Scheels High Cliff Triathlon - Half Ironman - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

Began the swim in the 6th wave with John and Beth. Walked out about 200m before I started swimming. Made sure not to run out so I could control my breathing. Felt good when I went under and my breathing wasn't too bad. Breathed on my right side for the whole swim. Didn't have any problems for the first 15 mins or so, but I was afraid that I was going to need to break for a few seconds. Had a little trouble siting at first, but learned to just swim with those around me. There were no waves and the water temps were good. Bumped into some people in the beginning and it opened up after the turn. At that point I began getting into a rhythym and realized I didn't need a break. Swam for another 15 mins and groups of swimmers began getting closer. Had one swimmer swim over the top of my left side and in between me and another swimmer. Although my swim was feeling good, I was running out of energy, having trouble siting (looking into the sun), and had a cramp above my achilles and below my calf. Once I made the final turn I swam a little harder and began kicking too, but my cramp was still acting up and it was hard to kick. When I could finally touch and tried to unzip my wetsuit but the zipper was stuck. A swimmer tried to help with no success. Had the wetsuit stripper volunteer help and they broke the zipper.

Once on the bike I knew I had to ease into racing speed especially with the hill coming up. Didn't push hard at all on the hill and probably averaged 12-15 MPH. When I got onto the county roads I began picking up the pace. my stomach was upset and I didn't feel like taking hammer gel or any other nutrition which turned out to hurt me. Going south on Lakeshore Dr was nice with a mostly a downhill slope. Took my first hammer gel at 1 hour. At mile 20 I was averaging 20 MPH. Fought an easterly wind when we made the turn into the second part of the course. Made sure to not push it but to also maintain a good pace. Once out and back onto Lakeshore, I fought the easterly cross wind and a slight up hill battle. Had trouble staying in aero because of neck and back pain. Drank a lot of water the second half of the course. Didn't have a chance to get a gatorade or put electrolyte tablets in my drink. On mile 50 I really started to feel some pain and lack of energy. Even with the wind at my back I was struggling. Definitely needed more nutrition but was afraid of getting sick.

The first 30 miles of the course went smoothly but started feeling the effects of lack of nutrition. My legs became very weak around mile 50.

Got out of the transition quickly and began the run. Felt good before hitting the hill. Ran the entire hill and it hit me hard. Stopped at the first aid station and walked while drinking water and gatorade. Continued running at about a 9 min pace and stopped at each aid station on the way. The sun was out on the open portion of the course in the field which really got to me. I felt like I was dehydrating fast and I wasn't even at mile 4 yet. Got to the next aid station and drank two waters and walked for a bit. Finished the first lap and my iPod songs stopped so I wasn't listening to music anymore. Ran into Murph at mile 8 and ran with him for a bit before he had to start walking. Felt really good for the next 3 miles, but began to hit a wall around mile 12. Walked for a bit and once I hit the hill I began to pick it up. Made the final turn to the grass finish and started sprinting. Finished strong.


Walk less and take more nnutrition such as salt tablets and energy packs. I felt like I could've saved 10 minutes by not walking.

A little bit of streching and drank chocolate milk as well as an ice bath.


Lack of nutrition and calorie intake.


Perfect weather and good course. My only complaint would be that some of the trails were uneven and hard to run on. Other than that I thought the course was setup well. I beat my time from last year by 40 minutes.