Delaware DIAMONDMAN® TRIATHLON - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

Swim start was ok. I probably started out a bit too far back. I was really trying hard to take it easy and not push the swim too hard. The first 200 yds or so were not so good because I seeded myself badly and I had to swim over a few people.

The rest of the swim was pretty uneventful. I was in the third wave and I spent alot of time dodging the waves ahead of me. I did figure out that I swim pretty far to the right. In my last race, the course was clockwise, and I did a great job staying on track. This race was counterclockwise, and I had a TON of trouble staying left enough to stay inline with the buoys. My wetsuit was bugging my neck a bit. I hadn't worn it for 2 months so this is not surprising.

My other concern during the race is that I had to "go" but was having trouble doing it. Finally near the end of the swim I was successful.

Overall I think I held a pretty good pace because the swim didn't tire me much, but I was still moving at a nice pace. I am not sure where the 171 HR during the swim came from, probably as I got out of the water and moved towards the mini-transition area.



1. Wear the wetsuit more frequently for practice
2. Seed myself at the front in every race
3. Just stop swimming to take care of buisness if needed instead of constantly just slowing down to see if I can do it. :)

On the run to T1 I did a SLOW jog to try to get the HR down. It was interesting how many people passed me, obviously in serious breathing distress...

Nothing.

I enjoyed the bike course and that is probably the most important thing :)

My goal was to stay between 150-158 for the entire ride. Well I FAILED at this one :) 159 avg HR means I basically stayed above zone half the time. This would come to haunt me on the run. I know better, but I go faster when I am about to pass someone, and when someone is about to pass me. Hopefully I learned my lesson.

I also probably worked the bridge too hard. My HR got up to 169 both times on the bridge.

The first 22 miles until the first water exchange were strong and I felt really nice. It is so hard to slow down when you feel good! I was surprised how many flat tires I saw in this section of the course! The wind was not too bad, but I could tell that it was on our backs at this point in the course. I got some water at the exchange, which came at a perfect time since my aerobottle was just empty. My nutrition consisted of just one bottle of concentrated Sustained Energy (4 scoops) and Hammer gels (3) mixed together. I sipped on this throughout the race.

The second part of the bike course was after the water bottle exchange to the course turnaround and back to the exchange. The goal of this portion was to try to "go" again if possible. Once again I had trouble. But if anything I did slow down to accomplish this and it helped me slow down the pace and save more energy for the run. At the turn around I got to see Glenn who was really close to passing me, and Dave. Right after the turnaround Glenn caught up to me. It was nice to see the other BTers out there. The way back had more wind, but I still wouldn't call it windy. I finally was "successful" and now more comfortable, picked up the pace again.

I once again got a water bottle at the exchange and was just about empty on my bottle. I took a few more endurolytes, a Hammer Race Cap and took 2 advil that I knew I would need for the run. I actually had 3 advil but dropped one on the course. Next time I will put extra supplements in my bento box to make sure I have enough.

The last part of the course was hard only because my saddle was starting to bug me. I didn't feel fatigued but I started to feel a stomach cramp/stitch in my right side.

I slowed down at the end of the ride to get ready for the run.

1. Bring more supplements
2. SLOW DOWN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I took my time in this transition. I sat in the grass and spent time putting the bodyglide on my feet.

Nothing.

Started the race hurting a bit because of the side stitch/cramp. I really thought I was running so slow that I was almost walking. I was shocked to see my first split at 8:28. This included stopping to turn my race number around since it was upside down. I don't know if I could have gone slower. I guess next time I will have to.

The second mile was more of the first. I felt ok, except for the stitch. This is the mile that took us towards the canal and down a big hill. At the bottom of the hill was the start of the 3rd mile and the heat hit me real bad. The canal is a dirt path with some small rocks, NO shade and NO breeze. There is nothing to look at but the canal and the woods on the side of the course. I started feeling really sick from the heat. I carried a water bottle with accelerade in it. I made sure to drink it frequently and at aid stations I either refilled it with fresh water or I just slowed down and drank a cup of water. The next few miles were like the last, except somewhere in here the cramp went away. I was OVERHEATING and felt like CRAP. The speed on the bike really caught up to me. I was now running ~10 min miles.

I was so happy at the turnaround because I was on the way home, and out of no where I suddenly felt a breeze. I picked up the pace, mostly because I finally felt better with the breeze. My legs at this point felt pretty good, but now the miles were starting to cause some joint pain. And the pesky blisters started. I kept plodding along, happy to be on the way home. The next DAGGER was how the course was marked. Either I was hallucinating or I saw a 9 mile mark more quickly than I expected. Turned out that the next mile marker said 9 miles as well! Two 9 mile markers. Someone told me later that there was no 7 mile marker. So the course went 6 miles 8 miles 9 miles 9 miles.. At this point I started to forget hitting the lap button. I am pretty sure that my first two miles on the way back were around 9:30 pace, the next 2 miles around 11 min pace, then the last two miles I sped it up to maybe 9 min pace. I did alot of walking at the end, especially up anything that was a hill. My HR at this point was having trouble staying in the 160s which I guess was either dehydration catching up to me or I was OUT of energy. I did have 3/4 of a hammer gel on the course along with my 240 cals from accelerade. Looking back, I probably needed to ingest a bit more food.

With about 1/2 a mile left Glenn showed up. He actually ran the last part of the race with me! Wow that was nice! That really helped me forget the pain and enjoy the last part of the race. Out of nowhere I got some sort of a kick, and I sprinted into the end of the race.

Probably needed to eat more. And maybe drink a bit more.
I need to pace myself better the first few miles.

My run was unacceptable mostly because my overall pace was about 1 min slower per mile than my normal LSD pace. If I pace myself I should be able to hold at least a 9 min mile.

NOTHING. I could hardly walk.
I stood in the shade with Glenn until Dave finished. I drank a bottle of water and somehow ate a small piece of hoagie. I was not impressed with the post race food at this race. I have had better food after a sprint!

I should have walked to the transition area to get my endurox that I had prepared but I was too lazy.

I took my shoes off to see why my foot was hurting so bad, I had a HUGE blood blister on my foot!


Pacing pacing pacing pacing pacing :)

Otherwise I am very happy with my first half IM performance! 5 mins faster than my goal of 5:40. My swim and bike were both faster, and my run was only 11 mins off. Next time I want to get that run under 2:00 like it should be.


Good race overall. The race was well organized, except for the crappy post race food. The bike course is really nice. The run course is nice in that it is on mostly trail dirt (good for the joints), but it pretty boring with little or no shade.

After the race I walked over to transition area. It was so weird. I just touched the bike rack and suddenly BOOM, my front tube exploded! I am so glad that happened after the race instead of during. It was sort of warm outside so maybe this was the reason why.