing chip and it occurred to me I never picked mine up. Other than that, I cannot say I've EVER had a better swim. I was planning on 40 minutes. Awesome!

Pick up my timing chip. (I didn't time the transitions so built the time into the legs).

I was taking it easy in part because I was worried about my ITBS and part because I didn't have a chip. Had to do emergency pit stop, there isn't even a porta-potty at the water bottle exchange. I think about 80 people passed me and I passed 6. It was nice, though, I felt like I was on a bike tour. If I ever felt like I was working too hard, I down shifted. I stopped to help a guy, but his bike was unfixable just with tools. Bummer! Looked like a fair number of mechanical problems out there.

Start distance biking sooner and stick with it throughout season to avoid ITBS from ramping up. Hit the potta potty b4 the bike even if I don't think I need to.

Took my time.

Found someone who wanted to run together early on. Walked all water stops, but otherwise ran. Wife and kids showed up at water stop #9 and felt I should be running and not walking. Lots of fun BSing and cheering on other runners. Love the pace of a half iron. More social and friendly. I cannot get enough air to do any of that in a shorter race due to pace and asthma. ITB didn't hurt until mile 10. By then, my thighs were spassing out so it didn't matter much.

Not start out sub 8 when I know I'll be lucky to run 10 minute miles. More strength training for leg stability and just like the bike, don't play catch up late in the season and end up with ITBS. Learn to drink HEED without swallowing a bunch of air. I had to belch each time after the water stop.

Get water. Ate hot dog when nausea settled down. Waded into water and swam for a couple of minutes. Realized I had a saddle sore when the cold water hit it. Ouch!


Heat. Insufficient based earlier in season. Lack of motivation w/o timing chip.


Communication is nearly non-existent pre-race. Now that I know the routine, I might do the race again. Pretty challenging for a 1st time half iron, but I learned a lot and everyone was so nice.