Iron Star Triathlon - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

The swim went really well. I was planning on 44 minutes, so came in just under that. I saw my lifeguarding friends at about the midpoint of the swim. It's always nice to see a friendly face on the swim course. There was one strange part of the swim. A few hundred yards from the finish, the water got really shallow. I kept touching the bottom with my left hand. It didn't affect my swim, but just felt a little strange.

Make sure the neck of my wet suit wasn't rubbing. It didn't really bother me during the swim, but after the race I found I had a big raw spot on my neck. It's healing up, but still hurts a bit. I don't know what happened, but I must not have gotten the neck zipped or velcroed right.

Wetsuit strippers were too close to the swim exit. I decided to go with socks here because I knew I wanted them on the run. I'm sure it cost me a few seconds, but not a big deal.

Nothing really.

The bike started out pretty good. I was averaging 19.4 through the first 20 miles. Then I started to get tired and slow down. This was my first HIM distance race, so I was very concerned about going too hard on the bike and blowing up on the run. Turns out I could have pushed it harder on the bike. I got passed by a lot of guys in my AG, but I've come to expect that.

My nutrition worked well. I ate a clifbar every hour, and had a gel during the ride as well. Used a couple of bottles of water and one gatorade.

I did stop at the last aid station to use the porta-potty. I knew I wouldn't make it all the way to transition. I know it cost some time, but I felt a lot better afterwords.

Train a lot harder on the bike. More miles, more intensity. This winter and next year, I'm going to find a group of faster guys to train with. I need someone to push me on the bike.

Good transition. However, I ran past the porta-potty at the transition exit because I didn't think I needed it. 20 yards later, I realized I needed to pee, so I cut back across the field to the porta-potties. Cost me a minute or so.

At the end of the bike, I was worried about how the run would go. This race was twice as long as any previous race I had done, so I had no idea how the run would go. The first mile was slow, and I was getting some cramps in my calves. Electrolyte pills at the first aid station really helped. I slowly picked up the pace and got my average down below 9:00 min/mile. Then I started passing guys in my AG. That felt really good.

I still held a little back because I wasn't sure how I would finish. Turns out I could have pushed harder and maybe gained a couple more places in my AG.

Push harder throughout the run.

Met the family at the finish, drank water, walked around and headed out.


The race went about as I planned. I've just got to train harder on the bike and realize I can push myself harder during the race. I've never blown-up in a race, so I guess I shouldn't worry about it so much.