Memorial Hermann Ironman 70.3 Texas - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

I have decided I really do not like swimming in a crowd. It took longer than normal for the swim to spread out and for me to find some open space to swim in...because of this I found myself having a bit more issues with nervousness than normal. The crowd made me so nervous I was swimming with my head up for a good portion of the swim before the first turn bouy. After I was able to find some room, I did get into a nice groove and felt pretty good about my swim. Then about halfway down the backside of the swim this woman...who was zig zagging all over the place...continued to swim over me and cut me off. Everytime I would move to find space away from her she managed to find me and run me over again. On the portion heading back to shore, I picked up the pace a bit to have a strong finish. I was not pushing as hard as I could have during the swim...but I still am happy with the swim and I was trying to conserve some energy for the rest of the race.

I think I need to get better at holding my line and not let other swimmers "push" me around.

I did cut out some of the swim training this year...however, I still improved the swim time from last year...so if I add in more swim maybe that would mean cutting more time.

I think this was a pretty good T1. The wetsuit peelers were not the greatest and could not figure out how to get the suit off the best way...but I still think it was ok. Not having to worry about putting socks on for the ride helped a ton.

I needed to wipe my feet off better than I did. I had sand and little pebbles in my shoes the entire bike ride and it was a bit uncomfortable at times.

So the wind was not as bad as I thought it was going to be. I had a cross-headwind on the way out...I was able to keep the speed between 15-17 mph most of the way out. I did not want to be grinding it out so I found the best gear to keep the mph as high as possible but still be spinning...I was trying to preserve the legs for the run. After the turn around I was happy for the cross-tailwind...this allowed me to keep the speed between 17-20 mph...at some points I was hitting around 22-23 mph. Once again trying to spin and still keep the mph up.

I was able to save time this year by not stopping at the aid stations during the bike. I was not experiencing the cramps this year so I did not have to stop and stretch and decided not to stop for the potty either...this was advice taken from John last year. I was able to finish the bike portion about 20 min faster this year.

As for nutrition on the bike...I took a gel every 45 min. I also drank Gatorade every 15 min. and took in water about every 15 minutes. I did get a fresh water every aid station just to make sure I had enough...I was also using it to keep myself cool while on the bike.

I know I am not the most efficient bike rider. I am sure if I could figure that out I would be able to increase the mph and still conserve the legs.

Also...a new bike would help!

This was a slower T2 than last year. I really wiped the feet off good because I did not want sand and gravel on the feet during the run. I also had socks to put on and shoes to tie.

I am going to train in shoes made to run sockless for next year. This will keep me from having to worry about putting socks on and will save time.

This was a very tough run for me. I started to experience bad cramps less than half way through the first lap...starting from the inside of my knees and going all the way up through the quads balled up on me. I had one really bad idea of stopping to stretch...which made the cramps worse...and then I talked myself into to walking...if that is what you want to call what I was doing...I made it to the second aid station and I took in an entire glass of Gatorade and then I started to jog very slowly. Once I started jogging the cramps let up and I found a pace that worked with out the cramps coming back. I was hoping for about a 9:30 pace for the run but was only able to keep it at 10:19. The rest of the run was cramp free...however, I was not able to take the gels like I wanted because my stomach was not handleing them well. So I changed the nutrition plan while running and took Gatorade every other aid station and water at every station. I did decide to take a gel for the last lap because I need the calories and hoped it would provide the little extra energy I needed. My stomach handled it well and I did not have any issues. I did pick the pace up a bit for the last lap and at the end I tried to kick but the legs started to cramp. I think I did more of a hobble crossing the finish line and less of a run across the finish.

I hade to walk in circles for about 10 minutes before I could stop to let the volunteer take my timing chip off. If I stopped walking I was going to cramp worse than I already was.

Find a way not to cramp...is that possible?

I would not have stopped completely when I felt the cramps...this was the worst idea I had and I knew better.

I walked around to prevent the cramping. Also stretched a bit.

Tried to keep myself cool with water and a wet towel.


In the swim I think I did good...I was holding myself back to save energy

On the bike...I do not use my energy efficiently and they prevents me from being as fast.

During the run...cramps!


Pros...this race is well organized and there are tons of volunteers. Also I like the course.

Cons...I do not understand how you run out of food for the competitors...you know how many people registered to race and you should plan to have that much post race food...of all things the food to me is the most important thing...when I finish a race I need the food and so do all the other athletes. Also, the swag is lacking...the fact got a shirt and some flyers in the bags and nothing else...plus the finishers hat was the had that we got in the bags laster year...they could have had finisher on them somewhere.

All in all I enjoyed the race!