Border Wars Triathlon - Triathlon

So...freaking...cold. Per the pre-race meeting the day before, the water temp was supposed to be 74 degrees - which would have been great. 54, however, came as quite a shock. Went out to the first buoy and just had to focus on breathing - the shock of the water temp was taking my breath quite a bit. Luckily I remained calm and didn't really have an issue. Once I got going things went okay - my sighting still sucks. I mostly concentrated on keeping my pace maintainable, and was successful at that. Rounding the last buoy my right knee started to lock up a bit, which was strange since I hadn't really been kicking much. Treaded water for a bit to try and work it out, but nothing helped and I was only a few hundred from the finish and so I just motored on.

Obviously more (any) training will bring the times down, but I don't know what to say about the water temperature. I guess I could have tried some neoprene boots, but even then I don't see my lower half liking that temperature for that amount of time.

Coming out of the water I quickly realized why my knee felt locked up - the entire lower half of my body had started to enter hypothermia and stopped functioning. Standing up was quite a task, and as the blood started to more easily get to my legs immediate and total two-leg cramping set in. Just walking to my bike was a chore, and I wasn't the only one. T1 looked like something out of an apocalypse movie - athletes lying all over in pain from cramping, some over in grassy areas vomiting. From what I heard post-race, just about anyone who didn't have a wetsuit got pulled by medical and was getting treated for hypothermia. I made it to my bike and half-stripped my suit, then massaged my legs until they loosened up enough for me to get the suit completely off. After that I took a bit more time making sure I wasn't going to immediately cramp back up once on the bike.

Nothing to be done about that water temperature I don't think. I've never in my life felt a similar sensation to that cramping, and the temps are the only thing I can think that would cause it. Truthfully, I think I handled the transition pretty decently given the circumstances even though the time was pretty terrible.

My goal pace was 15.0 mph, just trying to keep it easy and set myself up to be able to run. I could tell pretty quickly that I was going too fast, but when I would drop to the next gear it just felt like I was spinning and so I kept the load light but noticeable and motored on. I believe this was the correct thing to do, as my run didn't seem to suffer much.

My nutrition worked reasonably well, and I ended up consuming 3 Clif bars, 4 shot blocks, a GU Roctane and a fig newton with about 40 oz of sport drink and some water mixed in. The bars and blocks were somewhat frozen due to the temperatures, and so that took some managing (left them in my mouth to heat up until they were more chewable).

The only other snag was the port-o-jon they said was going to be at mile 29 was not there. So, I got my first "pee on the bike" experience, which both worked and didn't. Let's just say I had to toss one of the shot blocks and a fig newton away.

I feel like a broken record with this section in races, but train more for the bike. I put in the miles to get me to this distance, but I'm still a bike infant and haven't trained for speed at all. Me and Jorge have a date this winter.

I again took this transition pretty easy. Didn't screw around with riding on my shoes or any of that sort of thing, just stopped and eased off then walked to my rack. Took the opportunity for a restroom break. Should have applied sunscreen, but hadn't even brought it with me. I got some sun on the run course, but no burns and so it didn't matter much.

Nothing - I planned to take it slow and accomplished that ;-)

The run went pretty much to plan, despite the course running out of water at two consecutive stations. That was just bad luck, as the volunteers did a great job of getting refilled as soon as they could. From my training runs I knew my legs would start to die around mile 9 or so, and that held true. I took the first mile too quickly (9:45) but managed to control my effort better after that. I walked the uphills and the water stations, per plan, and was lightly jogging pretty much everything else. My time doesn't reflect greatness, but I really did run this one exactly the way I needed to.

Again, more training would make for a better time but I can't argue with my execution one bit.

Tried to walk around as much as I could stand to. Needed to get my extra clothes pretty quickly, as the wind had really picked up and I got cold fast after I stopped running. After about half an hour I felt like taking in food - Pappy's is some goooood stuff! A bit more taking in of water, then my brother helped me get my things gathered and off to home we went.

Lots of ice and sitting once I got home, but no other serious side effects that some complain of (headaches or stomach illness).


Undertraining and inexperience, which is absolutely fine. My goal was to finish, and finish I did. I ran way more of the HM than I thought I would be able to, and did so after a pretty awful swim experience and going faster on the bike than I had originally planned. What is there to complain about?


The course itself is definitely one of the fastest courses in the MidWest. If you want a HIM PR, this is where to do it. RMP does a good job with their races, and for a first-time event with a very late bike course rearrangement everything seemed to go pretty smoothly. I hope the participation grows like it should and this will soon be a great race.

Oh yeah - TEAM WEST, BABY!