Rock 'N RollMan Half Iron Triathlon - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

The swim course was 3 buoys out, then a yellow turn buoy, 2 orange buoys, another yellow turn buoy, and then back to shore via orange buoys. I walked into the water and started swimming immediately. This swim was just steady with no stopping at all whatsoever. I was at the first buoy pretty quick and realized I forgot during the splash swim to allow some water inside the wetsuit. Somewhere after the first buoy, I was caught by the next wave of swimmers. Navigation was HORRIBLE - at times it felt like I was too far away from the buoys so I tried to stay close to them but when you’re slow, you have other swimmers swim over you.

Just before the first turn buoy, I was being annoyed by a swimmer who rubbed me about 3 times. I later found out it was Leslie Teed who caught me at the turn buoy and was rubbing me on purpose to try and get my attention. Of course I knew she would catch me in the water but I had every intention of catching her on the bike!

Along the way, I only battled the mental demons once after the first turn buoy. I said to myself two things “Rivi, swim to the bike, Jesus is with me, swim to the bike, and Jesus is with me…” after that it was over.

Got to the next turn buoy and headed to shore. Navigation was still sucking because I couldn’t see the buoys until I was closer to them and then I had to re-navigate. Then I started to feel hot in the suit and again was mad at myself for not allowing water in the suit. Of course the knuckle head’s comment about sweating started to worry me. I swam until I could scoop sand with my hands and then stood up.


Of course I could hear my biggest cheerleader yelling “That’s my Ironman!!, You Go Papi!!, and “YOU DID IT” as I got closer to shore.

Coming out of the water I was feeling pretty good about myself. It wasn’t my fastest swim but it was my most relaxed swim to date. I ran to my sandals and then just did the Marine Corp shuffle up the hill to maintain my heart rate under control.


Navigate better and allow some water in my wetsuit prior to swimming. I still need some more open water swims to feel more comfortable in the water without a wetsuit. That's the next step of my journey.

This went pretty smooth, and I found Nikki with ease. My wetsuit came off pretty easy with no problems. I then rinsed one foot, dried it, put on a sock, then shoe, same for the other foot. I put on my shades, then helmet, then out of transition.

I was pretty close to the Bike start so the run with Nikki was pretty quick. Upon arriving at the mount line, I noticed there were two riders trying to get on their bikes. I just ran by them up a little further, got on Nikki and took off feeling pretty good.


I'm happy with my T1 performance. I could obviously get faster with more practice but that will come with time. Fast is smooth, smooth is fast. Next year, I plan on training with the shoes already clipped onto the pedals and no socks.

The goal was to maintain a steady speed up the hills and high speed down the hills. My nutrition plan was 3 Shot Bloks, 1/2 Clif Bar, 3 Shot Bloks, and one GU in that order, repeated for the next 2 hours. After the 2 hour mark, it was 3 Shot Bloks every 15 minutes and the last 15 minutes take a GU. Also I was going to sip on my Aero Bottle every time I looked at the straw along the way. The goal was to refill it at every water stop on the course.

By Mile 5, I noticed that I wasn’t riding as fast as Gulf Coast but I knew this course was harder due to the hills.

By the 15 Mile mark, 1st water station appeared and the bottle exchange was quite awkward. The volunteer just stood there so I had to really slow down to make this exchange. Then to top things off, I got a warm bottle of water. This wasn’t what I was expecting. I then started to get concerned with my hydration plan especially after just receiving warm water. I also had drunk my entire aero bottle and some of my liquids behind my seat.

Remember: “Manage Your Race”

The first portion of the ride went very well. There was a hill were my miles per hour dropped all the way down to 6 MPH. Once I got to the top of the hill I flew on the down hill. At one point I looked down at my bike computer and noticed I was going 47 MPH in the Aero position!!

I was later passed by a male who caught up to me and asked “How fast did I get on the downhill?” When he heard my response, he said “that was really fast!”. I must admit it wasn’t very smart to go that fast at all – much less in the aero position.

At the 30 Mile mark, I received warm Gatorade along with a hot bottle of water. Again the exchange was just from pretty much dead stop. I continued to push forward and battle the hills. My nutrition plan was going really well so I just continued to “Manage my Race”.

