Memorial Hermann Ironman 70.3 Texas - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

The swim was way choppier than I anticipated, and this was my first open water swim in salt water as well as my first open water swim since October's Longhorn 70.3, so my time was not as fast as I would have liked. Some stupid woman kept grabbing my right calve and pulling me backwards! Some other stupid woman kept zigzagging in front of me, I swear she did it on purpose lol I swam smack-dab into a buoy (par for the course with me though).

Get in more open water swims, practice sighting, learn how to get people the hell OFF OF ME in the water.

I really don't remember this transition lol except that I do remember asking someone for some shampoo in the fresh water shower after the swim.

Practice the transition a few times, I do remember that I was very flustered.

Cross/Tail winds on the first half made it very hard getting to the turn-around. I was extremely disappointed in my pace (15.5) at that point. The bike is my strong point, and I really wanted to have a better time than my first 70.3 last October so was hoping the bike would be a strong one. The 2nd half coming back was cross/head winds, so my average was raised up to 16.8 for the entire 56 miles, but was still over 1 mph less than my Longhorn ride (in which I was injured and was much hillier).

Need more rides outside, practicing in the wind. I opted for the trainer way too many times this winter to avoid the elements.

This transition was pretty much a blur as well. I did stop and get sunscreened, but it didn't seem to help as I was thoroughly FRIED when I got done and am now peeling. Fabulous.

Practice this transition a few times before race day.

Ugh. Went out too fast, got overheated after about mile 3.5 or so and had to stop at nearly every waterstop to pour water over my head and sponge myself down. Drank too much water trying to get cool and had to use a porta-potty (which I never do in races). Had hoped for a much better run time, but it wasn't to be this day. The heat and humidity are not my friend.

Get more runs in - I missed a few the couple of weeks prior to race day, and I could really feel that.

Sat on a curb and stretched a bit, drank more water. Pulled my shoes and socks off to discover a huge blood blister on my baby toe and another under my 2nd toenail thanks to my shoes being soaked from pouring the water over my head.


Missed training runs, the heat and humidity.


My only complaint was that there was no real food when I finished except for potato chips, pretzels and bananas. The pizza was long gone by the time we got there due to our late wave start and my slowness. BUT, there was BEER! So I did have a few of those. Had to replenish my carbs, ya know?