Ironman 70.3 Syracuse - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

our wave was not very big, so there was plenty of room. the cold temp took my breath away for the first 100 meters or so, but i settled in ok. i lost anyone to draft off though and felt like i was alone for the most part.
i was enjoying the cooler temps and felt like my stroke was really strong, but my sighting was pretty marginal.
i eventually made it to the first turn where it bunched up a bit. i had both of my forearms sliced by race bracelets of swimmers next to me. it hurt like hell and i knew they were bleeding, but luckily it wasn't salt water and i wasn't worried about sharks in the area.
the return trip after the turns was pretty unremarkable. i knew i wouldn't ht my goal of 30-31 minutes, but i felt good and my race was still in good shape.

not sure. try to stay with some swimmers earlier?

very long run up from the beach. my feet were numb, but my hamstring that was iffy the last few days felt 100% fine, so i was mentally feeling good to tackle the bike. i saw tim in t1 and knew i couldn't hang with him, but was happy to know he was still in the same zipcode.

nothing.

the course starts downhill so i got into a good rhythm early. my goal was 20+mph, but i knew the early miles were harder so i tried to stay steady when the climbs came and not lose too much time or confidence.
i had water in my aero bottle and gu20 in a bottle on the frame. my plan was to finish the gu20 and switch to gatorade on the course and use the water for taking gu. the water worked well, but i ended up only drinking ~1/2 the bottle of gu20. luckily it was cool and not sunny, so it worked out ok. i was religious with the gu and took a hit from the flask every 20min. i got a bit hungry as the bike went on, but felt no lack of energy and was pushing harder at the end of the bike than at the beginning. i also had 1 electrolyte tab every hour.

i'll have to reanalyze my nutrition for an im, but it was pretty much prefect for the distance and conditions.

i came up on t2 out of nowhere (possibly due to the course being a bit short), and jumped off ready to roll.

nothing.

full throttle through t2. helmet off, shoes on, grab bottle.
no hesitation. time to go hunting.

nothing.

started with the out and back with a faint hope of seeing tim, but he was already gone. there were plenty of fast people around so i was trying to stay steady and decide if i should grab on one or not. in the end, i decided to let the two fastest go and get comfortable.

when i saw the first split was 6:38, i was pleased, but my goal pace was sub-7:00/mile so i wanted to ease back a bit. mile 2 was down hill so when i got the next split of 6:04, i was more worried than pleased and tried to ease back even more. miles 3 and 4 were also downhill and even with me trying to stay comfortable and easier they were also faster than i expected/wanted.

at that point, i was happy with the time in the bank so far and decided to ease up significantly. i focused on form and made sure to eat while i was comfortable. i was obviously still running hard, but at an effort i was 90% i could hold to the finish. that finally did the trick and the pace dropped by almost :30/mile. still surprisingly faster than my goal, but at least a bit more reasonable.

i held that pace until i caught up to tim at mile 7. we talked for a bit and he looked really good. i told him that i may be making a mistake and he may see me walking in a bit, but i had to take a shot and go for it. we wished each other luck and i pushed on to see what i could do.

i was at least on the back half at that point and the miles were going by fairly quickly as i chased people one by one. i decided when i started the run, that i would pick someone to focus on each mile to help me get through that section. one of my friends/family/teammates/etc. that has been important or inspiring to me. they were mostly random as they popped into my head when i hit a marker, but it really helped me take it one mile at a time and stay strong. i'm not going to list them as i don't want anyone to feel left out, but it meant a lot to me and felt like they were running stride by stride with me for that mile.

when i hit mile 12, i knew i made it. i let loose whatever i had left as i hit the last downhills and put in my fastest mile of the run for mile 13. the finish was amazing and i couldn't have been happier

nothing.

could barely stand or fill out the massage form, but made a miraculous recovery once i had a massage and chenged clothes. felt 300% better and was on top of the world.

i was able to cheer everyone on at the finish and see everyone put in some great races. it is so much fun racing with friends. we got to chat with ally and dan on the shuttle about their great races and then hang out with evryone at earl/marna's bbq. awesome time.


nothing


this race has potential, but there needs to be some improvements before it's a real quality race.
good:
- volunteers were amazing
- nicest port-a-jons in the world. floor mats, potpourri, flowers, cup holders!
- great swim location and transition
- nice expo
- good medal
- crowd support and chalk on run course

bad:
- logistics of check-in no where near race
- finish line no where near race
- food was great, but serving was poorly set up so the line was 45+ minutes long for some finishers
- masage filled up for some finishers as well
- parking/access to the park making the race start late
- potentially short bike course