White Mountains Triathlon - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

I was happy with the swim, kept to my pace and stayed on the outside edge as I usually do. Comfortable effort and had no problems sighting.

Nothing

Long transition. There was a mini-trans near the lake where we could get our suits off and put on shoes to run the 1/4 mile to T1. This being my first HIM I wasn't about to rush anything.

Nothing

I knew this was going to be tough, I had ridden the course a month before and was working to get better at this distance and the constant long slow climb of the second half. I failed on nutrition and pacing, was worried about that going in but didn't have the experience to get it right.

The Good, I did a lot better than I expected on a KOM timed climb just after the mid point of the course! 27 out of 97 Male competitors. That probably hurt me a bit on the following long climbs but if I ride the climbs much slower I feel as though I'm going to fall over.

More long rides in training. More practice on nutrition.

Need to find a better saddle! 40 miles seems to be my limit & then it's painful. I've been hoping more time in the saddle would help improve it, but I haven't gotten there yet. Swapping saddles this week and will start working my long rides to see if the new one helps.

I knew I was in trouble at this point, the last 7 to 10 miles of the bike had taken it's toll on me. Took my time in transition to be sure I didn't miss anything. Drank a little extra and had some gel.

OK, this is where the bike caught up with me. Based on how I felt in T2 I planned on walking the aid stations and do the best I could between them. That worked for the first 1.5 miles, then I got to a hill and the legs just said no. Started walking up the hills and jogging the rest. Shortly after I started getting pain in one knee going down the hills. Considering it was a hilly course that didn't leave me too much in between to actually jog. Did the best I could but it was a long 13 miles.

Fix the bike....

Try to warm up after the rain during the last 3 miles of the 'run'.

Enjoyed a great dinner with my wife and friends who came to cheer me on.


Bike fitness, nutrition and experience. Was a concern of mine going in and I had tried to work with it as best I could. I had also been fighting a cold for the prior week and had been having difficulty sleeping due to coughing at night. I don't know how much the cold effected my overall performance though.


Even though my race went to hell, this was a great event! Beautiful location and well run. It pushed my abilities and I'd love to do it again.(just not too soon!) The organizers were great, volunteers fantastic and the other competitors were very encouraging as my race was falling apart, there are a couple I would really like to thank personally but missed seeing them after the race.