5430 Long Course Triathlon - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

The swim went well overall, I felt like I was holding back to conserve and still felt like I was going fast, but based on the time and the rankings I was obviously delusional already. I kept to the outside of people most of the time because it always seems like people can't navigate and cut you off. Staying on the outside lets me swim my race as I want, but doesn't allow for much drafting. I started towards the back on the side, I think I still belong there, but hopefully I can get my swim up to par before IMAZ and place myself more towards the front.

train more on the swim would be a good start. But other than that, perhaps stay closer to the buoys and the pack so I can draft more.

Wasn't my best transition ever, but considering it was the 155th fastest out of the 1200 competitors (including the pros) I guess it wasn't too bad. But when the pros like Andy Potts only took 1:11 you know it's something you can learn to do better. It's not like it takes massive endurance and gifted genetics to have a fast transition. But then again, they were not allowed to wear wet suits... but on the other side they were in the water nearly 12 minutes less than me and at that pace they probably created a lot more body heat than I did.

I wouldn't say I need... but want... to practice the flying mount on my bike while wearing my cycling shoes. Since I'm not going to invest in tri shoes it would be nice to be able to still hit the bike rolling instead of stopping at the line (I move off the the side unlike others)

I think the fact that I barely rode my bike last month (217miles) might have factored into it. I could tell my climbing just wasn't up to par quite like it should have been for me. This was a course however that a standard double crank would have been beneficial instead of the compact double. Mix that with a cassette with a smaller cog in the rear and you'd be able to pedal that much much since it does have a lot of downhill and you never (should never) have to drop into your lowest gears anyway.

Effort wise I think I did well, didn't go too hard, but didn't start eating soon enough either. I always have a problem forcing myself to eat because I mentally it's slowing me down when I do that. I need to figure out a complete liquid nutrition intake system so I don't have to think about gu's, clifshots, sport beans, etc. I never have a problem remembering to drink since the aerobottle is there in front of me, but coming out of aero to get the food out of the bento-box is something I'm hesitant on.

If I don't manage to figure out an all liquid diet, then I should hammer the uphills more and learn to recover and coast more on the downhill while I eat. I tend to want to continue to pedal on the downhills... figure I should try to keep the heart rate the same throughout, but I think doing that at the expense of nutrition is asking for a disaster at IMAZ.

228th out of 1200 in terms of ranking on T2. Not stellar this time either (but it could be because of the layout of the transition area, at some point you have to run to all 4 corners, so no one gets any advantage there since it'll all kind of equal out). Although when you combine T1+T2 I end up 153rd out of 1200. So not too bad I suppose.

I made the mistake again though... I didn't take the Garmin off the bike and attach it to my wrist. So I racked the bike, helmet off, changed shoes, grabbed the hat, and then had to reach over the bike/rack to get the Garmin. I did the same thing in the last race... obviously I didn't learn my lesson.

Put the Garmin on my wrist before dismounting the bike.

There's such a thing as a PR... this now counts as me PW (Personal Worst). I have never run a half marathon this slow before in my life. Considering I have run a 1:31 half mary during the first half of a marathon, this was just disappointing. During the run I was trying to figure out what the heck went wrong. Was it the heat? Did I push too hard on the bike? Was this because I was sick for 2 weeks leading up to the race? Did I not drink enough during the bike? was it a combination of all that?

I never considered walking the aid stations to be a valid way to run a race (for me personally... nothing against those who do choose that method). For me, planning to walk during a run/race has never been an option (not since my freshman year of high school many years ago when running 2 miles had me throwing up with a mile left to go). But this race beat me down... just over a mile in I knew I had to switch strategies if I planned on making it without passing out. Walking the aid stations became the strategy. And did I walk... I made full use of those stations. Water on my head, water down my back, water in my mouth, gatorade in my mouth, sponge down my back, sponge under my hat, ice down the front of my shirt (yes, all of that just about every aid station). Within a mile and a half to the next aid station the ice was gone and the sponges were dry... so it was definitely HOT.

I thought it was a good idea to put a hand held water bottle with gatorade in T2 as well. I've run more than enough times with it and like to be able to take drinks when I want to. Great idea, except for how warm it was by the time I got to T2. I ran the first lap, drank from it the first mile and realized that's not going to work. I poured it out around mile 4, then as we ran past the finishing line (that's REALLY cruel by the way) to start the second lap I had already decide I would just buy a new one and tossed it off into the grass between the finish line and the transition area. I'm sure I could have been technically penalized for it or whatever, especially since I was 2 feet from the finish line on my right, but I just didn't care and figured "at least I didn't throw gu packs on the ground out in the middle of no where like everyone else had".

I was in survival mode the entire run, the low point was around mile 8 where I posted a 14:22 mile. But after that I started to feel better and started increasing the pace again. By the time I was finishing I was feeling good again (relatively speaking) and was back down to 9:45mile pace. I think IMAZ may actually go well, just have to get through the bad miles like in an ultra run.

A side note: I got passed by a guy who must have had one heck of a wreck on his bike. As I was passed by him another guy passing him said: "That's hard core man!". When I looked over I was in shock. The guy couldn't move his left arm, it was just dangling there. Blood all down his arm from his elbow to his wrist. His elbow though... WOW, it had a softball growing out the back. It had to have been broken... he wasn't even trying to move it anymore, if anything I think he was trying to just keep it hanging there immobile until he finished the race. But geez... it had to have happened on the bike, because it would be hard to do that kind of damage on this run course, it's not like it's a trail run.

not be sick the weeks leading up to the race, pace a little better on the bike so the run doesn't suck as much, freeze my water bottle if I plan on having one in T2 for the run, eat more on the bike.

Stumbled around in a confused state for a while like a lost dog. I was definitely still pretty disoriented, some guy at the finish line squeezed some sponges on my head... I think it was a medic, but I'm not sure if I was even seeing straight at that point. I found the food, forced myself to eat something, then found the beer garden, but I didn't have to force myself to drink... that came naturally.

To my surprise though, I felt pretty good after. I was tired and hung out on the couch, but I was still able to walk up stairs and do normal things. Unlike my HIM last year where I couldn't even sit myself down in a chair without my legs collapsing.


Heat. I'm ready to sign up for Ironman Alaska at this point.


Start times were off a bit, I actually don't know what time it started since I didn't have a watch, but I believe they started 15minutes late?

There seemed to be a longer gap between the 3rd and 4th aid station during the run than between the others. And that seemed to be the HOTTEST stretch of the run unfortunately... not that the other sections were cool by any chance though.

Hot Coke does not make for a good aid station drink... room temperature maybe... but hot after sitting in the sun... NO!!!! I had to spit it out.

Don't let little kids hand out wet sponges... they squeeze them right before they hand them to you, defeating the purpose of getting a cold wet sponge.