Marquee Triathlon - Half Iron Course - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

During the swim I was rather impressed and felt like I was doing good. Normally I have an issue with drifting out to the right but this time I was able to keep a straight line down the buoys. I kept up with a fast pack on the out leg but kept having to deal with a few swimmers who were zig zagging through the water. By the time we rounded the buoys to come back, I got fed up with one guy bumping into me so I backed off and drafted him for a little bit before he went out of the normal path. When I got back to the stairs, I had a little bit of an issue trying to get my suit unzipped. Usually I like to have the top portion off before getting to the strippers but this time I was unable to an had a really slow time getting out of my suit.

Looking back now, I didn't feel tired as I was coming back but I noticed I wasn't pulling as hard. Next time I need to put more oomph in my swim.

Transition went smooth and I didn't have any missteps. If anything I need to get a pair of tri shoes for the bike as the longest portion of my time is trying to get into my ratchet style shoes. My helmet did take a little extra time to latch but only lost a few seconds there.

The bike is usually my strongest segment but this time around I really felt weak on the bike. I couldn't get comfortable and kept dancing around on my seat trying to find a position that didn't hurt. Additionally I had some muscle pain in my left glute that had me concerned. After blowing up on the run at the previous oly distance tri, I held back on the bike. I followed my Ironman nutrition plan of taking 300 calories an hour along with mostly water and a salt cap every 45 mins. Overall my race was decent as I passed more people than passed me so I knew I was at least moving up in my age group.

I need to get my positioning figured out on the bike. While my time/pace was right on from previous race experience, I know I still left some time out there on the course as I was unable to get comfortable. I'm actually shocked that I my time was as good as it was.

I was a little unclear where the dismount line was coming into transition so I made sure to get my feet out of my shoes starting at the intersection of Rio and Mill. While this was a little premature, it worked out well as coming into transition it was a little bit of a cluster. I had two guys in front of me that were taking there time walking into transition so I had to squeeze past them into transition on the left. Unfortunately I started to head toward the olympic transition area and had to run back a few feet to get into the half iron section. The run to my bike rack was pretty long as I was staged near the run start. I was able to get into my socks/shoes pretty fast(for me) and out on the run course without issue.

Nothing. Hat, glasses, bib number were all put on as I was exiting transition.

Having blown up on the run last month at Las Palomas without having an understanding why, plus walking a little bit of the last HIM (SOMA) I came into the run a bit worried. At least with SOMA I knew I was under fueled so I made the mental note to take in a few Gu packs. The first mile went by with a little bit of stiff legs. Aid station #1 I made sure to take in a Gu pack. By mile 3, I was feeling pretty good and the miles started to tick off easily. I kept myself in check until lap 2. I knew I had a couple guys behind me that were gaining on me. Around mile 9, I started upping my effort and dropped them. Mile 10,11,12 I kept upping my effort as it was the home stretch and I knew I could sustain the pace. As the finish line approached, I had enough juice left to put in a decent sprint. I crossed the line feeling great, which is unusual for me. I felt like the monkey was off my back from the last race and I competed at a level I'm happy with.

Nothing. I took in 3 Gu's on the run and water at each aid station.

A few waters and a bottle of the recovery drink.


Post morteum: More effort on the swim, get my positioning on the bike worked out, don't touch my run strategy(executed perfectly).


Glad to have Red Rock Co as a local race organizer. It's nice being able to show up to these events and have a consistently great run event. They know what they're doing!