Memorial Hermann Ironman 70.3 Texas - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

Swim was a definate improvement for me. My past 3 HIM swims ahve all been around 45-minutes, so I'm pleased with this time. I felt like I swam much straighter than normal. I've been doing much more swimming than in years past, so maybe with a little more work I can actually become a MOP swimmer!

More time in the pool.

Nice easy transition. Not fast, but no major problems.

Good bike course! On race day we had mostly cross-winds, with a slight head-wind. My speed out of town was about 2 to 3 mph lower than my speed coming back to town.

I rode about 5-minutes faster than last year, so I'm happy with the results. From a pacing stad-point, I tried to pace by HR, and stay between 145-150. This worked fairly well and I was still feeling pretty fresh by the end of the ride.

My only complaint about the bike leg of this race is directed toward my other racers rather than the course or the race organizers. Some people don't really seem to grasp that "ride on the right" concept, which I find very frustrating. To ride in the middle of the lane when the course has so many people on it is pretty rude and puts everyone at risk, especially on a windy day.

On the plus side, this is a flat windy course, but almost everyone does a great job in the drafting area. I think I see more "pace lines" form at small sprint races than I do here, even though the large field and flat, congested course would make you think it would be a problem.

Only odd thing I noticed was that the bottle of Perform that I got as a hand-up around mile 40 just had a regular screw cap on it, rather than one your could drink through. It was a little tricky dealing with that cap and I ended up dumping a fair amount of it on me and the bike. Kind of made me feel like one of those people who have trouble walking and chewing gum!

Good ride for me!

Normal transition. Nothing spectacular but no major problems.

Not a good run, and much worse than last year. I ran almost 10-minutes slower than last year, and I thought conditions were much worse last year. I'm attributing the slowdown to a lack of recent run volume and very little taper for this race. Another possibility is that I biked too hard, but I don't think that was the case. I started on target for the first four or five miles, then just slowed to my normal long run pace and walked through aid stations. Mentally, I just kind of thought of it as my long run for the week.



More run volume! April needs to be a big month in prep for IM-Woodlands.

This is a great race if you're looking for a "large" HIM on an easy, forgiving course. Salt water wet suit swim, flat bike, and flat run make the significant challanges in this race the weather and the distance, rather than the course. I'd recommend it to anyone looking for that "first" HIM or looking for an early-season HIM tune-up race.