Tawas Triathlon Festival - HIM - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

The swim was shortened due to waves so we swam the Oly course. Not sure what the difference would've been to swim the full 1.2 The water was warmer then when we did our practice swim yesterday. Got into the water and stuck my face in the water to start the numbing process. The pain wasn't nearly as bad as the day before. Once the horn sounded I stayed to the right which proved to be a bad decision as I kept having folks get washed in front of me by the waves and then they would stand and walk. Couldn't get into my rhythm until I rounded the buoy and hit the deep water. With the rough conditions it makes the OWS practice during tough conditions worth the work. Had a couple of waves wash over me. When I was wading to the exit I heard the announcement of the swim leader so I knew I had done a decent job as I don't think I've ever been that close to the leaders.


Start left on this course during rough conditions. Could've easily cut off another couple of minutes if it wasn't for all the walkers and poor rough water swimmers. With the added waves the water felt a few degrees warmer then yesterday so the anticipated pain factor wasn't there.

Cutting two inches off the legs of my wet suit worked wonders in getting it off my big feet. No delay and had a nice jog to T1.

Wipe more sand off my feet.

I knew the winds were going to pick up and be tough heading back so I went out at a little more aggressive. Ride went well and I knew I was out in front of the bike way better then last year, I was even able to take a leak from the bike as there was no one around. The word must be out that there is no race officials on this course there was blatant drafting and a few packs of cheats. I felt as though I was fighting the wind all day when we hit Monument on the way back the wind was straight on and tough. Pretty much dropped the chain to the small ring and kept the pace on the easier side to assure a decent run.

Had half a Cliff bar at two different times and two gels, along with one 2.5 hour bottle of Infinit and topped off the Aerodrink water twice at the aid station.

Volunteers were great at the aid station!

I felt strong and could've pushed the pace a bit more. I was in the top %50 last year, so moving it up to the top %30 this year was decent but I have to keep working at the bike.

Smooth transition. I didn't see K around and was still wondering how she had done on the sprint tri and the rough water.

This has been the third course in three years and this was an improvement over last years but I still had it long at 13.4. Garmin pacing had it at 8:28 which was good. Kept the running steady and just stopped on occasions at aid stations and one quick porta potty stop. When I returned to Bay Street and closed in on the turnaround I could see K sitting on the curb which was nice to see she survived. Pushed the pace on the second loop and was happy to pass at least two of the blatant drafters. Right knee hurt pretty much the entire run and my left hamstring started to cramp right at the finish.

Had few cups of water, one each of gel, heed, and coke and a sip of way to strong Gatorade which I pitched.

Grabbed some water, ate fruit and fritos. Chatted with Karen and Jurgen then watched Ben cross the finish. Hit the trailer for an icy cold beer. My wonderful wife had already grabbed my bike and gear out of transition so it was great to just walk back.

Ended up with a couple of small blisters due to not cleaning my feet off better after the swim.


Overall it was a nice finish to the triathlon year. I took a more relaxed attitude to training for 2010 and took way more days off this summer then last year and did my own thing which was a nice change after doing a full at B2B in 2009, which seemed more like work at times. I managed to drop nearly 6 minutes off the bike from last year in much tougher conditions and drop my run pace by 16 seconds/mile. Even if the swim would've been the full 1.2 I would've had a PR by 3-5 minutes so all in all not a bad way to finish things off.


Love the course. Wish the swim would go into deep water first as fighting the walkers is a major pain. There was virtually no water safety, two jet skis and one or two life guards holding on to a buoys for dear life doesn't seem real safe. No marshals on the bike course makes for a lot of cheating. I noticed a 3D vehicle following a small pack for over a mile and figured I'd see some penalty's but they don't even have a column for it on the results page so I doubt they got dinged. The after party was nicer then last year and the run course is a good improvement along with the finish on Newman which made it feel more festive.