MI Titanium - Full Iron Course - TriathlonFull Ironman

The water was a very comfortable temperature and the lake was very clean. I was able to draft a little on the first lap but not at all on the second lap. The low number of athletes made drafting a little tougher. I was happy with my 35 minute first lap but slowed quite a bit on my second lap because I was not able to draft.

Find someone to draft off of on the second loop.

Planned on taking a little bit of time in T1. Used the restroom and made sure I had everything set before I took off for the bike.

I could have taken off time by leaving my shoes on the bike and completed a running mount but I wasn't too worried about an extra minute or two.

The course has a lot of small hills but they do add up after awhile. Cannonsburg road is very smooth and has a very wide shoulder but the rest of the roads have small shoulders and have some rough spots, especially 10 mile road, which is very rough. The course is open to traffic and most of the ride is on busy roads.

I started the ride with a moderate pace. I didn't want to go out too hard like I have done in previous races. I picked up the pace a little maybe 20 miles in. I felt very strong during the first 80 miles of the bike and experienced very little pain. I did lose two bottles on 10 mile road because of the rough road conditions and I think that effected the rest of my bike and the start of my run. The last 25 miles of the ride were very tough. Most of it was into a headwind that was mentally and physically exhausting. I lost a lot of my average speed in the last 20 miles and rode into transition exhausted and feeling a little sick to my stomach.

Be more careful so I do not eject bottles of nutrition. I think this caused me to be undernourished going into T2. I was happy with my bike time but feel I exerted a little too much energy on the bike.

I felt really tired coming into T2. The heat and humidity on the bike really started to affect me. I took my time in transition and used the restroom again.

For how I felt I wouldn't have done anything different. If I was feeling better I would have tried for a quicker transition. But I was fine with taking my time.

This is where the wheels fell off on my race. In my first two Ironman races I came off the bike tired but felt fresh when I started the run. This time when I started running I felt awful. I jogged to the first aid station and walked through as I grabbed nutrition. I tried to keep jogging afterwards but eventually was reduced to a walk. I felt sick to my stomach and a little dizzy. I started to have trouble keeping any nutrition down. I felt nauseous and like I was going to lose the nutrition I had taken in at any time. I knew that if I tried to run through this I probably wouldn't even finish the race. I gave up on setting a PR and decided finishing the race was the most important thing. I decided to walk as long as I needed until I felt better. I took pickle juice when it was available and I feel like that helped a lot. Around mile 5 I felt a little better and attempted a slow job. I continued a slow job and then walked through the aid stations. By the end of my first lap I actually felt pretty good. My first lap was around 2:35. At special needs I drank my bottle of Pedialyte. I felt better and the temperature started to drop a little.

My new goal was to break 13 hours. I continued to take as much pickle juice as I could. I stayed away from gatorade and pepsi. I continued to feel good throughout the second lap. I was even able to pick up the pace the last few miles.

The bike affected my run. If I would have done a better job with nutrition and not pushed the bike as hard I would have greatly improved my run. After feeling so bad at the start of the run I was very pleased that I was able to recover and finish the run as strong as I did.

Drank a few bottles of water as I walked around. After 30 minutes or so I was able to eat some pizza. I tried to stay on my feet and actually wasn't very sore the next day.


Stomach issues caused by heat/humidity and not taking enough nutrition.


The course was tough because of the heat and humidity. The race organizers did a great job with the resources they had. I think the swim and run courses are great but I think the bike course needs to be changed. I would prefer a double loop. I also think that the roads used are too busy with automobile traffic. Obviously, a closed course is best but when that is not feasible it is nice to ride on roads with few cars. I know a few racers that said they were almost side swiped by a car.

Post race food was very good, better than Ironman races.