Door County Triathlon - Half Iron Course - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

Starting off in the elite wave, it was pretty much myself swimming after the initial 200m. Overall I felt pretty good swimming but after the waves behind me were catching up, I knew my pace wasn't that great. I didn't feel like I was going any slower than normal, however it's possible that because I was pretty isolated that I wasn't pushing it as hard.

Need some more volume on the swim along with speed training.

Wetsuit strippers were great. Never had them before in other races and saved me some time. Thanks! Saw my wife putting on her bike stuff. I knew she had passed me during the swim and I was glad to see her at T1. Got the shoes and helmet on, wished her good luck and was on my way.

Pretty good T1.

Started off flying. Being in the elite wave I knew there weren't a ton of people to pass but I was flying by a number of people with ease. Over the first 28 miles I averaged about 22mph, however when I hit the first hill I dropped my chain. I probably lost over 1 minute trying to get it back on. After the halfway point I knew that I overdid it on the legs. I didn't have the same push I had for the first half though I took in all the nutrition I had planned on. The last 15 miles were tough to maintain a quick pace and I knew I would have a rough run coming up. Near the end of the ride my quads started to tighten up and I was out of salt tabs.

Need to learn how to pace myself on the bike. Maybe use the HR as a gauge or invest in a power meter?? However for the first 20 miles or so I didn't feel as though I was over exerting, though I did know I was going pretty hard.

Because of my muscle tightness, I walked back to the transition area. I took it easy in T2 as to not getting any sudden cramping. Grabbed the salt tabs and went on my way

Should've taken my first salt tab on the way out where there was water but didn't.

What a tough run. I didn't take any nutrition out of transition and should have. I brought 3 salt tabs with me and should have taken one right away. I started to cramp probably 1/2 mile into the run. Tried to swallow one of the pills dry but couldn't and ended up spitting it out. I strugged to the first aid station at mile 1.2. Took in fluids and salt tab and went on. I pretty much strugged the entire run, finding a balance of walking and running. I found that I could only run at what seemed to be 1/2 mile increments at slow speeds. At the first hill around mile 6, I walked up knowing there was no way I'd make it up running. Near the top i started to run again, after getting to the crest I cramped to the point that I had to stop. I stretched for about 30 seconds but was upset since i was cramping on a downhill. I took it easy to the next rest station, popped my last pill and took some gu. The stretch from that aid station near ship wrecked to bluff pass was another struggle of running and walking. I saw my wife at around mile 8. She was about 30 minutes behind me and looked good. When we got to bluff pass I walked the entire way up, all the way to the fluid station. I did not want to risk cramping again by exerting too hard on the up hill. The final 3 miles was long and hot. I swear it was the longest 3 miles of my life. Each time a mile marker came up, I said I'd try to run as far as I could and then walk until I could run again. As we made the turn towards the golf course it still seemed super far to the next aid station so I took in another gu even though I knew there was only 1.5 miles left. I needed all that I could get and I didn't want to cramp on the downhill. I was able to run from the last aid station to the end. I saw my son at the bottom of the hill and ran with him to the finish.

More training - run volume needs to increase as well as the brick workouts.

took in some water, had some corn and waited for my wife to finish. We left fairly quickly to get on the road back to Madison.


Cramps and dead legs. My legs just didn't have it during the run and the cramping limited my ability to push at all. I need to find a balance between the bike and run. More training will help. Possibly better nutrition


Very good, well organized event. The crowd support was great and there was ample aid stations for the run. Would put this as one of the top races I've ever done.