Gulf Coast Triathlon - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

The waves were breaking pretty close to shore and the seas were calmer than the day before. Took me a few minutes to get comfortable in the ocean (fear of all things sea-like). I tried to jump into my normal 3x1x1 breathing but that didn't work. I had to breathe pretty much every stroke the first 950m just to get through it. By the time I hit the 200m across I was feeling good and comfortable. The last 950m seemed OK until the final 50 where I found it a struggle to swim due to waves pushing/pulling me in. I stood up too early but was able to get my wetsuit down quicker that way. I drank WAY too much saltwater on this swim and felt pretty sick for a few minutes until I got onto my bike!

get some more test runs in the ocean so I'm more comfortable quicker. I need to work on breathing with the waves, etc.

pretty easy transition ... little bit of a run from swim out to bike but survived!

Overall I felt great on the bike. My right hamstring acted up about halfway through (which is unusual for me) but was able to keep my cadence and speed up...very happy with 16.4mph for 56 miles! The rain started around mile 20 or 25 and continued through the run which helped with heat but also made conditions a bit rough and scary. The roads on the first out and back were a bit rough and patchy ... saw lots of ppl with flat tires! Overall, great ride!

go faster!

running shoes were soaking wet so took me longer than usual to get socks on, etc.

Miles 1-3 were brutal. I couldn't get my legs to turn over post the bike portion. I struggled to keep my run/walk to 1x1. By mile 3, I was feeling OK and got back to my usual 4x1 at my usual pace so I was pretty happy but knew I lost a good deal of time during the first 3 miles. I ate 3 Gus (mile 2, 6 and 9) and had water at every aid station. I took coke at 2 aid stations and gatorade at the final aid station just for some sugar to push me through. Overall, the run wasn't bad ... I never felt discouraged or thought to myself, "Why" but kept chugging along which is great (and not usual) for me!

do more bricks to help alleviate the first 3 miles of total suck on the run!

I would highly recommend this race to anyone doing or even considering IRONMAN Florida. It was a big help to me and know I will take what I learned about the course, nutrition and long distance racing and apply it in November at IMFL