Ironman 70.3 Eagleman Triathlon - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

Bottom 25%? Really! I thought I swam better than this. On the positive side though, I felt fine coming out of the water and I didn't totally blow it. The practice swim the day before was really instructive in terms of making me concentrate on my sighting. I also knew that rounding the second turn buoy what my marker should be coming in. I was slightly off course from time-to-time but I made key adjustments and never got completely derailed.

Next time I can wear a wetsuit I will. Even though the high level of salt in the water made me buoyant, I think its that much easier with a wetsuit for somebody like me that naturally sinks.

Nice transition for me. Everything went smoothly.

Avg HR: 159, Max HR: 170
Avg cad: 77, Max cad: 87

I actually expected to finish higher in my AG with this performance, but this just speaks to the fact that there are a lot of strong bikers out there.

For the first five miles I definitely a higher cadence and easier gear than typical because I wanted to warmup well. For the rest of the ride I used big ring 15 or 16 and rode at a cadence of 80-85 for the most part. I would stand up every 15 minutes or so and stretch out the legs.

While I definitely executed on my plan and stayed where I wanted to in terms of power output for the ride, I do think I benefited greatly from drafting. I was dropping back on passes, but I was also doing a lot of passing and riding up into a drafting spot throughout the ride. I think that if this were a solo effort I would have needed a bit more oomph in order to deliver this performance.

The intensity frequency and TSS numbers I turned in for this ride were just what I had planned, so I have to be happy with myself for that.

Not pick up the gatorade I didn't wind up using at the bottle exchange.

Not bad at all. Maybe a bit slow getting the gloves off.

Run more slowly coming out of the transition area.

And this is where it all fell apart. Since this was my first HIM, I didn't know that my body was going to freak out from lack of salt/K/electrolytes. I decided early into the run that the best plan for me was going to be to run .5 miles and then walk 15seconds or so. At the aid stations I would consume Gatorade (watered down, thanks!) and throw ice water on myself and put ice into my hat and/or down my trisuit. Great plan until mile 9 when both my calves simultaneously seized up on me. I had never experienced this sensation before so I wasn't prepared to deal with it. I spent the remainder of the race walking and running when I could. After running about 20 seconds I would inevitably get the cramps back and be forced into walking again. I even tried stretching on the side of the road a few times. This sucked. Sucked, sucked, sucked. I still managed to finish and hit my goal of a sub 6 time, but not in the way I had hoped. If you look at my HR data, it shows clearly that I wasn't stressed at all in the last four miles, with a HR floating mostly in the 140s rather than the 160s I had targeted.

Execute a proper nutrition plan when it comes to salt/K/electrolytes.

Walk through and collect medal. Get some water. Feed myself and lay down in the shade. I started feeling better about 30 minutes after the race. A couple hours after I finished and while driving back to the hotel, my left hand experienced an unbelievably painful cramp, akin to the ones in my calves earlier. It was so bad that I had to pull over. I was unable to move my left index finger up and my muscle in my hand was totally in spasm.


Nutrition! I need to do some reading and some research. I need to do a sweat rate test. I need to do more bricks where I bike 2 hours and then run 1 hour. I need to exercise in the heat more, which is hard to do when you've been outside in moderate weather all year prior.


I loved everything about this race and would definitely do it again. The pro forum was fun to attend. I loved the ability to tuneup the day before in the water, and on the bike. It would have been nice to stay closer to the event, but all things considered this was a great experience for a first HIM.