EagleMan Ironman 70.3 Triathlon - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

Good swim for me. Stayed relaxed, even though I got stung by jellyfish several times on both forearms (one downside to sleeveless wetsuit!). I improved by more than 2 minutes from last year, and accomplished my goal of taking it easy.

Learn how to sight. I spend a lot of time zig-zagging. I also need to swim more and longer. 1-2 times per week, just isn't enough.

Had a little trouble getting my wetsuit off, and took time to spray sunscreen on, though I obviously wasn't very effective, based on the nice sunburn I now have.

Need to get wetsuit off quicker. At some point, I want to learn how to leave shoes on the bike rather than putting them on in transition.

My goal here was to save something for the run. I kept my HR under 150 as much as possible, but that got really tough when we turned into the wind.

I never felt comfortable during this ride. From the start, my left quad and groin muscles were tight, and they never really loosened up. My back was also stiff, and I could not seem to stay in aero position for more than a couple of minutes at a time.

It was also frustrating to watch so many people pass me, as the bike is the one thing I tried to focus on during my training. I did the best I could to weather the tough mental patches, and to keep plugging along.

Nutrition: 2 packs of PB crackers, 1 bag of GU strawberry chewy-things, and one GU. 20 oz of Gatorade, and 1 CamelBak of water (60+ oz).

I need to spend more training time on the bike. I did 6 or 7 training rides of at least 45 miles, including a long ride of 63 miles, yet I still didn't feel very good or efficient. I also think it might be time to break down and get a tri bike. I like my Klein road bike, but it just doesn't fit quite right, especially in aero.

I (obviously!) took my time, though it didn't seem particularly slow when it was happening. I did not have elastic laces on my shoes, so that definitely was a hindrance.

Elastic laces, practice, concentrate during the end of the bike on what I want to do in transition.

All day long, I kept telling myself to just relax, and save something for the run. I felt good coming out of T2, with the exception of a stiff lower back. I went through the first mile in 7:48, passed by the house we were staying at, and waved to Marie, my newlywed wife.

I was pretty confident at that point this would be a good run, but I also remembered feeling the same way in the first mile of last year's run. I felt really strong for the first 5 miles, and was steadily passing people even though I was slowing down. I was excited to finally be running, and had a stupid grin on my face most of the way. I had not hit my watch at the start of the swim or bike, so I had no idea of my overall time. Just tried to stay comfortable and push when I could.

By about 7 miles I was getting tired, and was walking for a few steps at each water stop. I took water at most of the early ones, then switched to a combination of Gatorade and water for the 2nd half.

The last couple of miles definitely were not easy, but I was having fun and enjoying the moment. At about 11 miles, there was a house with a bunch of VA Tech kids. They were playing music and encouraging people to dive on the slip-n-slide. This seemed like a reasonable idea to me at the time, so I ran through the crowd, high-fived a bunch of people, and dove. Fun, except I felt a sharp pain on my right side (more on that later), and was rewarded with soaking wet shoes for the last two miles. My already blistered feet were not happy...

Picked up the pace the last mile, and tried to look strong for the run to the finish. It's such a great feeling to come around that bend and see the crowds.

Dunno. Definitely would skip the slip-n-slide at mile 11. It was fun, but I now have a seriously strained muscle just below my ribs on the right side of my body. It hurts to breath, turn, bend, and run. Not my best decision....

Not much. Found Marie, got a little bit of food, and walked around to stretch. Packed up transition and we walked the 1.25 miles back to the house where we stayed. We did this last year, too, and it is great. I get to stretch a bit by walking, and also get to cheer on some of the other participants.


I got married 10 weeks before the race, and am transitioning to another job within my organization, so training was not a main focus. I did what I could, but there wasn't a lot of volume or consistency. I came into Eagleman this year with no time goal, but rather just aiming to enjoy the race, and to be able to run comfortably. I did those things, and beat my time from last year by 15 minutes.

I know I can get faster if I train more, work on transitions, and get a tri bike. I'll consider those things going forward, but for the moment, am enjoying my new status as a husband.


Eagleman is a tough test, but a very well run event. The volunteers are wonderful, as are the locals in general. For the 2nd year, we were hosted by a wonderful family, and had a great time.