Pumpkinman Triathlon Festival - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

The first half of the first loop was miserable. Just as the announcer called 30 seconds, I reached up to adjust my goggles and broke the right eye. As a result, it was full of water for the entire swim, which made it VERY hard to see. I had to stop to empty it several times in the first loop then decided to forget about it let it fill. Once I got over the broken goggles, I was very happy with the rest of my swim. I was pretty right on in my sighting and drafted well.

Not broken my goggles. Gotten over it quicker!

This time seems ridiculously slow because it started with a 200 m hill climb. Despite the competition for fasted hill time, I decided to walk pretty much the entire thing. I wasn't at all tired coming out of the water, felt great in fact, but I knew it was a long day ahead and didn't want to take any chances running up the slippery grass hill! Once I got into the transition area, I really took my time, wanted to get everything just right for the bike portion!

Nothing, for my first HIM I wanted to take my time, get everything just right and that is what I did!

My bike was slower than I wanted and I'm not really sure why... I felt good on the bike but I think I was just so nervous about killing my legs before the run I was a lot more conservative than I wanted to be. Every time I started to feel a little fatigue in my legs I pulled back. I think I could have given it a good bit more and still been okay on the run. Otherwise, I was very happy with my nutrition plan and think I nailed that part! Only real problem was I dropped my chain while shifting around mile 40. That took me a good few minutes to straighten out, but once I did it was fine!

Push harder. Not be so timid! Oh, and not drop my chain.

Again, not a fast transition, but I wasn't shooting for fast! I just wanted to take my time and get ready for the run and that is what I did. I also made a very quick stop at the porta potty.

Nothing.

I was really excited to get to the run. Partly because it meant the longest part of the day was over, and partly because I have really come to enjoy the HM distance. Of course, I had never done it after the swim and bike before... But even still, I really enjoyed the run portion of this race. Going in, I had decided to use a 4:1 run walk strategy. I made this decision because I expected my legs to be a lot more tired after the bike. Once I started going, I definitely felt like I could have changed it and run more/ walked less, but I was afraid of dying later on, so I stuck with it. It worked pretty well, I was able to keep between a nine and ten minute pace while I was running. I did take water and gatorade at each aid station, plus a cup of coke at mile 10. The aid stations were great and very well stocked. The people on the run course were awesome- lots of encouragement! Plus, because of the way the loop was, I was able to see Paul a few times!

Like the bike, the run could have been faster, but I was being conservative because my main goal was to finish the race!

Wandered around a bit, had some gatorade, grabbed a plate of the awesome post race turkey dinner and waited for Paul to finish.


I'm not fast, so that is one thing. But more important in this race, I was just playing the whole thing conservatively. I finished feeling very tired, but not completely wiped out. I could have pushed harder and gone a bit faster. That said, I'm not disappointed. I finished, and that was my goal. Now, for the next one...


I loved this race. From the pre race communications, to the post race activities, everything was terrific. The race director and her crew are amazing, the volunteers were terrific and the venue is great!