Firmman Half Iron Triathlon - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

So here's Rob and I standing on the beach watching earlier waves go off. He comments about how the waves/break much smaller than last year. Almost on cue we start seeing a few much large waves rolling in. Thanks buddy. Fortunately the break occured close to shore so once got beyond pretty much smooth swimming over the waves. This was a really fun swim. I've done a lot of swimming in LI Sound but this was the first time I've ever done a true ocean swim like this.

Coming out of the water ran through a chute of cheering spectators up to transition. Saw my wife and kids, gave them high 5's and then off to transtion.

Overall extremely pleased with this swim. Found open space from the get go. Maintained a straight line to the first buoy, even managed to find feet here and there. Rounded buoy easily and then started heading toward the rest of the swimmers as the next few buoys too small to sight off of. Followed the group and again swam fairly straight although got into a rhythm of sighting every 5th stroke. Felt like a fairly comfortable pace. About 2/3 of way through swim did get a little off line when I started to sight off one of the buoys marking the return toward the swim exit. Quickly realized, got back on course and back into the rhythm. Again turned the final big buoy without problem and started to head home. Was interesting that many stopped swimming in waste deep water. I kept swimming past them until I was almost scraping bottom with my hand. Stood up in a little over knee deep water. Not the fastest swim exit for me but then again I wanted to bring my HR down so that I could have a smooth transition before getting on the bike for 3h.

Retiring my wetsuit. Bought it when I was 15 pounds heavier. It's definitely too big but has gotten me through 3 races in the last 2 weeks so it's done well.

Nothing really. Happy with my swim.

Not swallow ocean water twice.

Not the fastest transition but methodical. Didn't want to rush and miss something I would need on the bike. Fairly smooth other than rolling socks on backward so heels were on top of my feet. Quick fix. Wetsuit off, shoes on, sunglasses on, helmet on out of transition area and this time clipped in easily and away.

nothing. Again happy with the way it went.

Started out with a plan to settle into a pace and adjust based on RPE. Nutrition plan was water only for first 10 minuts followed by:

Sips of IM cocktail every 10 mins with water
3 Cliff shot blocks every hour with water (instead of IM cocktail)
1 Endurolyte every hour with water

What I realized as soon as I got on my bike is that this plan was what I did when I would go out for solo rides, not after I had already been working out for 30+ minutes. Did some quick math and decided to subtract 30 minutes from my plan essentially taking Cliff Shot Blocks and Endurolytes 30 minutes into ride and then every 1h thereafter. Drank water liberally and ended up drinking 4 Aerobottles of water, 1 and 1/3 bottles of IM cocktail, 9 Cliff Shot Blocks and 3 Endurolytes.

Legs felt great! Was concerned about how my stomach would feel after swallowing water on the swim but after 10 minutes of just water no issues. Started out in easy gears at cadence between 100-110 to get legs warmed before the short, steep climb out to Rt 1. Was great to see my family heading out to the lollipop and then again on the way back before heading out to Rt 1.

Spun up the hill to get to Rt 1, crossed overpass and then down to Rt 1 where cars were flying. Rt 1 heading out was awesome. Got aero and just flew with seemingly little effort. At about 10 miles in Rob flies by me looking really strong. I was stuck in a small group of riders who didn't seem to grasp the concept of blocking, drafting. Stayed well behind them as sure enough the race official pulls up and starts writing down their numbers. After this I finally decided enough of this and when I had a lull in traffic pulled into the traffic lane and made a push to get beyond these guys and get some open road.

Between focussing on nutrition and riding at steady effort the miles started ticking away. Before I knew it I was at the King's Factory Rd turn at mile 16. Time for the hills. Before the race Rob had mentioned that he was going to go easy and just spin this section. Shortly into the hills I caught him and we essentially rode the same pace for the next 12 or so miles. First 4 miles seemed to be a long gradual climb. Caught Polly (climbing well) in this section, heard her say "It's about time", offered some encouragement and then forged on. Was able to keep the cadence high. Nice thing about this section is even though there's climbing it's a series of steps with opportunity for recovery before next climb. After a brief flatter section hit a steep section and this is where I saw Kathy who was looking strong.

At top of hills was the first bottle exchange (about 22 miles in?). Grabbed a water and re-loaded my aero bottle. Then settled in to aero position and picked up the pace chasing Rob. Soon came a downhill section but couldn't take full advantage as needed to be careful as road was kind of bumpy, potholes. Made it down to Rt 1 close behind Rob. At Rt 1 he took off like someone shot him out of a cannon.

