Mooseman Triathlon Festival - Half Iron distance - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

I actually caught up to a handful of elite men that started 4 minutes before me. I thought I was swimming faster than my finish time but I guess the choppy water was slowing me down.I think it's time to purchase a new suit. Mine is 5 years old and I bought it when I was 172. I'm now 160 and it fills with water.
I started in the front of my group and didn't have a problem with people hitting me.

Nothing really.

There were kids volunteering to pull off your wetsuit. The kids were having a hard time getting mine past my ankle timing chip. As they were floundering I had massive hamstring cramps in both legs due to the cold water. I also had a hard time getting my socks on.

Not too much. I think it's just bad luck that the kids had a hard time with my suit. I would get socks that were easier to get on.

The ride felt good. After finding a bad slice in my tire the night before, I was thinking about it the entire ride. I did fill it in with rubber cement and super glue.
Cycling is where I need a lot more work. I seemed to drop a bit in my rankings based on my cycling performance.

This was the first time I ever peed on my bike. It was so good that I did it again with 5 miles left. I took some really coaxing and concentration but I got it done!

Not much I could do different. I did take two tubes and 3 C02's which is a bit overkill. I would guess I pushed roughly 90% of what I could have on the bike, but If I pushed 100% I may not have had as good a run.

I didn't go with the slip on laces. It did take me a minute to lace up and that caused a few cramps.

I left my cycling glasses on my head which are the yellow shields. Kinda looked like a dork while running.

Leave glasses behind and put on a visor. Always go with the slip on laces.

I started at about an 8-8:20 pace but with 5 miles left I realized I had a shot at a sub 5 HIM. To do that I had to do the last 5 miles at around 7 minute miles. I was hurting at the end.

Maybe drink a little more. I wasn't slowing down at the drink stations so most of it ended up on my shirt.

Nothing really.


This was only my second HIM and the fist was in 2006. I wasn't too sure how my body was going to handle the stress. Now that I now I can push the run, I think I would bike just a bit harder.


I went into this race as a training race for IMLP. I knew I wanted to push a little, but I wasn't going to race it all out. Once I saw a sub 5 in my grasp during the run, I gave it my all. I ended with a 4:57 finish time!

Everything went as planned which is nice.

Oh, for the first 3-4 miles on the run my hamstrings and right Tibialis anterior were really fatigued. It's day after the race amd my hamstrings, hips and calves are a bit achy but not as bad as expected.