Patriot Half Triathlon - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

Very bad swim. For some reason, couldn't get the breathing under control early on. May have been the chop in the water plus the chop from starting further back in the wave. Ended up doing a little breaststroke and flipped over a time or 2 until the breath came back. Ended up getting into a much better rhythm, but still swallowed water a few times. Swim out seem to take forever, swim back to the beach with the current was fast.

Need more open water swim practice and need to concentrate more on the breathing (and not just arm/body stroke form) early on.

Not much to say here, transition was fine. Obviously I could go faster, but I use transition a little to get the HR back down a bit.

As with all of my races, I am not very fast on the bike. Unfortunately I was feeling a few areas of slight pain on the bike as well so I probably went a little easier than I would've otherwise (hip and calf were both areas of concern). Kept the effort pretty comfortable overall, expecting if I had the legs left and the other pains faded I could make up some time on the run. Some slight stomach discomfort on the bike, so ate drank less than planned (2/3 of 1 bottle drink, 1/2 clif bar, 1 gel).

If I ever expect to get faster I will need some real focused effort on the bike in the off-season. Need more higher-effort bike rides.

I think this number is a little deceiving since the run with the bike was rather long into transition relative to most races, but I was probably still here longer than I normally would've been. Given the slight pains I was feeling on the bike I made sure to stretch my legs before heading out on the run, which I again think is the right thing for me.

Nothing really, yet still not happy with the time itself.

Yet again the run saves my time. Very happy with this time, although accoring to the Garmin it was probably a little short (though even +3 minutes would have been a great time). Fastest open 1/2 time is only a minute or so faster, so I can't complain at all here. Legs felt pretty good for most of the run. Walked water stop at 9 and ran a little slower following another athlete for pacing for about a mile or so to regenerate a bit. Ate 1/2 clif bar (early in the run) and 2 GUs (miles 6 and 10).

Nothing.

Walked a little bit to a stretching area. Stretched and went right to the food.


Lack of open water swim training and as usual lack of speed on the bike (also due to lack of proper training).


Overall the race was run efficiently and the race venue worked out very well. Race provided a great experience and seemed a great value compared to some. Heard post-race that a few course issues were resolved mid-race, so I give the race organizers credit for adapting when needed. Overall I would definitely recommend this race to anyone asking for a quality half iron.