Back on Rt1 was able to stay aero and just cruise at about 23 mph. Felt great. Short lived though as at turnaround ran smack into a nasty head wind. As fast as the ride out seemed it now felt like it took a lot of effort to stay moving at a decent speed. Decided to keep the gearing such that my cadence stayed around 100. Used a mixture of large chain ring / small chain ring / whatever it took to keep the cadence constant and the effort reasonable. Did not want to trash my legs here and then be gassed on the run. Was really happy to see the exit ramp for the downhill back into Narragansett. Coasted down the hill, made the series of turns back toward transition spinning at a high cadence to get the legs ready for the run.



Nothing. Feel like my nutrition, fluid, electrolyte plan worked perfectly. Additionally, feel like I responded appropriately to the head wind saving some legs for the run.

Smooth transition, fairly quick transition. Quickly racked bike, took off helmet, sunglasses and bike shoes. Running shoes on quickly (this time without an extra pair of socks stuffed in the toes). Had brought a small cooler with my Fuel Belt / Accelerade inside. Pulled Fuel Belt out and off. Made it about 29 feet and realized I needed my sunglasses so back, grabbed them and made a b-line for the port-a-john. No lines. 1-2 minutes added to my run time but well worth it.

Leave my sunglasses on.

Right out of transition ran through weeds to get to Port a John to get rid of some of the fluids I had done so well to get in on the bike. Saw this as a good sign that I had done well with my bike hydration. Quick stop and back running. This pit stop actually gave my family time to move further down the road so that I could give them each high 5's as I ran by.

Early on decided I would try to settle into a pace I thought I could run for the duration. No issues with the legs. They were there right away. Really had no idea what my pace was while I was running as I was focussed on just running off perceived exertion and making sure I was getting fluids, nutrition (Accelerade 2-3 ounces every mile except gel miles), electrolytes in. At every aid station I grabbed a cup of water, drank a couple of sips on the fly and threw the rest on my head/hat. Tried to remember to at least hit the lap button so I would have my splits.

First two miles went really well. Caught Rob just prior to mile 2. Exchanged encouragement. Ran continuously until mile 4 when I walked the aid station just long enough to be sure to get a Carb-boom gel, Endurolyte and full cup of water in. Continued to run continuously feeling good until about 8 miles when I again walked the aid station, took the gel, endurolyte and a full cup of water. Tried to get back into a rhythm but was starting to feel tired just around mile 9. Knew the gradual climb was coming between mile 9 and 10 and decided I would allow myself to walk for 20 seconds in the middle of the climb and then resume running. Hit the 10 mile mark and my quads started to feel like they were going to cramp up. Took another Endurolyte which I'm convinced saved my quads and allowed me to continue running the last 3.1 miles . The last 3 miles were a struggle both mentally and physically. Body kept wanting to slow and I kept telling myself to keep pushing to the finish line. Would look for the person in front of me and try to catch. About 3/4 mile from the finish a woman flew past me and offered words of encouragement. Made to turn toward the beach and quickly encountered what had to be the worst part of this race, the 1/4 mile finish on the beach. Nothing like having us run in sand to finish a HIM. :( Just tried to be careful to not twist an ankle. Saw the family, Kathy, Rob's wife Meredith just before the finish. Kind of cool to hear them announce my name as I finished.

Saw Rob, May, Tom out on the run course. Nice to see friendly faces and exchange quick words of encouragement

Perhaps start out at a little slower pace although at the time my pace felt ok.

None. I was exhausted. Tried to stretch. Went to stetch quad and my hammy went into spasm. Decided stretching would be for later. Walked down the beach and back with family waiting for others to finish.


Aside from losing another 15 pounds not even going to try to guess. I'm extremely psyched about how well my first HIM went particularly given my injury earlier this year and not being able to run for 6 weeks in June/July. I'm sure if I really reflect back I could figure something out but right now I'm just enjoying the moment.


Overall thought FirmMan was a good race but my thoughts may be biased by how psyched I am with my performance. Went into the race weighing 200.5 lbs. For kicks I checked the Clyde results and had I registered as a Clyde I would've taken 9th in that category.

Enjoyed the ocean swim and run course. The beach is awesome and kept my family entertained for the hours when I was out on the course. Despite what was a long day the kids had a great time which made me feel better about them being there at what isn't necessarily a spectator friendly course unless one is willing to drive. Beautiful, scenic. Found the bike to be a little more challenging than advertised by folks. It's not entirely flat and the headwinds were downright nasty. Additionally, Rt 1 has some wide shoulders in places but at the on/off ramps there are definitely some potentially dangerous sections where there is rought road/chatter strips marked with cones/orange paint. Requires bikes to go a little into traffic lane. Even worse when there are 6-8 bikes in close proximity. Seemed to be lots of debris on bike course and I saw lots of people with flats.

Lots of water stops on run course which was nice. Great volunteers! Families out with hoses to spray down runners. Brought my own sports drink and gels as I heard they were using Heed (yuk).

Bottome line: a nice local HIM that I will likely do again if it fits in the race calendar.