Revolution3 Half Ironman Triathlon - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

Started with all of the other women. Luckily, I was one of the last women to get in so I got an end spot in the 2nd or 3rd row of swimmers. Perfecto! I wet my face a couple of times before the start like Harvey had suggested so it wouldn't be a shock, put on my googles and then we were off.

Whew, the current was tough. I was able to fine clean water fairly easily and could tell that there were swimmers on my right. They were all fighting each other, but it was nice and calm where I was. It seemed to take forever to get to the turn-around. Thank you very much to the nice ladies in line who told me what the swim course was. I must have missed that part of the athlete briefing. After the turn-around, it was much faster and I started catching some of the guys from the orange hat wave (two waves ahead of me). I felt sorry for them because I bet they were getting pummelled. It was hard to see going downriver because of the chop and I thought my goggles were just fogged and stopped to clear them. No dice, it was just the waves, so I felt blind in this whole leg. It was magical, though, how I was able to find clean water. I would come near someone and adjust, and go right away from them. I remember thinking it was like I was swimming in a bubble. My feet really hurt (from the cold, I think) and I could tell that my thoughts were getting slow. Then, suddenly, there were a bunch of silver and blue-hatted swimmers and they swam over and kicked my beautiful bubble idea in the head. I got punched, kicked and scratched but was finally able to get away from the scrum. Motored on to the finish where I flopped like a seal onto the pier and got out of there.

Clear goggles before the swim. Other than that, this was my best race swim in a long while.

Well. I am awesome at wetsuit removal. I always think I can just pull it off of the legs like Doug. Nope. I don't know what took so long, but at least I didn't forget anything. No one ran down to the start line. We got in line with our bikes and shuffled to the mount line.

Pick it up a bit. Don't even bother trying to get the feet out without using hands.

Well, I was supposed to take it easy, but maybe I took it a little too easy. The entire field passed me on the bike. It was OK, because I planned to get them all on the run (and their little dogs too) but my mind wandered a lot and I was not as focused as I could have been. I think I drank too much liquid for the temperature because I had to stop and pee at mile 25 and again at mile 40. Only, there was a guy going into the potty at mile 40 so I didn't stop. I just suffered until the end of the bike. It was horrible. There was never no one behind me so I couldn't go on the bike, either.

Met a nice girl from Ohio (which is flat) going up the big hill and we chatted before she left me in the dust. The bike course reminds me a lot of Beast of the East. In fact, you could plunk me down at any point on either course and I wouldn't be able to tell you which one it was. I felt like there were more hills in Knoxville but none as steep as the Beast.

Nutrition was 3 GUs (Cherry-Lime, Blueberry-Pomegranate and Chocolate-Raspberry Roctane) and the other sample pack of Chomps (Peach Tea! YES!) from my swag bag. I wore my bike jersey over my jog-bra instead of wearing my tri-jersey and I think that was a good choice because I was cold at the start.

Pick it up a bit. Monitor intake better so I don't have to pee the whole ride.

Time includes the long-delayed potty stop, which seemed to take FOREVER, then I couldn't get it together. I got my shoes and socks on fine, grabbed my other stuff and got to the exit without my water bottle. CRAP! Ran back and got the bottle, but lost the harness with the GUs in it. At that point, Tyler (King of GU) showed up and asked me if I was OK and I have no idea what I said but I must have looked like a crazy woman. Luckily, there was GU on the course, so I just carried the bottle.

Not act like an idiot? I think the extreme urgency of the potty stop messed me up and I just couldn't get back to my plan. It did not help that there were a bazillion Olympic racers poking around transition getting their stuff.

This run was hillier than I thought it would be. I forgot to remove my bike jersey, so I ran in that but NO CHAFING! I started out way too fast and had to close my eyes to ignore what the other racers were doing and let them go. Doug said to keep it at 9s the first mile, even walking if I needed to, so I slowed it down in miles 1-2. We passed the water treatment area and I chatted with the ladies around me. That made me feel better. I remembered what Natalie said about cheering everyone on, so I concentrated on that instead of the fact that I felt bad. Eventually, I found a groove. It was the Ironman song. I am IRONMAN. Dum, Dum, duh, da, da, duh, da, da, duh, da, da. I saw Phat and the other All3 guy and Daniel and they were FLYING. Poor course map investigation had me thinking "wow - I am really close to them!" HA! Like an hour behind them! That Ironman song totally helped me. I sang it for the entire run. On the big hill in mile 4, the Atlanta Tri Club girl in front of me walked the hill and I decided that was a great idea so I walked it too. Then, when I got to the top, I hit it and started picking folks off. After the initial two ladies in mile 1 (who I passed later), no one passed me on the run. I encouraged everyone I saw, talked to the aid-station volunteers (who were SO NICE!), chatted with the walkers and joggers on the trail and admired the scenery. It was a great run. I really liked the run course a lot. At the turn around, I saw Ironman again. Dum, dum, duh, da, da, duh, da, da, duh, da, da. He had no idea, but he totally carried me for the run. I passed him sprinting to the finish and stopped at the end (after he and wifey enjoyed some smooches) to tell him so, but I don't think he understood what I was trying to say.

I got 2 GUs to use on the course and kept them in my shorts pocket until it was time to use them and that worked great for nutrition. (Cherry-Lime and Pineapple)

Maybe go a bit faster. The handbottle worked beautifully. I just opened the top before each aid station and asked the volunteers to dump the water from their cups in and they did. It was cold and delicious.

Waited for Ironman to finish smooching. Said hello to Tyler and then went to find Doug to crow about my run.


Bike fitness, but we knew this going in, so I'm pleased with how well I did given this limiter.


I prefer a challenging course, and this race did not disappoint. The events were well-organized. My only complaint is that we could have had better directions (course/transition maps; number application diagrams) in the packet (I felt the same way about the Ironman-brand race), but otherwise everything was great. This course would have been really tough if the weather had not been so awesome. Knoxville was nice and there were fun things for the kids to do. The finish area was super-fun. The announcer was tireless and it was cool to see people's photos on the jumbotron as they came by. I would definitely come back here.