2011 Ironman 70.3 Austin - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

I am so glad I was in an early swim wave. Swimming is by far my weakness and I just wanted to get in and get started. Our wave went off and there was the usual contact issues. I was having a little trouble catching my breath at first maybe due to the water temp. After a couple of hundred yards I settled into a nice rhythm and swam next to a guy that was doing about the same pace. Eventually we ran into some of the gals in the group before us. This caused some slowdown but it was nice to catch people. Coming back to shore was the hardest part due to the sunrise. I came out of the water feeling great.

My swim was a little slower than I wanted but not much. I've been putting in a lot of mileage at the pool, but until I can get some coaching I don't see any significant improvement here. However, I never struggled during the swim and felt comfortable the whole way. In fact I actually enjoyed being out there, it was kind of a fun swim for me in some ways.

Had some trouble getting my wetsuit unzipped which slowed me quite a bit. Also was not used to the routine of bagging up everything.

Despite the road conditions, I really like this ride. The only annoying part was in the second half where we were basically forced into single file in a few spots. Made passing interesting. Anyway, I got up to speed pretty quick and was passing a lot of people. Many were being passive on downhills and just coasting. I took those opportunities to really crank it up a notch. I also made it a point to attack on every hill. I settled into a solid steady pace passing back and forth with a few other riders. Coming back in was slower with the winds that picked up at that time. I also think the second half just had fewer decents and far more riding uphill. The race had good support with several aid stations. I love our back roads. A couple of my favorites sites was a cow walking on some railroad tracks and the large white dog in the road that I thought was a cow at first (yes it was that big). Hopefully the county will get some fresh paving down soon. It's really a nice ride.

Not much. I think I biked within my capabilities.

Got my bike racked. Had to sit down to put on my socks & shoes. Again, the routine of getting things in and out of bags caused me too much thinking. Took a couple of drinks from my water bottle before I headed out.

Practice flying dismount. Just not quite ready to do this yet.

Came out of T2 feeling pretty good. Had a bit of a side stitch that nagged me for most of the race. The sun was now out and getting really warm. The course had a lot of good support throughout. The constant up and down hills took a bit of a toll. Many were walking including one of the female pros. I was really determined not too walk despite the nagging cramp in my side. I started off well but could see my pace slowing after each mile. I just couldn't quite get my speed back up to where I wanted it. I wanted to really bust out a good last mile. I decided to go through the final misting tent but some guy was in there just standing like he was taking a shower. When I tried to go around he moved right in front of me. The result was a few choice words from me and a loss of momentum which I could not regain. Coming through the tunnel at the finish was such a great feeling.

Just need to keep piling on the mileage in training. My run training has been coming along but I've run into snags causing me to have to lay off. I really only got a couple months of good volume. For this type of race and distance I think I needed a couple more solid months to get the results I wanted.

Lots of hydration and walking around. Watched some of the finishers.


Swimming still needs a lot of work, transitions could have been a bit faster, more running needed, and overall experience.


The race was great and well organized. I really have no complaints. I am happy with my time for a first HIM, but know I can do much better in the future. For now, I am going to recover for a week or so & then get started up again for IMTX next May. I was also glad to meet a couple of BTers at the race which made it nice since I was there alone.