Liberty Triathlon - Half Iron Course - Triathlon

Actually negative split. 18:50 to the first buoy, 20:00 at the second. Out of the water at 38:15, but long run up to transition. First half felt to be a struggle. Second half felt comfortable, warmed up, relatively easy but fast. And this was despite going into the wind on the back half. There were rumors that the course was long, which would be understandable given the 15mph wind going straight away from the beach.

Try training for a change? Time in the pool this year has been crap, and my thinking in general has been that I can rely on past swim fitness and technique to power through. That may work for sprint tris, but not even remotely for anything of this distance. Nevermind full IM length...

Transition was a sloppy mess. I was more interested in making it out alive without falling, so I was purposeful in my pace, but not hurried. I didn't bother with flying mounts or shoes on the bike, as I cant do that in Madison anyway.

Nothing. Maybe a little more pace, but 20 seconds here is small change

Overall this went as well as it possibly could have (maybe even too well...) The conditions were brutal. the first 16 miles were in a steady, cold rain, but were almost entirely down wind. Just as the course turned, the rain relented and I finished the first loop back into the wind in relative ease (thought the wind was no picnic). I focused on staying as low as possible, taking all nutrition from aero position whenever possible. The first (southward) part of the second loop was fast and down-wind, but the rain started back up. As I made the turn at St Bonifacius, I realized I was in for some serious suffering to get back home. Nearly 20 miles into the teeth of a driving rain, 15-20mph headwind at 55 degrees. After 10 miles of it, I was completely ready to be off of the bike. I powered on, but was pretty miserable. I honestly never thought I would look forward to the run in a race like this.
There were two issues in this race. First, my watch was not working correctly. For whatever reason, it was tracking HR and instantaneous speed, but was not tracking any averages and did not record the total distance or course. Thus, I had to constantly check the watch to ensure I wasn't over-cooking (or under-cooking) the bike based on HR. I couldn't track overall pace and was reduced to doing math on the course (it wasn't even tracking my split time accurately). This is what I get for relying on technology. The second issue was nutrition related. I thought I could get by on 3 water bottles with Gu Brew. Caloricly it should have been OK (as long as I didn't overcook), but I was counting on the low temps keeping sweat losses down. As I got on the run, I felt fairly dry and was playing catch-up on hydration

Pacing, Pacing Pacing. This will be the key to the ironman. Going into the race I've been feeling very comfortable at high Z2 paces and thought I could carry that pace for the race. The bike felt good, but the results on the run did not support it. Maybe the cold conditions keep my HR much lower than it otherwise would have been. As they say, there is no such thing as a great bike but horrible run equating to a great race...

Had to stop and pee, so slowed overall time substantially. Also still using laces, not yanks in my running shoes. I wasn't sprinting through this, simply taking my time to get things right.

Put the yanks I bought with the shoes in October, into the shoes! and learn to pee on the bike. Still can't do it...

Pacing, Pacing, Pacing. I felt good, fast, running about :30/mile slower than my open HM pace, with HR in check. After about a mile into the run, I needed a port-a-john in the worst way. This is where I discovered the mistake of eating Buffalo Wild Wings on the day before a race. However, I was confident that I remembered seeing them on the course 2 years ago. They're sure to be here this year too, right?! I tried to focus more on pace, easy breathing, good form. As I came to the turn around, my pace had slowed slightly for slightly increased RPE, but my biggest fear/disappointment was realized. No Port=a=John. about 300 yards after the turn around, I found a mountain bike/horse trail that wound into the woods. After now feeling much relief, I was now noting much fatigue. The miles slowed to about a 9:00-9:30 pace between miles 8-10, then it became a slow walk through water stations, and more of a shuffle. After the water stop at mile 11.5, the legs just wouldn't start running again. After having a great race, I now was relegated to the death march, but thankfully for only a mile and a half. It ended up costing me a little more than 10 minutes from where I thought I would finish as of about mile 9.

No wings for pre-race meal. I definitely need to work more on my pacing for both the bike and the beginning of the run. Overall run endurance could improve, but I'm actually in a good place for this right now.

Food, food, food. I was totally bonking, leading to the death march. I did some light stretching as I had a two hot dogs, chips, banana, cookie, muscle milk, and water. After packing up, I headed back to the scene of the crime (Buffalo Wild Wings) for a post-race reward. Then off to the hot tub for me.


Time in the pool, and pacing on the bike are my two biggest limiters right now. To build for IM, I will need much more bike endurance. It also would have been nice to have pacing/avg HR info from the watch, but it goes to show the importance of race day flexibility when things go wrong.


Final Stretch did everything they could given the conditions. The park was turned into a swamp (nearly a lake). They got us out and gave us a fully supported course despite the crummy conditions. Had I been in the mood, and not exhausted and sleep deprived, I would like to have relaxed a bit at the park after the race.