5430 1/2 IM - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

The swim actually went well. I didn't have to stop at all and I picked up the pace for the second half of the swim. I may have been a little too conservative with staying to the outside, but it was worth the piece of mind.

Nothing.

It was a bit slow, but I wanted to make sure I got more sunblock over my entire body. Unfortunately, I forgot to get some behind my shoulder and it must have rubbed off during the swim, 'cuz I'm fried there.

I would have waited a little longer and left at the same time as Cathy. It would have only been another minute or two and it would have been cool to leave together.

The bike went well, but I think I pushed it a little too hard. After 10 miles, my butt was hurting and I knew it would be a long ride. After the first loop, my legs were tired and I knew it would be a long race. After 35 miles my legs were no longer legs - they were toast! After 45 miles they didn't want to go much more - luckily they knew the way back to the reservoir and went on autopilot.

Tear open the Clif bar before I put it in the Bento box (or put it in a baggie).
Pace myself a little better. I did my first lap with an ave speed of 18.7, which is too fast for me if I want to also run a half marathon after the bike.

At this point, my legs were already tired, so I was in no hurry to get out of the transition area.

I have to make a better mental note of where my bike is parked. I thought I was in the 2nd to the end row on the E side, but it was 2nd to the end on the W side; so I was a few aisles off since there were 6 rows.

The run crushed me. My goal was to finish in under 6 hours and if I would have had a normal run, I was on pace to beat that.
Since my legs were tired at the start of the race, my plan was to run a mile, walk a minute. That lasted only 3 miles. At that point, I already started getting a blister on my left foot at my arch and my stomach didn't want anything else forced upon it. I didn't have any more food or gels from that point on, and only a moderate amount of liquid (1/2 water, 1/2 Gatoraid). The first loop was pretty painful, but I was still doing OK. At the start of the second loop, I was at the point where I was walking almost as I was running and I started getting dizzy. I tried to force down just a tiny bit of gel at the first aid station but my stomach resisted and threatened to produce my breakfast if I didn't heed its warnings. By mile 9, I was almost exclusively walking and couldn't look down or up without getting excessively dizzy. At mile 11, the volunteer at the aid station must have noticed I looked (and felt) like crap, and she started walking with me and evaluating my general condition. Then she started asking me questions. Rather than asking easier questions like: what's the atomic weight of naturally occuring uranium, or if the lengths of the legs of a right triangle are 5 and 12, what is the length of the hypotenuse; she instead goes right to the tough questions. The first one was: have you had any fuel lately. This was met with a blank stare and silence. Then: when was the last time you had some food or a gel. Again, a blank stare and silence. Then, for some unknown reason, I just started crying. The darn brain wasn't cooperating with me. She suggested that I come back to the tent and she get some medical help. I, of course, refused. Then she suggested that I come back and just sit down for a little while - that is allowed and would not cause my disqualification. I again refused. Now feeling threatened by her, I did what came instinctively - I ran away from her! I knew I only had 2 miles to go and was not going to stop at that point. The last 2 miles were pretty much a blur, but I know I did run pretty far after that aid station.

Force more liquids into my body. Have a gel at the very beginning of the run. Do a little more research on proper hydration.

Hang out in the medical tent for about an hour.


Poor hydration/nutrition on the run; going too fast on the bike.


They didn't have any toilets on the bike ride - I joined several other guys in the trees just off the Diagonal Highway. They had plenty of aid stations that were all very well equiped.