Memorial Hermann Ironman Texas - TriathlonFull Ironman

Took it very easy in the swim. About as much contact as was to be expected in the first 500 meters. The non-wetsuit wave was pretty polite overall. The only real dick move was by a guy wearing a wetsuit who caught up to us in the canal and proceeded to swim straight over three people in a row.

Made the mistake of following the buoy line all the way down the back leg. I could've easily cut several hundred yards of the swim by sighting on the canal entrance instead.

I don't know what I was doing in there for that long. Did a full change, so that had some effect, and I couldn't find a chair in the tent. I also went to the bathroom. But, still, this T1 time is pretty ridiculous.

Hurry up.

I took it very easy on the bike. I honestly wasn't sure how hard to go while still leaving something for the run.

Again, I did a full change and stopped to use the bathroom. And, again, this T2 is pretty ridiculous.

Hurry up!

I felt great on the first lap. Then, on the second lap I started to have some problems with my right knee. I think the pounding on the all-concrete paths started to take a toll. I also got a bit nauseated from the heat on lap 2. So, I walked quite a bit on the second lap and switched to nothing but Perform and Coke. I started to get it together again on the third lap, mostly running and walking the aid stations. I wanted to break four hours, but the second lap just killed me.

Not much. I could probably have HTFU'd the second lap, but I wanted to make sure that I pulled it back together. So, I was pretty conservative.

Fear of the unknown. I was extremely wary of going too hard at any point in the race.


The only complaint I had about the race was the complete lack of information about how to get from the transition area to the swim start. There were no signs at all, and none of the volunteers (or race officials) seemed to have any idea of the shortest route.