Whirlpool Steelhead 70.3 Triathlon - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

Started out near the front. Got stuck right between 2 guys for about 3 minutes. They were right next to me, kind of pinching me in the middle. After I got away from them, I started to cruise. The waves started to get bigger, and that only made it faster.
Was my best swim ever.
I also used the porpoise dives at the end of the swim. That helped a lot.

Nothing.

The porpoise dives at the end of the swim really worked. This is the first time I didn't get dizzy and fall over in transition.
I un-racked my bike before I put on my HRM strap and race belt. Had to re rack it to get those on.

Not much. No big problems.

So I'm flying along averaging about 22 mph. My goal on the bike was 18. I'm thinking, hey this is great! I'm really padding my time so I have a little room for slower times on the run. I did so many calculations in my head. I was calculating how easy it would be to meet my overall goal now that I was averaging 22 mph instead of 19.

Well, then we turned back to the west. The wind knocked me back down to reality. At that point, I stopped working on my acceptance speech. Luckily, I knew we didn't have too much farther to go westbound. Southbound couldn't possibly be this bad.

Well, Southbound was worse. I have been racing sailboats my whole life depending on the wind, and I can now say I hate the wind and wish it didn't exist. Blue Star Highway is the most God Aweful place on earth and if should be ripped up and closed down. I hate you Blue Star Highway.

Not sure. I went pretty hard, and am happy about my pace. I just don't know how much that hurt my run. Possibly a lot.

Good transition. No problems here.

Nothing.

Well, I didn't quite make my 9:09 pace goal. I think even on a perfect day, that was ambitious. Today, it was impossible. My legs were fried from the windy bike. I did a bit of walking. I walked all the uphills, and all aid stations. The last half I walked for 10 to 30 seconds every 3 to 4 minutes.

My legs really started to cramp up the last 3 or 4 miles. I could feel that any second a muscle would seize up. The last mile they would kind of pulse and harden up. luckily they didn't relly set into a full on cramp.

The second I crossed the line my right lef cramped up so bad I fell into the volunteer's arms. That was one miserable feeling. They brought me over to the tent and sat me down. After about 5 minutes I thought I was ok. As soon as I bent my knee it cramped up again. After about 5 more minutes I was able to get up and walk cramp free.

I think a lot of the walking was mental. I was in pain, but I think I could have run through some of it. Sometimes it was just too easy to walk for a minute than to keep running through the pain.

none. couldn't move.


wind and run fitness.


Volunteers were wonderful. Thought the race was organized very well. The rain after the finish took a little bit away from the experience, but overall, it was great.