Cardinal Harbour Triathlon - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

Felt like this was a really good swim for me. It's actually my best HIM swim time except for the relay I did last year. Started in the front and just went, I really could have pushed more, but I just wanted t keep a steady pace. Passed a good number of men in the first 2 waves, wounded the bouy and headed back downstream. Got into a little 'traffic' a few times, but nothing major. This was a good indicator of what I can expect from the IM swim hopefully. I think I'll be faster than my estimated time. I really liked the Speedsuit too...who know if it's a benefit. But it was good to have since this race actually ended up being wetsuit legal.

I think I'd push a little harder if I was doing the HIM distance, but I think my pace felt right on target for IM.

Good T1, I didn't feel hurried but didn't waste much time. Feet were grassy and I took time to wipe them off, but still got out of transition pretty quick.

Nothing

I think this ride was ok. It's my slowest HIM bike ever...that's kinda disappointing. I was thinking I'd be around 3:00, but I wasn't really out to PR, having a chance to race on the course was really my goal. I was glad to be able to ride on KY-1694 since the hills look much worse when driving it. It was actually a very fun road. The downhill was nice but I had to stop to fix my chain at the bottom for the downhill before climbing back a short way to the turnaround- that was annoying. The uphill back to 42 was pretty easy too- it took 5:10 to climb, I think that'll be good to know next month. The rest of the ride was mostly just rolling hills the whole way. My hamstring, back and IT band started bugging me around mile 30, kinda bummed about that. That's way to early to have to deal with that in IM. Need to handle that in the next month. So overall I think this was a pretty good ride, and I have a few things to work on before IM. Also, since this race was very small, there weren't a ton of other people out there. I think it'll be much more fun during the IM race.

- Need to have front derailleur check to avoid the chain problems again
- PT for hamstring & IT band
- Overall, nutrition was low since it wasn't hot...need more water and calories for IM, but felt fine for this distance.

Kinda slow, but I was a little pokey here and I knew it. Running to my rack was kinda pointless since the grass was really thick then the guy next to me was over way too far so I had to move his bike. Everything else was fine except I did take a second to pull the chapstick off my bike but whatever...

Nothing in this case..

I'm actually kinda surprised at this run, I thought it would be much slower. I wasn't excited about running(when am I??) but I think the 3 loops helped me break it down a little. Just tried to get through the first 2 then I'd only have one left. The course was pretty crowded the first 2 loops then really emptied out my last loop, but there were still many people out there that had 1-2 more loops. Water stops were pretty good, I walked through all of them to make sure I was drinking. And also walked the 2 hills several times. Didn't look at my watch at all until I was headed back to transition, so I really had no idea of my time. I know my run will be the hardest part of IM so I was trying to practice enjoying the run! I think the worst part was when I turned back into the neighborhood where transition is and the girl said about a mile left. I checked my watch for the first time on the run and thought I'd PR by about 5:00...picked up my pace. Ran for close to a mile and another guys said less then 2 miles left- WTH! I thought I was much closer...got tho the dead end and turned into the grass which was crazy hard to run in for me. It was really thick, uneven ground and kinda tall, like to your ankle. I felt like I was going to blow out my knee with each step. Slowed again and cussed at the grass all the way to the finish line.

In thins case not too much. If I was tapered and racing to PR, I could have pushed the run more, but since this was a training race, I think it went pretty well. This ended up being my 2nd fastest HIM run(even thought I did hear that the run was slightly short here). But still, I know I'll be walking a fair amount in the IM, so I am ok with how this run played out.

Saw Bill and then Brett, they carried all my stuff to the car and then I had to go pick up Kraig 22 miles away after he got lost on an 80mile ride and ended up way far off the IM bike course.


Nothing really, my knee & hamstring were a bit annoying but I think I paced this race appropriately for IM.


For the price I think this was a pretty good race. It was only $100 and it was very small. I got the impression that most people were also doing IM Lou. I doubt I'd come back to race this HIM, but I got a lot from it that should help me next month. They started maybe 10:00 late, which isn't a big deal. They had enough aid stations for it being a cool day, might have been an issue if it was hot. I can't say I love the shirts or Hammer products that they offered, but that's a personal preference. And for a small race I thought there was a good amount of people out cheering. I'd recommend it as a good warmup for IM Lou.