Liberty Triathlon - Half Ironman - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

Good swim for me, and this is usually my strongest event. Rather smooth water going out, but more choppy on the backstretch and I took in a few unexpected mouthfuls of water. I was in Wave 2 and passed quite a few swimmers from the first wave.

Nothing - happy with the time

Uneventful - a little more dizzy that usual and so maybe a little slower

Obviously, my slowest event. Not sure why my pace was so slow. I've never ridden this course before. HR was Zone 2-3 except for the hills. Nutrition was good. Three MOJO bars (love those things - salty and easy to chew), four powerbar gels (vanilla taste wasn't that great), and two bottles of GE. Cool ride with no rain, so didn't push the fluids that hard. Had to pee by mile 20, but I didn't see a port-o-potty on the entire course. Just held it until transition.

I really wanted to save something for the run, so I did my best to keep the HR low. Resulted in a slow bike, but it looks like it paid off on the run.

I passed ONE biker on the entire course. I must have been passed by 50 others. Oh well, that's what I get for starting in the 2nd wave and having a good swim time.

Consider pushing a little harder - always a trade off when you have a long run to follow.

Uneventful - boy did I have to pee!

A very good run for me - ran a 8:50 pace at Chisago last year. That was a hot day, though. Started to rain about mile 7 and didn't let up. Took in 3 powerbar gels and two cups of HEED (not too bad). With energy saved on the bike :) I was able to pick up the last half of the run - neg splits. My right calf had been bothering me over the last month, but no issues with it today.

Cooled down very quickly with the cold rain - waited for Sam to finish. My son's relay team finished a few minutes ahead of me. Sucked down two steak sandwiches and changed for the drive home. Glad to get into some dry clothes.


Maybe my bike split - if I would have pushed a little harder, would I have lost too much time on the run?


Needed port-o-potties on the bike course. I could have let it go in the woods, but I saw the marshalls quite often and didn't want to get penalized. Maybe I just need to learn to let it go on the bike!