Lake Geneva Triathlon - Half Iron Distance - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

The beginning was the usual craziness of fighting for position. I started myself farther back than I should have and had to work my way up over and around people until I got into a rhythm. Once I got my rhythm going I felt good and was able to just cruise. Sighting was very good and I was able to draft a little bit, but couldn't find anyone who was going fast enough to draft off of. I kept my HR pretty low during the swim which was my goal so that was good.

Start farther forward, find a few good people to draft throughout.

Didn't push for a super fast transition because I just wanted to take my time and make sure I had what I needed. I put my shoes on in transition and clipped in later.

Not sure, maybe have shoes clipped in, but the mount area was crazy and that would have been pretty tough.

The rain and wet roads were definitely a factor. Right away within the first mile I was confused at a turn because the officials weren't directing us the right way and had to slam on the brakes and ended up skidding and wiping out a little bit. Nothing too bad, but it mostly just shook me up for the beginning of the ride. I tried to calm down and fall into a rhythm so I could start my nutrition. I drank Perpetuem and finished that within the first 2 hours, as well as a lot of water. I chatted with another guy for about 8 or 10 miles which helped make the time go pretty quickly. At the 28 mile mark I was at 1:30 which made me feel good about hitting the 3:00 mark. I had to pee starting at about mile 35, and wanted to hold it until transition, but couldn't so I just went around 40 or so, and that really helped, as well as knowing that I was properly hydrated. The rain and cold was a huge factor, as my toes and hands were partially numb for most of the ride. I managed to just keep cruising along at a pretty comfortable pace, without pushing it too hard, and finished faster than expected with a lot of energy left over for the run which was great!

Don't wipe out! I may have been able to push faster, but am glad that I didn't.

Again, didn't rush transition. I ended up using the port o potty on my way out as well, which is what added most of the time to that.

Probably didn't need the port o potty, and could have just gone faster in general and shaved off a few minutes.

I felt really strong and energized at the beginning of the run. I kept a pretty solid pace for the entire thing. I shortened my stride and just chugged along up the hill, occasionally taking a break to walk but limiting those breaks to 30 seconds before starting running again. I alternated drinking a few sips of water and heed at each aid station during the first lap (passed on most during the second lap). My left arch started to hurt about 3 miles in so I started running on my heels for a bit, and then later my right knee started bothering me, so I tried to switch back and forth between different gaits to keep both at bay. During my second lap my quads were definitely starting to feel it on some of the bigger hills. I kept pushing because I knew I was going to beat my 6 hour goal if I kept going strong, and wanted to see how much I could beat it by. I hoped to negative split the run, but my second half was about 4 minutes slower than my first (59:xx and 1:03:xx) but that's alright. I had enough energy to kick it pretty hard at the end, so I probably could have afforded to go a bit faster during the last lap.

I'm happy with my run, I maybe could have gone a little harder on my second lap, or at least the last 4 miles.

Walked around a bit and got some food and water.


Slow transitions and being a bit conservative as this was my first Half Ironman


The organization of this race was (notoriously) terrible. Volunteers at packet pickup were clueless, hectic transitions/bike mount and dismount areas, lack of direction or good marking on the bike course, mile markers not matching up on the half ironman, etc.
The best part about the race was the participants and the fans, as well as the fact that I was able to hit my goal.