PrairieMan Half Iron Triathlon - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

For the most part, I was very pleased with my swim. Right after the gun sounded, I put my head down and ended up swimming directly into a steel pole which was painted white to mark the no wake zone, hitting it with my right shoulder. After getting that behind me and getting out into the water, I was very pleased with my swim. The wind was strong all day long, averaging around 20 mph I believe. This created what felt to me like 3 foot swells in the water. The direction of the was never directly in line with the direction I was swimming, so it was always pushing me to the side. It was difficult to stay on course, buy I was overall very pleased with my sighting. I finished the swim in 49:34, which is right where i'd though that i'd be. I hoped to be better, but with only swimming twice in the previous month, I was still very pleased.

Swim more during training. Try to swim twice a week instead of once, and don't get injured a month before the race.

T1 was slow for me. When I got to my area, I dried off my feet before putting on my socks and bike shoes. I then sprayed on more sun screen, but it didn't help because I was still wet and it just rubbed right off. I then put on my bike gloves, sunglasses, and helmet and headed on my way. After about 10 seconds of running toward the mount line, I realized that I forgot all of my gels, so I turned back to get them and put them in my jersey pocket. I figured that this cost me about 30 seconds or so.

don't forget the gels. dry off better before applying sunscreen, because this sunburn still hurts 2 days later.

I was very pleased with my bike time. When I crashed a month ago, I was in aero position. Ever since then, I have been hesitant to ride extended time periods while in aero because I feel like I don't have that control back. I tried my areo position early on the first lap and didn't feel comfortable, so I just decided to ride upright the whole time. The way the course was laid out, it was basically 6 miles headed south going downhill with a 20 mph tailwind and 6 miles headed north going uphill into a strong headwind.

During my first lap, I wanted to hydrate a lot and take an easy pace to save some of my energy for the second half and the run. I was passed a lot during this lap, but I knew that I am not the strongest biker and was expecting that. On my second, and third lap, I gradually started to pick up the pace a little bit while continuing to hydrate and fuel appropriately. there were two water/gatorade stations on the route, so I picked one and decided that I wanted to have an empty bottle every time I passed to switch out. I alternated gatorade first, then water, then finally gatorade. I also picked out a corner where I could comfortably pull over and get out of everyone's way so I could take a gel. I did that on the 2nd, third, and 4th laps.

I was very pleased with my final lap. I felt like I had saved plenty so I tried to push my tempo a little. I was also not passed at all on that lap while passing several others. Up to this point, I was very pleased with how my race was progressing. The last turn-around headed back to transition was uphill, and the wind was just brutal by this point. It was a very oppressive wind that at times I felt like I was going backwards.

become comfortable in aero position again to cut through the wind better.

T2 went very well for me. I got my bike racked, my shoes transferred from my bike shoes to my running shoes very qhickly, got my helmet off, reloaded on gels and applied more sunscreen before taking off on the run.

nothing

I was very disappointed with how my run ended. It all started off so well. Leaving transition, I had fantasies of finishing my race in under 6:30. I had planned to run/walk the whole thing, running about 3-4 minutes for every minute walked. I wanted to stop at every aid station to refuel between water and gatorade, while taking a gel at mile 1, 5, and 9. About the time I got to mile 4, my stomach was bothering me a little. I felt very bloated and a little nauseous. I felt like taking a gel at mile 5 was going to make me throw up, so I skipped it. I continued alternating water and gatorade until about mile 7, when I couldn't stomach the gatorade anymore. At this point, my back was also in severe pain. It was around mile 8 where my run/walk plan went out the window. I ended up walking most of the last 5 miles, only running occasionally. At this point, I was still hoping that I could endure enough and finish in 6:45, but I wanted just to finish. I think I walked close to 80% of the last few miles, but all things considered, I am very happy to break 7 hours.

do a couple long brick workouts to figure out the nutrition aspects of the run a little better. better yet, stick to the aquabike.

I walked around some, sat down for a few minutes, drank some water, and went to the bathroom for the first time all day. I also ate a granola bar, which was the first solid food that I'd had since breakfast nearly 9 hours earlier. It took a while to eat it because my saliva didn't want activate and help soften my food.


aero position on the bike and figuring out the nutrition aspects of the run some more.


It would have been nice if it had started on time because the buoy blew away. Also, I wasn't a big fan of all the road construction along the bike course, but it was nice to have our own lane for the most part.