Full Vineman Triathlon - Triathlon

My goal was to finish the swim as efficiently as possible. Swimming is my strongest leg and I wanted to finish the swim at around 1:15.

I went out with the first wave. As usual, it's pure chaos during the first 200 yds but spreads out after that. I was able to find some people who swam at my pace so I was able to draft off some of them. Sighting wasn't too much of an issue since they had large red buoys to locate, although I'm convinced that they're not lined up in a straight line.

At the turn-point, the water got really shallow, my hand was scraping the bottom of the river. I did see some of the swimmers doing the butterfly dive to get out of the shallow area but I wanted to keep horizontal since I would be using my legs enough for the rest of the day.

Heading towards the end of the first loop, there was one last buoys that was literally at the start of the swim. Some people didn't see this and turned to early, only to be stopped and turned around. Second swim was pretty much the same.

I would have liked to know how the buoys were lined up. I think I wasted some time trying to swim as close to each buoy as possible. "Shortest distance between two points is a straight line"

One thing I got to experience here was the designated wetsuit strippers. You would run up to one of the volunteers with the top half of the suit taken off, lay down and the volunteer would basically peel the suit off your legs in 1 second.

Knowing that it was going to be a long day, I took a little more time to make sure I had all of my gear on my before leaving. Since the transition area is all on dirt, I had to make sure my feet were cleaned before putting my shoes on. I handed my remaining things to my wife and was on my way.

One thing to note, right at the mounting zone, there is a short, but steep hill. Some recommended that you walk it up. If you're able to either clip on quickly and pedal, you should be fine. Otherwise you will fall (not a good way to start a 112 mile bike ride)

Find a better way to organize everything so that my time in T1 won't take so long.

My goal was to finish the bike conserving as much energy I could for the run. I wanted to finish the bike at around 6:30.

The first half of the race was overcast and a little chilly, even after a 2.4 mile swim. However, around noon, the sun broke through and it got pretty warm. Because the number of competitors weren't as high, there were many times where I found myself riding by myself.

The quality of the road can be pretty poor at some parts of the course. I would highly recommend you keep your eye on the road at all times to avoid hitting potholes. In regards to the climb on Chalk Hill, the first lap is manageable, however, the second lap proved to be more challenging. It was funny how I noticed the printed "100" on the road in the middle of the second climb meaning I had hit mile-100 mark. It played with my head a bit seeing it.

I kept hearing that you ride the race to prepare for the run. I started off with that mindset but as soon as people started passing me, I picked it up (bad idea). My 100 mile workout pace average was 17mph. After the first 30 miles, I was averaging 20mph. As the miles added up, I saw my average speed drop. I need to be more discipline and allow racers to pass me with the hope that I will pass them up on the run.

I might also want to consider how much I drink on the ride. I think I may have overhydrated.

There is a bit of a walk from the dismount zone to T2. Since I wasn't in too much of a rush, I didn't think it would be beneficial for me to run barefooted so that I can save a couple of seconds in putting on my running shoes.

I reapplied sunscreen, decided to change out to my compression socks, and was on my way.

Having to mentally prepare yourself for a marathon after a 112 mile bike ride is something that needs to be practiced. There was a little bit of anxiety that washed over me when I thought about it.

My goal was to finish the course without walking. I wanted to finish the run at under 4:30.

For those who are not familiar with the run course, I would highly recommend biking through it. There are some gnarly hills on the course where some people could walk it faster than running it.

After the bike ride, I knew I biked too fast. It was going to be really difficult for me to run the whole time. I also ended up getting a really bad stomach ache, which made it nearly impossible to run. I was able to walk it off after 11 miles and was able to pick up the run again, walking the hills.

There were 4 drink stations for each direction of the loop which really helped. They served Gatorade Endurance, water, Clif Bloks, cola, assorted fruit, cookies and tortilla chips. All of the volunteers were so helpful and encouraging.

Bring down the effort for the bike ride a couple of notches. I needed to save my legs for the run. Figure out what I was eating that caused the upset stomach and avoid that for the next race.

After finishing, I started stretching out my legs and walking around. Even during the post-race meal, I wasn't really sitting but stretching out the legs. I later attempted to sit in an ice bath for 15 minutes as recommended


The stomach ache was the most significant issue I was having that limited my ability to perform faster. I think I would have been able to drop at least 15 minutes if I didn't have that issue.


The Full Vineman Triathlon race is a really fun race to be in for first-timers. The level of competition isn't as high as the traditional MDOT races so the intimidation factor isn't as apparent. I have learned that in order to be successful at the Ironman event you're doing, you have to train for the elements that will be present at the race. I look forward to doing another full distance race soon!