My goal on the bike was to catch Leslie Teed, so I was picking riders off along the course but still no Leslie. Along the bike course I was passed by a total of 3 riders. The first was a lady that pulled up next to me and said my bike was pretty. I told her my bike’s name was Nikki’s and then she speed off into the hills. I passed another rider at 40 plus going down a hill then later he passed me.

Along the bike course, I got to see Marshall (Debra Priest’s husband), he was volunteering and I also caught up with Elaine DeJesus. She looked really good on the bike and of course she made it tough for me to pass her since I yelled I was coming.

The 45 mile marker was the final water stop on the bike course. Again the exchange was from a dead stop volunteer. I guess there weren’t enough volunteers and they weren’t experienced enough in this technique.

At this point I was just counting down the miles to the finish of the bike course. I was feeling pretty good so far about my performance on the bike so I decided to try and push a little harder during these last 11 miles. Somewhere with about 4 miles left on the bike course, I started to feel a twinge in my left quad. I decided to back off and make sure I didn’t ruin my performance thus far.

Once I pulled into the park, I dropped into a lighter gear (higher cadence) to get my legs ready for a half marathon. Of course, I could hear my cheerleader Anica yelling so I got ready for a photo opportunity. The dismount went smooth and off to T2.


I could've gone faster on the bike initially but I was respecting the bike course. This course is close enough that I could’ve done some training on the actual course. I surely will do some more hill training in preparation for next year. The main point was that I "Managed the Race".

Reached Nikki’s spot and racked her with ease, took off helmet and made sure to leave sunglasses on. I exchanged my footwear, grabbed race belt, hat with Garmin inside and took off for T2 exit.



I felt pretty good about this transition. I would like to incorporate the riding with feet onto of shoes but that's for next year.

The run is a different BEAST - it was hot, humid and freaking HOT!!!! Let me say it one more time -- it was FREAKING HOT!!!! This is what makes this race so challenging. I of course was slightly worried about the run due to several previous runs performances where I would cramp up or dehydrate.

I remembered reading that there would be Heed on the course instead of Gatorade so I was cool with that choice since it was familiar to me. There would also be an aid station every mile so the thought was to run to every aid station and fuel up. Ron Teed also mentioned to grab an ice cold blue towel and keep it with me to the next aid station.

After leaving T2, I knew I wouldn’t catch Leslie because this is her event. So I pushed forward. I ran to my one and only Sunscreen Queen where she was waiting with two bottles of sunscreen. She gave me a good dose of sunscreen and off to the hot course I went.

At the first water stop, I grabbed the usual one of each and a very cold blue towel and pressed on to the next water stop. I also noticed they had oranges and pretzel. The only problem was that I don’t believe they had enough volunteers because you had to grab you own cup and you also had to ask what were in the cups? I was also surprised to see that I had caught up to Bobby Sauer at this point. He had left in the swim wave ahead of me, so I thought to myself Leslie must be close. Bobby mentioned to me that he thought we were going to swap positions the entire way. I made a mental note to myself that this would not be happening because he was walking and I wasn’t; needless to say I kept him behind me the entire way. (Just a little competitive, ya’ think??)

My goal now was to find a Porta John because my eyes were floating, so just after the second aid station there she was off to the left just waiting for me. I stopped at “Porta-SAUNA” a/k/a Porta-john to pee – when I finally got out of there I felt like I stepped out to the A/C because it was sooooo incredibly hot in there, but that A/C feeling wore off in about 5 seconds as the sun regained its hold and continued the beat-down with the heat and humidity! This was just after the 2 mile marker and another aid station. I also saw Carol Sharpless heading back to the barn just before reaching this point.

My plan was to stay hydrated and cool during the run portion. I would monitor my heart rate and stay below my Lactate Threshold the entire run with exception to the last mile.

