Gulf Coast Triathlon - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

the first line of buoys on the right side facing the water weren't aligned, so my goal was to swim straight for the end buoy, visibility was pretty good so not alot of swell, then left turn towards the east with a little sun factor to deal with, happy with mirrored goggles, really tough time seeing the buoys on the last leg into shore, only could spot the left side of the boardwalk condo till i got closer in

only had one ows practice swim in the wetsuit, whatever i learned in swim class was lost using the wetsuit I'm afraid, def need a series of ows practices in the wetsuit for the fall IMFL, remember to pee in the last 100 yards before getting out of the water

left the shoes on the bike which worked well with rubberbands, small cluster at the start, had to run up a bit and move to the side around others

seriously find out the benefit of the wetsuit in a warm water race, i got very warm pre race and felt warm through the swim as well

i train by hr so i focused on keeping around 150-153, not too far under LT for me, so I felt like I was pushing pretty good. Per my splits, I def slowed down alot in the home stretch 5-10 miles out trailing two other guys, pretty strong with the nutrition, only missed 1/2 packet of shot blocks from my plan, but only got in two bottles of gatorade when it should have been closer to three

should've pushed through the last 10 miles

good quick transition for me, dismount screwed by folks stopping dead in front of the dismount line

probably should have forced a gu for the road

agree with phat that the state park rots, was shocked to see my friend toby on the way back in looking a little rough-maybe that was a sign, stuffed tons of water sponges in my suit, lots of ice water on the head with the visor, soaked shoes and socks, drink one cup of water with the other on the head, got a couple gu's in but that was it, switched to coke the last few miles which was much better with good belches, pushed my hr to 158-161 for most of the run

i think the heat, although only 80 was a hurdle for me, came into the run a little dry and didn't get caught up on the hydration, practice getting some nutrition in on the run in the heat, keep up the hydration on the bike, as coach tony said> the wheels done fell off! OK, so cut back on the swim training and build the run!

extremely hot post race, drank a little cold water but then switched to a cold diet coke, walked around in the shade...then back to the hotel next door for a sit down in the cool shower


inadequate endurance on the run, swim training not translating into the wetsuit


gorgeous along the water, but not so much in the pine trees