Gulf Coast Triathlon - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

Swim was great. I had never swam a continuous 1.2 miles, but have been getting my rear end kicked in masters classes for the past 6 months. I started a little too far on the outside and was all by myself after the first 10 minutes. I didn't know if I was going slow or fast, so I just kept plugging along comfortably. I'm not sure about the water conditions because I don't have much open water experience, but I think the low visibility actually helped keep my calm. It was nice not seeing things for a change.

Push harder. I was concerned about the swim because I 1) had never swam in a wetsuit before (other than a short warm up on Friday) and 2) I had never swam a continuous 1.2 miles before. Turns out I felt good the entire time and felt strong coming out of the water. I should have been more spent afterward.

I guess this was fine. I was in no real hurry and my bike was one of the furthest away. I just made sure I didn't forget anything.

Hurry a little more.

Bike went as well as could be expected. I decided to go without aero bars (which obviously would have been a big help in the wind) and just focus on comfort and what I was familiar with. I really focused on my drink and nutrition taking in food and water every 15 minutes. Everything went great until mile 40, at which point I couldn't eat anymore. I started to panic and just drank all the water and Gatorade I could for the rest of the ride. I still felt good riding, but knew that not eating anything would come back to bite me on the run. I just didn't want to dehydrate so I kept pouring water to it.

I was very happy with my bike time, but wasn't properly fueled and didn't feel good stomach wise afterward.

I think my nutrition plan was insufficient to get me through the ride and onto the run. I hadn't done enough runs after long rides, so I guess I was accustomed to letting my nutrition slide during the final 45-60 minutes of my rides. There is a big difference in being properly fueled for a bike ride and being properly fueled to finish a bike ride and run a half-marathon.

I really don't know how long this should have taken. I was again in no real hurry, just wanted to remember everything. Also stopped by a porta potty to unhydrate myself a little.

Hurry more. I underestimated the aid-stations and took way too much stuff with me on the run. I actually had to throw a bunch of stuff away because I didn't want it bouncing around in my back jersey pocket.

I'm not sure how the bike portion was windy and the run portion had no breeze whatsoever, but it happened. I felt terrible when I started to run, so I decided to just run the first mile by feel and then formulate a plan of attack. Apparently my feet had become accustomed to moving fast because I crossed the first mile marker in about 8:30 and knew that wasn't good. My stomach was sloshing (from the bike) and I was still unable to eat. Things slowed down considerably after that.

I began eating as many orange slices as I could and stayed with a walk/shuffle until I felt better. I could have pushed it a little more in the first half, but I didn't want to make my stomach issues worse. I decided to go as slow as I needed to get myself in order.

After I got out of the park (which I thought would never end), I had a couple cookies, began to feel better, and decided I would pick up the pace a little. As soon as I sped up and felt better, my left calf locked up. I dialed my pace back down, drug my leg around until it loosened up a little, and maintained the best pace I could without the cramp setting in (which wasn't fast at all).

I maintained my hobble/walk/no cramp pace almost until the end. There was a great aid station in the last mile with music and people cheering that really got me going. I figured the longer I was out there, the worse things would get. I turned it up, drug my leg with me, and ran strong through the finish. This was the longest 13.1 miles (and the longest 2 hours and 45 minutes) of my life.

I think my bad run performance was more attributable to failed nutrition on the bike than bad running preparation. I wasn't pushing my body as hard as I should have, because the distance was unknown and I was scared of putting myself in a position I couldn't get out of. I was too protective of my stomach and afraid of dehydrating, and just didn't push myself to the limit. But I guess it went about as can be expected for a first attempt.

Sat in a 1X1 square foot of shade that I found for a few minutes. Gathered my things and headed back to Destin for an ice bath, huge diet coke, and some McDonald's cheeseburgers.


First HIM. Unsure of distances, and didn't have as solid a nutrition plan as I should have. I have already forgotten a lot of the bad feelings I experienced out there and am thinking about how much better I could do.


Great race. There must have been as many volunteers as there were racers. Everyone was so helpful and I am glad I chose it for my first HIM. I believe this is a great race to get a feel for the distance (as long as you don't mind a little heat).