Savageman HIM - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

I looked at last year's results and I really wanted my swim to be in the 37-38 min range. I honest thought my time was going to be 42+. I felt very slow in the beginning. My breathing felt "short" and I couldn't tell if I was just cold or the suit was constricting me. I have a wide chest/lat area so it was extremely tight there. For some reason I kept pulling left as well. It really felt as though I had to overcompensate on trying to swim to the right. I don't know exactly why that was but I felt like I added a bit to the course due to poor navigation.

I was honestly very happy to get out of the water and see that "37" on the timer.

As I get closer to my target weight, I will settle on a suit in which I can be more comfortable with.
Also, since this was my first HIM, I didn't push it hard during the swim. I feel as though I can continue to make improvements here.

Honestly, I knew what I was about to get into and I did not rush the transition. I was deciding whether or not to use the clothing drop, as well as making sure I had all the nutrition I had planned on taking. Instead of using the clothing drop, I opted to wear two shirts figuring that it would save time in the long run.

Having done this event now, I would have all my nutrition in my cycling jersey so I could get moving. Nearly 8 min is pretty sad.

Being a clyde, I am great at picking up speed going downhill. Having a motorcycle, I see that I do better than some in how I navigate turns. That said, I tore up the descents on this course. Wow, those were better than an amusement park ride. I suck going up steep hills. After the test ride of this course, I realized that I needed to figure out how to save some legs for the run. I tried everything I could to keep it in a granny gear and spin but Savageman doesn't care about that. These hills are steep. I felt good going up all the hard stuff in the beginning. I split two fallen riders and went straight up the center of the Westernport Wall. I made it up Killer Miller, Otto, etc. I got to the short Maynadier Ridge and sort of laughed to myself about those walking their bikes. I stood to hammer it up that hill and wham!!! I got seriously painful cramps in the teardrop portion of my quads (just above the knee.) I almost fell off my bike. I had to get off and squat down to stretch them out. I walked up the short hill and kept it in a granny gear so I could spin the remaining bike. It was very slow but it kept the cramps away and I hoped it would work things out before the run.

Bike Fitness!!! I put in a lot of miles but this course isn't about miles. It's about intensity. I felt like I did a thousand hack squats on this ride and the cramping was a result of not being strong enough to withstand that over the course. When I am forced to push extra hard, I sit back and press. If you don't train like that you are going to have problems. To do this again, I would train with more intensity and better race-like conditions.

I was nervous right away. I jumped off the bike and felt the cramps. Transition took a while because I stretched out before starting.

I was cramping and in hindsight I completely forgot about what I practiced. During training, I learned that by keeping a high turnover with short strides it took a lot of stress off my legs. That went out the window by the time I hit the first uphill section. The cramps were back and hitting me hard. I mentally tried to block them out but almost tripped and fell because my legs were locking up tight. It reminded me of when I would get a charlie horse and intentionally let it keep getting worse until I could no longer take it. I have a high tolerance for pain but when you can't control you legs I yield. I finally resorted to a strategy of walking all uphills, running all downhills and trying to jog as much as possible on the level ground.

Bike Fitness! I am convinced that with more bike fitness I could have stuck to my game plan and not blown the run out of the water like this.

Bike fitness - hills


I need to do this again when I am up to par with the bike fitness.