Tawas Triathlon Festival - HIM - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

I started in the 2nd row back for a beach start. This was an all male wave (approx. 130 people) The gun went off and we ran into the water and dolphin dived a couple times before getting to the turn buoy at 50 meters pretty quickly - made the turn and immediately got into a nice rythem. I was concentrating on keeping my stroke long and not burning up too much energy on the swim. It was a long way to that turn buoy but I felt really good the entire swim. I was passing alot of people throughout and finally got on the feet of somebody after the turn buoy to head back. I ended up inside the buoy line and had to jump over at one of the buoys to get by on the correct side which cost me some time. I was then in a big group of people and took on some water. I only had a few hundred yards left and made the last turn into the beach. I was happy with the swim minus a few blunders.

The swim time includes a 300 meter run up to the tranisiton area across US-23 into the parking lot. I was out of the water in about 35:30 which was about where I wanted to be.

Navigate better...I got complacent watching another swimmer and trusting their sighting and got burned...not a huge time loss..but something I can correct.

This was a pretty bad transition...I got my suit caught up on the timing chip and took a bit to get it off. I got into my shoes..grabbed the sunglasses and helmet and took off.

Get out of my suit quicker..I am usually one of the best OA at transitions and not so much today.

My HR was a bit high after the long run to transition and tried to slow my pace down a bunch to try and get it under control..apparently I did not do a very good job. My legs just did not feel the same as they did at SOR in July. I was kind of struggling to maintain a nice tempo pace. The first 10 miles of the ride is a gradual elevation gain and I pushed this section pretty hard thinking I could rest for a bit after that on the downhill portions. Take a right on River Road and it was nice roadways and pretty flat where I was flying and then a long downhill section where you can get aero and bomb down. Hit the first turnaround at the 40K mark and was in 18th place after being in 30th after the swim. That nice downhill section turned into a long climb and passed another competitor here. It took a little while to get the HR back in a good spot after that climb and then got a break with some flats for about 5 miles. Take another right turn for a long curvy descent to another turnaround and I had moved up to 16th. This climb was a bit nastier as I had to put it in the granny gear giving it all she had for some steep sections back up...that hurt a bit! The final 20K back was in to a slight headwind but mostly flats. I knew in the last ten miles of this ride that I was not going to have the same run as SOR and that this was going to hurt a bit. I had the same nutrition plan as my last HIM (625 calories Infinit) and taking in water at each aid station. I probably drank 2 aero bottles of water but this was just not enough. I came in to T2 knowing there was pain ahead.

Pace this ride better...improve bike muscular endurance...order a new 2010 Felt B12...not in that order however.

Had a pretty good transition here other than my bike fell off the rack and had to re-rack it again. socks on, shoes on, visor on, gu bottle in the shirt, and grabbed my race belt before taking off.

Get my bike on the rack the first time.

Let the pain begin....I started out at 7:30s and felt like I was barely moving. My HR was really high and just did not feel very good. I had bad thoughts running through my head and was a bit mad that I did not pace the bike better. I thought that if I just stuck with it I would feel better and put together a good half marathon. I kept chugging along taking in GU at each aid station with some water. I had a competitor about 800 feet ahead of me and just concentrated on trying to catch him. I did not catch him until the 5 mile mark but it felt good to know that I may still have something in me. As I made the turnaround I saw Rachael and the inlaws and I let them know this felt like a death march(After the race they said I looked good at that point...I told them I was in a lot of pain). As I made the turn I realized there had not been an aid station in a really long time. I ended up going about 2.5 miles without an aid station or any fluid and that was not good for business. I had moved up to 12th by the 8 mile mark and 10th by the 10 mile mark. I could not believe that I was passing people but I just kept moving forward and it seemed lots of people were hurting. I think that bike course took alot out of alot of people. I ended up walking the last 2 or 3 aid station to take in a full glass of water and because I was totally exhausted. I got passed by 2 people in the last 3 miles and ended up finishing 12th OA. The last long straightaway to the finish line was nice and I was glad to be done. It came up later by more than one person that the run course measured 13.86-13.92 miles in length and not 13.1...wow! I was hoping to run 7:20s on this run but just did not happen today.

Pace my race better and drink more water on the bike.

I was completely exhausted after getting over the finish line. I probably drank 6 glasses of HEED and 3 water bottles in a half hour after I crossed and was very sore and tight everywhere. I walked around and stretched. Got back to the cottage and took a dip in Lake Huron to cool off. A shower and a nap also helped.


I really think that I can go 4:45 on this course (the one that measures 13.1 on the run) which was my original goal. Hopefully I can come back again one day and prove it but on this day the course kicked my butt! I learned alot from this race and it will only help me in the future. I was happy that I was able to push through the pain but not happy that I did not get my result.


I loved the City of Tawas and the area in general..it was fantastic. Minus the aid station problem at the turnaround and the run course being boring and 0.75 miles long it was a good race in a great area.