Gulf Coast Triathlon - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

Went better than I could have imagined. Only got kicked once. Goggles got knocked off, but I recovered and got under way soon. Felt good coming up beach since this time I remembered my ear plugs.

Nothing

Just took my sweet time to make sure everything was done right since I had 56 miles to be sorry if it wasn't. Put on shoes and took it easy getting bike out to exit.

Next year I'll have a good opportunity to take a minute off my total time.

Kept it around 22 going North but closer to 18 going South. Passed lots of bikes. Got passed by a few mostly in the first 15 miles.

Nothing

Took lots of time, forgot to undo shoes so I stopped and unclipped. Had to pee so I took a minute to hit the porty potty. Opened door on lady (woo hoo) but all was ok. Just wanted to get comfortable and make sure not to forget anything for that grueling run. Had a drink and got going. World record slow transition, but that's ok.

Take feet out of shoes and pee faster. Next year I'll take a minute off of T2 easy.

Felt great. Started at a nice 9 minute pace and maintained through mile 10 which I hit at exactly 90 minutes. Then mysteriously had 3 extra minutes on mile 11 which most folks said was at least a quarter mile too long which I would tend to believe. Felt like my pace was still good. Last half mile I ran at a 7:30 pace and finished strong. Should have been closer to 1:59 but something was fishy. Passed lots of guys that looked like they should be better runners than me. I felt better than most of them looked. Some really hot training runs paid off for me. I never felt hot at all. Ended up with some blisters on pinky toes, but it didn't slow me down.

Run Faster!! Maybe shoot for a 8:50 pace next year for a nice improvement. Put some Nu-skin on pinky toes where blisters sometimes develop.

Sat in medical tent and cooled off in the shade.


Only place I felt some tiredness was in my quads. I think I'll put in some more weight training for that area in my routine.


Volunteers at this race are incredible. They make it what it is. I never had want for anything they didn't have ready to offer. Very nice.

Had a great first Half Iron Man. My goal was 6 hours so I couldn't had been happier with my result. Looking forward to breaking 5:30 on the next one. Shouldn't be a problem with all that cushion I gave myself in transition! :-)