Ironman 70.3 Branson - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

Roughest swim I have ever had- but it was a blast. Loved the beach start, but got stuck farther back in the pack than I liked. Never did find a good set of feet to draft off of. Got out of the water without breathing heavy and ready to get punished by the bike course.

nada

Had to stuff our junk into a bag for transport to T2- took a little time, but not bad. Everyone was walking up the steps off of the beach to T1- that was a bit annoying.

Had ridden most of the course once before the race, so I had a good idea what was coming. The climb straight out of T1 was tough, but not too bad. Once on the highroad I settled in and just got down to business. Had a great first loop and really didn't feel any fatigue at all. Started fading on the way back on the 2nd loop and it was all bad from there. The last big climb was about 90% out of the saddle in my easy gear just to keep the stupid bike moving forward. Once I hit T2 the legs were shot.

Probably needed a different cassette. Even in my easiest gears these hills towards the end were a strain.

Standard T2.

Not much to say here. I had nothing and my time shows it. Did the first mile around 8 minutes. Walk/ran the rest of the half marathon.

Not suck so bad =)

Jumped in the ice cold fountain at the finish line. Had an awesome philly cheesesteak from some restaurant down there.


I was very disappointed with this race afterwards. I completely blew up on the bike and never got it back. In hindsight, I don't think I could have done it any different. I really took it easy on the bike, I just didn't have the necessary fitness for a day this tough. I will DEFINITELY be back for this bad boy next year!!

The race organizers were amazing. You would have never known it was an inaugural race- everything went perfectly and there were more aid stations out there than I have ever seen in a race.

I highly recommend this race, but only if you are looking for a serious challenge.