5430 Long Course Triathlon - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

I usually don't have a problem navigating, but for some reason I had a hard time staying on a consistent line. As for drafting, I have been practicing in some other races this year, but couldn't find anyone at a pace I was comfortable with today. They were either swimming too slow or too fast.

I could have gone a little harder here.

I ran right past my bike coming into transition and put shoes and socks on in transition.

Get there a little earlier to have a transition spot closer to a row end so that it's easier to find.

Having never raced at this distance before I took it easy and could have gone a bit harder. For the last 10 miles or so I was having some knee pain, I've had this problem before, but my last 7 or 8 50+ mile training rides had all been pain free. Eating and drinking were good, I had half a bottle of gatorade and two waters and ate two Clif bars.

Spend more time training on the bike.

The guy next to me racked his (very expensive tri) bike sticking partially into my transition space and I had to move his bike (almost knocking it over) to get mine in the rack. It was kind of tough juggling two bikes at once because I couldn't let go of mine before I moved his. I also took the time to apply sunscreen and eat a gel in transition.

Started at the pace I wanted (8:40-8:45) and kept this pace easily for the first 5 miles or so. By mile 9 I had slowed to a 9:10 pace and by mile 11 I totally exploded and was almost walking. I was also having some pretty significant knee pain. My run was disappointing, especially since I went out easy on the bike, I should not have had a problem keeping a 9 min pace.

Some more bricks at longer distances.

Walked around for maybe 10 minutes and stretched for about 5.


My swim and my bike both need improvement. Even though I went easy on both, for the level of effort I put in I felt like I should have performed better.


I really enjoyed this event and it was a great introduction to the 70.3 distance for me. I plan on racing again at this distance and being more competitive. I did the entire 5430 series this year and all of the events are exceedingly well run and organised.