Ironman 70.3 Pocono Mountains - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

Way crowded at start, and race directors probably shouldn't try to have people ride left and pass on right on the sections where we were riding on opposite side of road. I understand how it makes sense, but I think probably only 20% of riders heard it. It confused me, because once I got out on the road most people weren't following it, so I decided I must have heard wrong...then 2 encounters early on where I should have crashed while trying to pass people on the left and should have crashed made me decide to just go where there was an opening. My apologies to the people I almost took out. First hill was a mild disaster - lots of people walking up the hill, and walking 2 and 3 abreast and blocking the lane. Towards top of one small rise a guy in front of me decided he had to unclip so he turned his bike sideways. I had to swerve, stop and unclip one foot and skateboard up the rest of the hill (luckily not far). Got the feeling a lot of people had never climbed a hill before, and felt bad for them since we were 5 miles in and had a long way to go. Hit the next rollers hard - really had good pace, handling well on corners and avoiding riders around. Had to ride on left of cones a lot due to congestion and narrow lane. Hitting mile 15-20 realized I hadn't taken any nutrition - initial plan was to take some right after swim, then every 45 min or so. Had good speed, though, and didn't want to take time to stop. After mile 20 took in two gels to make up for it, especially because I was beginning to feel it some in my legs. No big climbs in the figure 8 section, but some rollers I felt like I was grinding out. Could feel like I was tiring some, so became less aggressive on the downhills and corners as I wasn't trusting my body or decision making as much. Grabbed a water bottle at next aid station and refilled my aero drink. Tried to take in about a gel every 10 miles after the initial 2. Hit a cat between mile 30-35. I saw her get up and run away, so I didn't stop to help her out. Really happy I didn't crash. Was definitely feeling tired around mile 40 and was not looking forward to Turkey Hill. Had numerous people tell me my big bag was about to fall off from like mile 3 to mile 40. I've had issues keeping it strapped on right, but it usually stays, however I could feel it rubbing the back tire as I was heading to Turkey Hill. Decided to sit back, spin as well as I could, then stop at the top and re-secure the bag. Unfortunately combination of high heart rate, wet velcro and semi-numb gloved fingers caused me to fumble with the straps for quite a bit - probably lost 2 minutes getting the bag back on. Actually felt quite a bit better once I re-started, but didn't last that long. Last few miles tried to just keep pedaling. Slowed down on last couple turns to take in one last gel and get set to run. Felt pretty crappy about this leg when I was finishing, but I pretty much hit the time I wanted, and once I had a chance to reflect, definitely happy with surviving the course with no major issues and putting down a good effort.

Hmmm, think I probably went out a little hard. I think not having the swim to settle me down before the bike caused me to go straight in to race mode. Probably not worry about which side I was passing on - just go for the openings, especially on a crowded course. I should have gone down when I was pushed off the road around mile 2, and race would probably have been over. Patience. No way I could avoid the kitty :-( Get nutrition in earlier and more consistently. Find a new way to get my bike bag to stay in place.

Decided to take my good old time on this. My legs were not feeling great after the bike, wanted to take a moment to regroup. Came to complete stop and crawled off bike - had shoe covers on, so couldn't get feet out before hand, anyway. Honestly thought this probably took me like 6 minutes. Racked the bike, started stripping off all my layers. Made sure my gels were in place. Decided to run in tri suit, keep arm warmers on and keep compression socks on. Hit the porta-potty on the way out of transition - couldn't bring myself to pee on the bike today.

I suppose could have found a space late on the bike to relax, stand up and urinate. Otherwise wouldn't have changed anything on this day.

Stripped the arm warmers off early, felt like I was getting hot...then hit the hills and got a bit colder. Started too fast, but felt good...sort of, was actually hating myself the entire way for doing this. Tried to keep my mood up - talking and joking with runners around me, spectators, volunteers. I apologize to anyone I annoyed, just needed to find a happy place - and there were no happy places to be found introspectively. Should have hit the first mile 30"-1' slower, probably. Felt good through mile 5. Walked at all the aid stations to make sure I could take in some calories and fluid and let the heart rate moderate. Tried to tell myself to back off the effort on the hills a bit. Was doing pretty much everything sub 8' through mile 4 - after that started hitting 8's the whole way to turn-around and then past it. Since way back was more downhill, was hoping to regain the 7'30"-7'45" I had busted out on the flats at the beginning, but kept struggling to stay around 8'. Kept waiting for another wave of energy to hit me, but miles kept ticking by and I was tiring - could feel myself heel striking more and more, so tried to focus on form and get back on midfoot. Finally hit mile 12 and felt the finish line close. Put down a good last mile, and as I hit the last turn there was the big crowd - very motivating. Then "Jump Around" came one!! Almost cramped both hamstrings, but managed to do some version of the jump around dance as I passed the finish line :-)

Hmmm, not sure. I think starting slower might have helped me ease in to it better, but not sure it would have made me faster - I think those hills were going to suck my pace down regardless, so maybe better for my overall time that I hit some better miles early on. I did think I could be faster on miles 9-11 - easing in might have helped that. Should probably have tossed off the arm warmers in transition and thrown on my long sleeve t-shirt - I think would have provided better heat regulation while being warmer overall.

Found Dave - he wasn't looking so good. He was a little sick the day before and looked like he had left everything on the course. Stood in line for a little while for a massage, but line wasn't moving and I was FREEZING. Grabbed a hot tea and loitered inside a couple of stores to stay warm, while my wife tried to figure out where are morning clothes bags were going to be. Must have been 2 hours before we finally found out the bags were back at T2. Made our way over to T2, finally got to put some warm clothes on and felt much better.


Elements, for sure, but everyone else had to deal with the conditions, too. Nutrition on the bike and moderating pace/effort a little more. Moderating pace early on the run. Overall cardiovascular fitness and running/biking form always have room for improvement.


Really mixed feelings on this. Obviously an inaugural event of this scope is going to have some issues. Race was definitely challenging - really felt beat up after initial finisher's euphoria wore off. Really think road condition needs to be better. Yes, I train on roads of this condition, and I ride with small groups on roads like this, but I don't think its wise to put 2000 people racing on roads like this. I think the road surface itself and the constant vibration, adjustment, hitting holes contributed to physical exhaustion as much or more than the climbing. Also, doing the race in this location at this time of year probably wasn't overly smart. Race directors obviously can't control the weather, but there are definitely odds of getting certain types of weather at certain times of year, and I knew when I signed up this was going to be a crapshoot - it just happened to have turned out almost as bad as possible (barring mega weather disaster). I enjoyed the challenge, I have a huge sense of accomplishment at having finished in once piece and getting close to my time goal, but don't know if I would do this race again - my coach told me right after race he would recommend that I not do it again if things with course and organization aren't changed. I expected a little more from a WTC event (this was my first one), and this one did not meet my expectations.