Grand Rapids Triathlon - Half Iron Course - Triathlon

I was in the 1st wave with Males 18-34 and relays. It was a pretty big wave about 200+ people. I started in the front left and wanted to get out quick per the plan and get on some fast feet.
I could not figure out prior to the start if the first buoy was a sighting buoy or I actually needed to stay to the right of it. I was inside the buoy line at the start and had a good start but I actually needed to get back right to get around the buoy which brought me back into a mass of people. This started the blender for the next 200 yards but then it cleared up past that point.
It was really pretty non eventful swim past that point. I got into a bit of a groove and tried to just think tempo tempo tempo. I thought my sighting was ok and stayed on course pretty well. I was on and off feet most of the way.

Out of the water sub 33 minutes and then hit the wetsuit strippers. They got that off real quick and started the jog to transition.

This was actually my best AG rank event, a complete reversal of my history so the work in the pool has obviously paid off.

This was a decent swim. It would have been nice if I knew beforehand if I needed to stay right of that first buoy but that was my fault.

46th OA
9th AG

Because the transition is ridiculously long I decided to leave my shoes on the bike and run barefoot to the mount line. I think this worked out really good. I practiced about 10 times Saturday night and felt comfortable about it.

Went great

Race Setup: Reynold Stryke 66 front and DT Swiss PT hub w/ wheelcover rear.
PD Aero Bottle on down tube and single cage between bars.

Nutrition: 2 Servings concentrated Infinit in PD bottle (550 Calories); 2.5 bottles of water

The plan was 215-225 watts for the ride and I pretty much nailed it.
218W NP 211AP
IF=0.80
VI=1.03
AHR: 168

The average heart rate is why I could never race with HR before and what makes the PM so valuable to me. My LTHR is 163 based on years of training and testing - it is just always high during the bike leg and reduces to normal ranges again for the run leg.

This was a very wet ride for the first half. My position coming out of the water was pretty good so there were not a lot of people to pass. For the most part, I rode the entire course by myself. I thought the course would be more crowded but being in the first wave, swimming fairly well and riding well, it was a bit lonely of a ride. I just concentrated on holding power which was not really hard to do because the legs felt good. The only draft pack that came through was about 45 miles into the ride - a group of 7-8 and several were folks that I passed a long time ago. Amazing they were able to suddenly ride 25mph!!

Due to the mild temperatures during the ride I really needed to hold back on the liquid consumption. I definitely felt a little bloated and knew I needed to cut back on the water. My last few HIM were all 90 and humid so quite a change. Only had 2.5 bottle of water but probably only needed 2 total.

About 2 miles from transition, riding great, suddenly I get a sharp cramp in the inside of my left knee and thigh. Oh Shit - c'mon! It stopped me dead and I gave it 30seconds to work out and rub and then was able to pedal again. I thought that was going to end my race. Never got that on the bike before.

Cruised into transition with a very solid ride and eager to see what the legs had in store for the run.

Less water in the mild conditions - good ride.

35th OA
4th AG

I had my shoes in a plastic bag since it rained all morning. This kept my shoes and socks nice and dry. This was a good quick transition.

Nothing.

Plan: Start around 7:00 min/miles and try to drop it down based on how I felt.

Coming out of transition I was bloated from the liquid intake on the bike. So, I started around that 7 minute pace and was just hoping this would go away so I could run better. I laid off any liquid/nutrition until the 3 mile mark or so and did feel better by that point.

Nutrition: 1.5 Hammer Gels - 2-3 cups gatorade.

My nutrition for this race was minimal - it was mild temperatures and my stomach being full I just did not want anything. It took everything I had to force that small amount of nutrition in.

By the Turnaround on the first loop - my pace started to slowly drop, partly due to the couple hills but partly because i just could not. The run really felt more like a shuffle. I was just not running well and the only thing I can think is that I just do not have the mileage in my legs.

By the second loop, about mile 7 I started taking short 10-20 second walk breaks, 4 or 5 in total. Instead of just plodding along, these seem to help as I as able to bring my pace back to 7:15-7:20 pace right after and hold for a mile or so until the next short break. I absolutely hate taking walk breaks but it seemed to help here. I believe only 1 or 2 miles were over 8:00 pace and just barely so was able to hold pace ok but not the pace I was looking for ultimately.

Once I got to the last 2 miles, I just let it go - my pace was good and was able to finish fairly strong. I did not look at my overall time on the run - just focused on running the best I could. I was thinking in my head probably 4:45 since I ran so bad so to see 4:41 on the clock as I came in was good.

Less liquid on the bike. The race gives me confidence I can go 4:30-4:35 at Steelhead if I can get the run where I realistically think it can be - which is 1:32 or so.

Legs were really sore after I finished. I walked around and then jumped in the river which seemed to help. Got dried off and my parents helped my haul stuff back to the car. Did not stick around long as I knew there was no chance of a podium in this field today.


Lack of run training - really focused on bike/swim for the past 6 months which paid dividends.


Great race w/ great race directors and excellent course.