Memorial Hermann Ironman 70.3 Texas - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

Ugh. This swim should not have been this bad. I was better prepared than any 1/2 I've done in a couple of years.

The chop was the worst of any race I've ever done. The long edge of the triangular course was straight into the wind and the waves were 8-10" at least.

Okay, looking back over old results shows that this wasn't nearly as bad as I thought. I was actually in the 30th percentile overall, which is relatively high for me historically. The only times I've done better overall were at Longhorn in 2008 (26%) and Longhorn last year (28%).

That holds true within the AG as well. This time puts me in the 38th percentile for the AG. Previous bests were in the low 30s.

That jibes with how I was feeling in the water based on the caps I saw around me.

Same as every other swim: train more.

I'm finally figuring out how to train effectively in the Endless Pool. So we'll so how things shake out over the rest of the year.

Lost a little time at the wetsuit strippers as my left leg got caught up on my heel. No biggie.

Haven't had a chance to download the power file, but I was a little disappointed in this ride. I gave a solid effort heading into the wind, but felt like I had to back off WAY too much on the way back. I know I'm not going to be impressed with the average on the second half.

As expected: AP and NP of 188 and 190 going out, 164 and 167 coming back. That's lame. And if anybody doubted the wind direction, I was 20.6 mph going out and 22.4 coming back, despite the 15% drop in power.

Ran right by my transition spot at first.

Just didn't have the mental toughness today. I could have pushed harder than I did, but I was feeling down about the swim beating me up and how much I had to back off on the bike.

Mostly mental this time around. Not enough good run training didn't help.


Another winner from Keith and crew. I'll be back again. Hopefully I'll be able to do both the sprint and 1/2 as I've done in years past.