Timberman - Half Iron - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

The race was delayed so I went for a quick swim and sat in the water until about a minute before my wave gathered. I was happy with my swim, my plan was to take it real easy, get into an easy rhythm and draft as much as I could. Now I say draft but I had never done it before so I am not sure that I was actually doing too much drafting, more like getting kicked in the face and looking around for people who were slow enough for me to stay behind. But this process did pass the time away. My sighting was horrible, I was all over the place, room for improvement here. When I turned the last buoy the sun was on my left side where I feel most comfortable breathing and I had to close my eyes when I breathed beacuse I started seeing spots. Next time tinted googles! I never felt uncomfortable and my goal was to come out of the water feeling good and I feel as though I achieved that goal.

More speed work, practice sighting.

I decided to use the wesuit strippers and the two women who took my wesuit off had a tough time. I felt bad for them and ended up doing a lot of it myself. But I appreciated the effort! I took my time through T1 and made sure I had all my nutrition for the bike ride. I knew this that nutrition was going to be important for me so I really made sure everything was in order before I got on the bike. I just bought a Garmin 405 last week and still don't know how it all works so I wasted some time there.



Prepare my drinks better.

As this was my first HIM I really didn’t have any idea how hard to push it on the bike so my plan was to keep my HR down through the first half and push a little on the way back. While I didn’t have any problems I saw a lot of people with flat tires and mechanical problems. Overall I was happy with my ride, I took it real easy and focused on keeping my HR down and getting down as much water and calories as my stomach could allow. I never felt in great difficulty. Times I felt as though I was taking it a little too easy. Towards the end we passed a great looking golf course and I almost ran into the back of someone as I was admiring the course!

Around mile 40 I started to get stomach issues which turned into the feeling that I was going to puke. I thought about pulling over a couple of times. So I backed off on my drink and stuck with water which settled it down. However I think the lack of calorie intake during this period hurt me later on the run.



While this wasn't a bad ride for me there is a lot of room for improvement here. My general bike handling, turning, cornering, decending is quite poor. I can get it done but I really don't know what I am doing. Something to work on. My nutrition plan also got me through (just) but needs some work. Also eat some solid food on the bike.

I actually felt OK at the end of the ride, stomach settled down. But I slow walked my bike to the transition and really took my time. I was just glad to be off the bike. By now it was really hot and humid.

Put suncreen on!

I actually thought I was feeling OK at the start of the run but I really tried to keep my HR down for the first few miles. The run course was really well organized with aid stations every mile and a lot of spectators cheering you on. They really gave me a lot of motivation and everyone was very helpful. The first loop I was running smoothly and feeling OK. I walked through every aid station and at every one I took two sponges of ice water and put one down the front of my shirt and one down the back to keep me cool. Wherever they had ice I put that down my shirt and pants as well, anything to keep cool.

At the end of the first lap I was so excited that I think I must have been almost sprinting through the chute because when I turned to go back out I looked at my Garmin and my HR was at 92%! Then I saw my girlfriend and she asked how are you feeling and I replied hurting (don't really remember this). When I got back onto the road the wheels started to fall off. Literally within half a mile everything went south and I hit the wall. I started to feel nauseous, my legs started to cramp and I was getting blisters (my shoes and socks were soaked from all the water I was dumping on myself to cool down). I walked most of mile 7 and I was really starting to think I wasn’t going to finish. I eventually pulled myself together and my plan was to get to mile 10 any way I could and plan from there. I was dreading the section on the highway (as it was so hot) and it didn't help my mental state when I saw a guy collapse on the side of the road and people starting yelling to call an ambulance. I sure hope that guy is OK. When I looped around he was sitting up and the ambulance was there. From here on I also decided to get as much as could from the aid stations: oranges, ice, potato chips, pretzels, I ate and drank everything that I could stomach. The pretzels and chips helped so I think I didn't take enough salt tablets on the bike. But the thing that really gave me a boost was the flat coke and gave me the pick me pick to get moving again. I ran/shuffled between mile 8-10. By now I was in a world of pain but confident I could make it to the end. I even got a second wind and ran (well maybe more shuffle than run) most of the last 2 miles. I was so relieved at the end I almost starting crying like a 2yo girl. I high-fived the guy in the red dress and he yelled at me to do a cartwheel. I thought about it for a millisecond but didn't have the energy. I laughed out loud when I saw the comment in the forum about the guy who did the cartwheel at the finish line and ended up in the medical tent. That could have been me! I didn't even see Chrissie Wellington who was apparantly giving out the medals when I finished. I made a bee-line for my girlfriend then all I wanted to do was lie down in the shade.



Run more long distances. Lose some weight so my poor legs don't have to carry my body around that course.

Lying down under the trees by the beach. Trying not to pass out or throw up.


Lack of training and conditioning. Everything went more or less right for me. I think I wasn't in ideal condition for this race but I willed myself to the end.


I was so happy to be in this great race. It was an amazing experience to be around so many great athletes and everyone was very friendly and helpful. I would definately do this race again!