Ironman 70.3 Syracuse - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

The first 600m or so were good. Very relaxed, good sighting.

I had set my watch to vibrate every 11min, which was the point I hoped to reach the first buoy. When it vibrated I figured I was ahead of pace. Of course I started to push which is stupid. Reason prevailed and I backed off

After the first buoy, water become choppier and the with the weather it was hard to see the bouys. Last 600m I zig-zagged a lot

I was in the absolute last wave, (20th) so ended up catching many earlier waves. There were so many slower swimmers, I just went to the outside and swam close to the kayaks. More relaxed but lost some time

The water was cold. A bit of a shocker getting in


Towards the end of the swim, I started to cramp in the calves which ended up worrying me all race.

I did more long swims in practice this summer and I think that helped a lot


Porbably try and find a good set of feet to draft off, mostly to avoid bad sighting. But I am happy with the swim.

They had wetsuit strippers which was very cool

It was a long run in T1. I went easy I wanted to get the HR down because I knew the first part of the bike would be rough.

I hesitated to put on a shirts/weater because it was borderline cold (15c). I regretted not putting on on during the bike. It was chilly coming down some hills.

I was expecting a good 5 minutes in T1 so was happy.

Lots of hills for the first 18km (11) miles. I remember checking average speed at half way at it was 30km/h. 2nd half was over 34. 400m of climbing in less than 20km is a rough way to start a ride after the swim.

I did try to stick to my HR and wattage targets.The idea was to pace the bike which I think I accomplished. I came off the bike feeling good.

My chain dropped twice so That was some lost time there and nervousness when shifting to the small chainring, which there was plenty off.

The idea was to pace the bike and try and have a good run, which I think was accomplished, but the tightening calve really worried me.

Nutrition on the bike: total 9 cliff blocks = 72g carbs = 288calories. 1 every 15 minutes, starting at 45min after the climbs. 2 bottles of water


Maybe push a target wattage slightly higher. Probably not worth it on a hilly couse like this but would have been on the flats. I could not do more watts going down without different gearing. Going up I was pushing large numbers so wouldn't want more. But now I know what my normalized power could be and still run a decent run

I did not stay as aero as I wanted. Not worth it on the climbs and I am a big chicken coming down hills, with more time on the brakes than in aero. I need to be less chicken going down hills. 54km/h and I am very nervous. maybe because of that spill I took earlier in the season

Came off bike, measured BG (6.5), all was good. The legs felt relatively ok.

not much

I just wanted to flnish, so I said I would not look at pace, just watch my HR and go by feeling.

During the race my calves were cramping very slightly and this scared me, worrying me they would completely cramp up on the run. I managed it by pace, and never had to walk. I had to intentionally drop pace a bit to keep the HR in check. I lost a lot of running time this summer due to injury caused my tight hamstrings and calves. This is a weekness that I have to address.


With 2 miles to go, I knew there was a chance to break 5:10h, but I was on the verge of breaking down my form, so focused on the form. But with 1 mile to go slowly started to pick up the pace. And just squeeked under 5:10

I was happy with the run, I just focused on form and HR. I ran with a fuel belt, sipped 2oz every 2nd mile so never slowed down or walked which was good for me.

Nutrition : 2oz gatorade every 2nd miles = 10oz = 16g carbs = 64 calories

I had much watch taking split on miles and the corresponding (m/km pace)

1) 7:42 (4:49) 2) 7:26 (4:39) 3) 7:24 (4:48) 4) 7;32 (4:43) 5) 7:43 (4:50) 6) 7:44 (4:51) 7) 7:50 (4:54) 8) 7:59 (4:59) 9) 8:10 (5:06) 10) 8:01 (5:01) 11) 8:04 (5:03) 12) 7:54 (4:56) 13) 7:35 (4:44)

4:28 pace for the last 250m.

Mile 9 was the slowest and probably the point I was losing concentration. I am happy with the pace of the last mile, it shows I still had something in me despite the 5 gruelling hours

I remember trying to not focus on my HR, pace....stare at my feet. I tried to look at the crowd (who were amazing). I have a tendency to get in a transe. too intense, too focused. The chalk writings on the ground were very inspirational.

not much

Waited for a friend


Nothing really limited. The hills were hard and the dropped chains didn't help but it's a race up to my capabilities and don't feal I left a lot on the table.

My age group being the last to start, there were not a lot of people who would pass me expect the fast bikers that I passed on the swim. But there were not tons of those. But given I started close to 2000th and finished 324th, I passed a lot of people...so I spent my day looking at butts :-) Passing did not slow me down much but it is tough at times. People do not hold their right as much as they should.


Total race nutrition = 352 calories. I am glad to see I don't need a high number of calories since I can't take them on. BG at end 6.7

A very good learning experience. I wanted a balanced race and I think I got it. I ened up 24th overral 18th swim, 27th bike, 24 run, which is pretty balanced.

I think I should still focus on the bike and get my run time closer to my stand alone 1/2marathin. I do not have enough bike base. My FTP would indicate I should bike at a higher pace, but I don't think I could do a good run if I did. I need to log many more bike miles since I only have 18months of cylcing background






Very well organized race. It's a first time they hold it and I am sure it will be very popular.