MightyMan Half Iron Triathlon - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

This was your typical mass choas start with full body contact, but less than a Ironman brand race(from what I have learned). On the outward leg I was navigating well. and within about 200 yds I got into a nice breathing rhythm except for a few collisions with my fellow swimmers. I noticed when I got to the turn buoy i was off course to the right and had to make a bee-line to the buoy. when I was crossing the pond to reach the turn buoy to take me back to shore there was more chop and i was swallowing more water so I compensated by having to rotate my body more...this was the most unpleasant part of the race and I believe I was slow during this segment...when I turned the last buoy to head for home I had a hard time spotting due to the above reason but I remember hitting a few buoy lines so I think I satyed on course....and it was great to finisH a HIM swim!!

lets face it. I am not a fast swimmer...i was planning on doing it 42-45 minutes as I do it in a pool but due to a navigation errors and the challenges of an Openwater swim (OWS) Iwas slower...but I wasnt going to sniff the podium anyway...this race was mainly to finish

interesting that I did not get a T1 time on the race site hmmm?! but the problem was after you exited the water you had to run awhile up a ramp , turn a right away from transition then all the way around 100yd back to my bike...i took my time putting socks on etc, had a gel, put on a long sleeve compression top due to it still being cold(at the time) and headed out...saw my dad shooting pics...was feeling good...but the hills awaited!!

nothing, but if I was in a olympic or sprint I would have taken it more seriously and been even faster

As mentioned above I have good ability on the flats but my leg strength and power is lacking to handle 56 miles of on/off hills without it effecting my run. I was intentionally holding back so I did not have the "death march" on the run. For those reading that are not triathletes, that is when your legs are so exhausted you walk most if not all the half marathon. Well the problem is I held back and then slowed further due to struggling going up the hills and the advantage i gained going down them was not enough...i was planning on a 18 mph average around a 3 hr ride which i have done in training but not on these hills!!!!

I need to increase my time in the saddle (bike) and work more hills for the 2012 season. I believe I did a decent job on my nutrition but could have taken in more drink. Again I will not beat myself up too much for my first attempt at this distance and am confident I will improve in 2012!!!

came back to transition and noticed my bike space was a mess with other bikes so i just hung mine in another area a few feet away....changed my shirt to my bright yellow West Virginia shirt which was great later because the workers were yellin "go get them west virginia" and other things which helped a little. The workers were very supportive by the way...saw my wife and kids on the edge of transition and took a second to give them a kiss and high five, again was not concerned with an extra minute. Than I had to pee in the porta john, which my dad tried to snap a picutre as I was exiting...great!

nothing except if it was a shorter race and I was really concerned with time I would not change shirts etc

We always judge the bike with how your run feels and goes!...therefore when I started to run as many times you do in tris is you have this feeling of running like a walrus for about a .5 mile...same this time but after that I really started to feel good and was at a near normal half marathon pace...handled the hills well and really held back because I knew I had a long way to go,,,,, well my first problem came about .5 miles from the end of the first loop the road camber changed rapidly and I immediated had a cramp in my right quadricep...i cam eto a screeching halt and had to walk and massage it for about 50 yds than began running, but it would bother me till the end on and off......as I came through the start/finish line I ran on a sidewalk parallel to the finish chute...this was demoralizing becasue as people are finishing you realize you still have 6.5 miles left!!!...i did the first loop in about an hour, intraining I would usuallt do 55 minutes so not bad...well I got my wristband that they gave you to signify you are on the last lap. I felt ok I feel decent , running slowly but if I kept running I would have a good split...this was where shear will to finish and conquering the pain and resisting the thoughts of quitting came in....I battled , I had to walk a few hills that I ran on the first loop. I had my emergency snicker bar but i took one bite and couldnt handle it, had a little coke around mile 11 .....i was at this point seeming to run for about 5 minutes and walking for a minute....I got to mile 12 and i guess the adrenaline kicked in with that i kept running slowly for the the last mile till i crossed and I was very pleased to finish my first 70.3

in training just adding hills, and if I increase my bike fitness I will have a better run...but in training I do a half marathon in 1:50-1:55 and could do it faster in a stand alone race so the 2:22 was not horrendous considering some issues on the second loop

water...hot traffic getting home so late getting food into me


It was a great first race and even though hard physically and mentally I look foward to the next one..and will learn from this...2 things that I must do is really concentrate on the bike, and the second thing is to really concentrate on the BIKE!!!!


Overall I would recommend this race to other and other than a few minor things it went smoothly!!