Somewhere just in between the 2 and 3 mile marker, I saw the hunted (Leslie), and she was looking good. I knew there was no catching her since this is her favorite event. So I just pressed on and started to pick off some runners along the way. Although on the bike I was only passed by 3 riders, the run course was a different story. The magical number is 15 runners; I play this game with myself to keep my mind occupied. Just before reaching Mile 4, I grabbed some of Amy Shay and Chad Hunt’s favorite drink (Ice Cold Coke). Did this a few more times over the course of the run and found it to be very good!

I learned a priceless lesson 3 weeks ago in Gulf Coast. In this kind of heat, don’t throw away ice water after drinking it, keep the cup and run with it so you can sip cold water periodically. So every time I got a cup with ice, I ran with it to the next aid station.

Just pass the 5 mile marker, I saw Debra Priest on the course. She was smiling and happy so we exchanged hugs and away I went. I also kept Bobby at bay at the first turn around just pass mile 4. I remember seeing Mike DeLang somewhere in this section and I thought now I’m the hunted since he’s a stronger runner.

I knew that beating my time from Gulf Coast Half Ironman would be impossible but staying close to that time would be possible. My goal for this race was a Sub 6:30 and it was looking pretty good so far. I stayed steady, drank every time available, exchanged towels, drank Heed, and poured water over my head at every opportunity.

Remember: “Manage Your Race”

Just before turning onto Lower Thomaston Road there was a lady in a pink dress directing us towards the right. I thought to myself will she still be there when I get back. This was my next mental marker - run to her on the return because just pass her I could see the 11 mile marker.

I pressed on and reached the next turn around point on the other side of the 8 mile marker. Then came the turn onto Nowell Road where one of the residents had his sprinkler watering the road. I really enjoyed this brief shower to cool me down. After seeing Leslie Teed the first time, I never saw her again on the course so I knew she was having a good run.

After the last turn around point, I knew there were only 4 miles between me and the finish line. The heat kept me at bay - there were times where I thought I could run faster but I really watched my heart rate because of the heat. I just didn’t want to be like some other runners that were walking early in the game.

As I approached the lady in pink, I knew it was an easy two miles back to the finish line. Of course, Mother Nature made these two miles tough for me. After passing the 11 mile marker, I picked up the pace and my heart rate jetted up to 182. I decided to just wait for the last mile to push.

Once I reached the entrance to the park and climbed the last hill, I was at the home stretch. I then saw Anica come running out from under a tent yelling and saying “wait you got here too soon!!”. I was surprised by this comment but continued to push on. She of course had to run ahead of me to get some pictures but I was determined to finish strong. I later found out that the spectators around us were laughing because she looked crazy trying to race me to the finish line in order to get those last few pictures!

I had a clear run to the finish line with no problem of getting a great photo finish. I crossed the Finish Line feeling real good about my performance. I got my medal, returned my chip, and grabbed two ice cold water bottles. Then Anica took a couple more pictures and directed me to a little piece of heaven. It was a cold shower under a blue tent. I secured some real estate and chilled out for a little bit enjoying my victory at Macon. Of course I was already sporting my 70.3 Hat!!!

I'M A TWO-TIME HALF IRONMAN!!!


More hill training, but overall I managed this portion as planned. I would like to run faster but that will happen next year. When it’s all said and done, I managed the race well and I’m very happy with my performance.

I met up with some fellow triathletes and hung out under their tent. I chatted with Leslie for a little bit and she suggested I get something to eat. At the time of her suggestion, I wasn’t feeling too hot. We walked down to where they were serving the best chicken sandwich in the world. After eating this sandwich, I felt much better. I then went over to Dr. Nick and Dr. Sadri’s tent and got a free massage and an adjustment by heavy hands himself -Dr. Nick.

We then headed back to the Tri-van to get our Tri-bags, then the walk to get Nikki out of transition. It was very surprising that there was no security at bike check-out.

I then loaded up the Tri-van and waited around to make sure everyone I knew had finished. We then headed back to Atlanta driven by my favorite chauffeur (Harold) and very grateful for making a very rewarding pit stop for my favorite vanilla milk shake at Chik-fil-a.



The heat was tough on everyone on this date but I "managed my race". I passed many runners and never walked through-out the entire run except at the water stops to pick up my hydration fluids.




This is a very challenging event and I plan on re-visiting this race next year so I can break Sub 6 hours.