Pigman Triathlon - Long Course - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

The rain was really coming down during portions of this swim, not that it really mattered. This was kind of a unique start for me, as we were sent out in a time trail start by wave, with 1 person released every 3 seconds. This was great and really reduced the typical clusterf*ck start at bigger races. I really didn't have any issues with traffic out there on the water. There was a bit of a chop on the water due to the strong winds, initially I don't think I handled it all that well, especially breathing. I got a few mouthfuls of water early on, but I settled in nicely after that. I was just cruising, not really expending a lot of energy because I knew the bike was going to be a challenge given the conditions. My navigation was better than usual but still needs work, I deviated from the course somewhat a few times. I should have gone with clear goggles, sighting the buoys was a little difficult with the smoke ones. With about 200 to go I started kicking hard to get some blood flowing in the legs, and they felt solid coming out of the water. Good swim overall, but I did leave a few minutes out there with my poor navigation, and I could maybe have pushed a little harder.

Push a little harder and trust that my training had prepared me. Choose goggles based on race day conditions.

This time was slower than I expected it to be. It was a fairly long run up to the transition area, and it took a little bit of time to get the wetsuit off as always, but I didn't think it was 4 minutes. Took my time though to be sure I had everything.

Get the wetsuit off faster, and get comfortable with having the shoes clipped in to the pedals to start with. I was ok with this time though.

With the wind being up I knew this would be a challenge. First 6 miles or so were in a strong cross-wind, then we turned into a headwind for the next 12 miles or so. This was difficult, I was expending a lot of energy to maintain 16 mph in my small ring. Some decent sized hills in this section as well made it that much more difficult. After this section, we turned and were once again in a crosswind for a few miles, rolling through a small town and passing the bottle exchange. I have to say the volunteers did a great job of handing the bottles up, at least for me. After that was a beautiful 4 or 5 mile stretch with a tailwind. I was hammering out some 28-32 mph miles here. That was fun! After the turn around, it was back into the wind. This section was particularly tough as it was mostly uphill. The rest of the ride was crosswinds or tailwind, but unfortunately the wind was dying down a bit by that time which took some of the benefit away. Tough ride but averaged better than 20 mph, which was my goal coming into the race.

Nothing really, hydrated appropriately, pushed hard but not too hard, nutrition was good.

No major issues here, I don't do the flying dismount or get my feet out of my bike shoes, so that costs me time. Something I will work on for next season.

Nothing really.

Starting off, I was actually feeling really good, the legs felt great, heart rate was right where I needed it to be, and I was pounding out 7:45 miles the first 2 or 3 miles. At that point, I started having significant GI discomfort. I just could not continue at that pace and slowed to about 9 minute miles, and pretty much held there for the rest of the run. Thank god there was a port-a-john at mile 9, I was hurting pretty bad at that point. After the bathroom break, I was fine again, and the legs still felt pretty good. Around mile 11, at the large hill, I felt like my hamstring was about to cramp up, so I had to slow up a bit until I got to the top. I was just fine after that and enjoyed the run into the finish line. Great support from the crowd during the last stretch :) and GREAT volunteers!

Maybe hydrate a bit more and do more of a mix between Heed and water. Maybe doing mostly Heed was the cause of my GI discomfort.

Walked around a bit and stretched well. Had some pizza and watermelon and re-hydrated. Got my poster, picture and results, packed up, and headed home.


Lost a week of training about a month before the race due to personal life issues, but that probably didn't hurt too much.


This was a really well run race. I can't imagine a better first half-iron experience, despite the less than ideal weather conditions. Thanks so much to all the volunteers for the encouragement on the course. That always means a lot. I was hoping to meet some fellow BTers at the race, but I didn't really bump into anyone I recognized. Stop me and say hi in the future if you see me!