HITS Triathlon Series: Ocala - Half Iron Course - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

Started out way to the right to have more free space. No contact at all until first buoy. Relatively comfortable swim, did not push all that hard, just focused on staying comfortable.

Maybe push a little harder.

There was a downpour just prior to swim start. It also rained off and on during the bike. I took a little extra time trying to reorganize things after the rain.

Be better prepared for rain. Put bike shoes and run shoes in a plastic bag in transition. Covering with a towel did not work, lol.

The roads are in fairly good condition. They are all mostly two lane roads with very little shoulder. For the half, there was not that much traffic at that time of day. Took corners and turns very, very slow as the roads were very wet. Most of bike ride was overcast, or with a little drizzle. Sun came out about 15 minutes before the bike was done.

Not sure I would do anything different, felt very comfortable and was fine after the bike.

Rain soaked through towel and totally soaked running shoes. Had 13.1 miles of running in squishy shoes! Stopped at a portapotty in transition to urinate, makes me think my hydration was fine up through that part.

Put running shoes and hat in plastic bag so they dont' get soaked.

Felt awesome coming off the bike. I really wanted to do the race sub 5 hours, and was on pace to do so. I had hit all my targeted paces and HR was below where I thought it would be. Only needed to run 1:44 and thought I would be under 1:40. I hit the first mile too hard, 7:10, and backed off to about 7:45 for the next 4 miles. That's when I started feeling the heat and realized my HR had skyrockted. I was able to go through miles 6-9 at 8:00 to 8:15, but the last four were a real challenge. Forced to walk portions from that point on and was just cooked by the sun and humitidy.

Need to drink more fluids on the run. Also, better pacing on the run. I normally do a better job of running even to slightly negative splits.

Found some shade and took in some fluids.


Poor fluid intake and poor pacing on the run.


I thought the race was a great value and venue.