Ironman World Championship 70.3 - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

Headed to the front on the left side and waited for the horn to go off. They gave us a 2 min warning followed by a 1 min warning then 30 seconds, 15 seconds then the horn sounded. It wasn't very crowded and I was able to settle in to what I thought was a decent pace. There was a group of guys that pulled ahead of me. I should have tried to stay with them but my plan was to go a little easier since I didn't know how my body would do in the heat.

Go harder!

The route from the water to T1 was kinda long with some muddy spots along the way. Once in T1 I stopped and had some sunscreen applied. Then headed up the switchback and got caught behind a guy that was practically walking up the narrow path. There was no room to run past him so I just walked behind him knowing I had plenty of opportunities to "go fast" later.

skip the sunscreen since It got washed of with all the water I was dousing myself with while on the bike.

There's a moderate climb out of T1 and I went very conservative here. I started to pick up the pace once I got out on the main part of the course. I was eventually passed by my coach (who took 2nd in his AG M45-49 even though he had broken his scapula a month prior) I decided to stay with him and did for about 20 miles. We had a legal pace line going with about 6 athletes. I noticed that I rode a lot faster this way and the mental effort seemed much easier even though my avg watts climbed higher than I had planned for. I decided to ease back since my plan was to stay around 200 watts as I didn't know what to expect with the heat on the run. I did not miss a single aid station on the bike and grabbed 2-3 water bottles each time. I also took in a salt tablet at every aid station. Drank about 48 oz of infinite. (600-700kcal) with 3 GU.


dropped my SRM computer in the last 3 miles of the ride and had to go back and get it. Next time I need to make sure that thing is fastened properly.

Started out the run feeling good except for a slight headache. This had me a bit concerned so I started out easier.

Run the downhills harder. I was able to manage a 7:00 pace on the last mile and actually felt pretty good once my stride opened up. Spent too much time at the aid stations 30-45 seconds is too long.

I went to the massage tent and had four gals give me the best massage ever.


Too cautious




I hadn't planned on racing Vegas but was very happy to have gotten a roll down spot the month before in Boulder. I think I was mentally checked out and even though I trained well I don't think I was mentally prepared to race hard. I went in thinking I just want to have a good finish and I'm glad to be here. And it showed in my AVG HR numbers which were about 7-10 beats lower than Boulder.

Linda and I arrived in Vegas Thursday evening and met up with my sister and her husband at the MGM for dinner. Didn't get back to our hotel until 3:00AM.. whoops Already off to a good start. Spent most of Friday putting the bike together and getting my transition bags ready.
Drove the course with my team and kinda zoned out while my coach was talking about the course. Not sure what I was thinking but I don't think I was that into the race. I kept telling myself that I'd rally as the race loomed closer.
On Saturday, I got up late. I figured the sleep would do me good and I headed out for a quick run and bike. Once finished , I headed over to T2 to drop off the run bag and grabbed some last minute items from the "bike shop" then headed back over to T1 and dropped off the bike. Seemed like a lot of time was wasted getting this stuff done. Went over to talk to my coach and he was resting in his room with his curtains drawn. He woke up early in the AM and got his stuff taken care of. I felt like I was slacking in a serious way, and was starting to get concerned that I wasn't taking this race seriously. Saturday evening was even worse when we didn't sit down for dinner until 9pm. Man was I doing everything wrong! But I still had a sense that I would be okay since I was going to be conservative this race.

Sunday morning. Finally starting to take it serious as I woke at 4AM and got something to eat. Then headed out to T1 to pump up the tires. Headed back to the room to rest up for another 45 minutes until it was time to jump in line with my wave.

I think I was too conservative the entire race. I'm happy to have finished in the brutal conditions that were present but disappointed that I didn't give it my all. Maybe there was some fear of the unfamiliar course or not being able to finish if I went too hard. I played it very safe on the bike and run. These are things to talk with my coach about

If I can take anything away from this race it's that I want to do it again! I hope I get another chance. If I do, I will race it next time!

On a positive note, I had a blast with my family!