Memorial Hermann Ironman 70.3 Texas - Triathlon

This was to be my first non-wetsuit triathlon (New England water is rarely not-legal). I was actually looking forward to seeing what I could do. I also adjusted my expectations a bit and started to figure an extra 5-7 minutes on whatever my total time would be, but had to admit I had no idea how long it would take me to swim this one (no long, non-wetsuit OWS of this distance in my training or past racing). I actually loved the uncertainty of it!!

LESSON FIVE: Do not just roll with changes, try to embrace them. It's way more fun.

Tread water start. Did a quick warmup in the couple minutes after jumping off the dock to warm up (thankfully, as I don't like to start the race without at least a short swim).

Hit it fairly hard at the start and found what seemed a good pair of feet. I was sighting and every time I did, saw that he was also sighting. We were going very straight. That's when I decided that I would hang on these feet, even if it meant swimming on the rivet the whole time, and mostly trust his navigation (with the occasional spot check).

He surged a few times (seemed every time I brushed a foot with my hand!), and I had to dig to stay with (I think he was trying to shake me). But then we'd eventually go through the back of a previous wave and he'd slow just that little bit that saw me back well within my comfort zone. My addiction to oxygen did not pose a problem, and I was able to stay on his feet until about 100' from the exit where it just got ridonkulously crowded and we both were melee swimming to get out intact.

LESSON SIX: Tactics matter, even in a long race where you are being very careful to not totally bury yourself. Staying on those feet made a big difference mentally, and I'm sure helped my overall time significantly - or at least let me come out of the water feeling fresh.

LESSON SEVEN: all the BT-ers were right. Masters swimming helps. No more proof needed than my survival of this swim without my "wubby" (wetsuit).

Also, on the run my teres muscles felt ok and did not cramp up after the race, as they have the last two. I credit this to both my masters coach giving me some suggestions and my daughter, who told me I swim, "Flat and splashy." Good reinforcement of what not to do, and these small changes in form really helped, I think.

Not much. I had more gas in the tank, but if I tried to pass my draftee, I would have been able to probably only hold his pace rather than go much faster (good draft).

Very happy with the practice drafting, the way I swam technically and the tactical decision making.

This was the most fun swim I think I've done (though certainly not my fastest).

Decided to put shoes on at bike and run in them (Specialized ones are made for that) rather than having them on the bike, as it was a long and not so well swept jog over concrete/tarmac to the mount line. Worth the extra 0.7 seconds it took me to avoid a bone bruise on my heel.

No wetsuit to strip out of helped, although it felt weird to just grab and go!

Not much. Longish run. Could've done it a tiny bit faster, but this race was about remembering what the heck to do here, so I'm good with this one.

I was really curious to see what a flat course would be like, and this one was FLAT. But, as often happens, conditions weren't otherwise ideal. We got rain about 10 miles in to the bike, and then hail at around mile 20 for a few miles (the "plink plink plink" off my helmet and glasses was an interesting sound, as was what felt like an impromptu acupuncture session). Wind went from very little to starting to honk just before the turn. I got a few miles of tailwind before turning back into the teeth of it. Why it never seems to go the other way 'round, I'll never know.

LESSON EIGHT: You will always be happier if you embrace the suck (and happy helps you deal with pain).

At one point when the hail started, I actually started laughing out loud. A guy (who'd been drafting off me for a while, but anyway) said, "Dude?!?" As in, what the heck is wrong with you. I could only reply, "I love the way this sucks!" And I did - it was a blast riding in those conditions.

As far as execution, this went pretty well. I was figuring based on my previous 2 HIM's and some non-ideal training rides, that my HR should be low 140's and I'd accept whatever W I got from that. Sort of testing where I am, but I thought it might be in the low 200W range (205 or so). My AP was 201W and WAP was 204W, so that estimate was about right.

Focused on staying consistent and in aero. Only came out of aero a couple times, for a few seconds, the whole race (a couple sharp corners and when one dude in front of me veered across the whole course and almost straight into a truck - that got my HR jacked just seeing it unfold, happily to no harm).

LESSON NINE: Don't ride like a roadie in a tri. If you limit your power spikes to staying legal (and it required quite a few of those), rather than trying to beat someone who passes you and win just that mile, you'll finish faster and feel better for the run.

I let a number of guys in my AG pass me over the first 15 miles, but reeled every one of them in by the end (and stayed legal doing so, which was... ummmm.... not so much a concern among several of them). Finished where I started, in 9th in my AG - not because I targeted that, but I was happy with the execution here and I think it paid off.

LESSON TEN: Plan your race and race your plan.

I felt really good on the bike and could have gone way harder - for the first half. Pretty sure that would have bitten me hard later, though, and I wouldn't have been able to get good data on my overall fitness. One of these days, I'll plan to try a HIM with a crazy bonkers bike and see what happens on the run - but that wasn't the plan for this race.

Nutrition was good, although I was a touch hungry by the end. Took about 4.5 GU's (strawberry banana) and two large bike bottles of Skratch Matcha stuff, plus the better part of a hand up bottle of water. Figure it was around 700 calories, which is what I usually shoot for, but I was wishing I had one or two more GU or a bar or something at around mile 50.

LESSON ELEVEN: Bring just a bit more food (nutrition, for the tri nuts amongst us... guilty!) than you think you need.

I brought the one flask filled with 4.5 GU. While it was not a big deal to have maybe wanted one more or so, getting to it in my tri top pocket while riding a crowded course in the wind and hail? Well, I could have easily dropped that bottle and I'd have been well and truly off my plan. I could have picked up something at the stops (I think they had food), but that would have been difficult, not what I'd necessarily trained with (or maybe, but I don't know) and something that could get in my head.

So, next time I'll have juuuuust a couple extra packets in addition to a flask. If I drop the flask, that will get me to the next aid station and whatever they have there. I can live off the course, but the bike doesn't provide enough stops and concentrated food options to get what I personally need (three or four GU's over a whole ride would be slightly less than optimal). I also could have just drank more Skratch, but I don't want to overhydrate and get all bloaty just to get some calories. Eat food, drink fluids....

What everyone seems to say - train more! Actually, for only having one build cycle after my base period, this was a good ride for me. While I did learn a lot on this ride, I would do it about the same in terms of power for this time of the year. I'd like to push my AP at this distance up by 10-15W or so by later in the season...

Took a little extra time to get socks on, but at the HIM distance a blister will slow me down more than the 12 seconds I lost to my socking. Again, probably could have been a few seconds quicker in grabbing my stuff, but not more than 10 or so. Good practice.

Put socks/shoes on first, then grab race belt and go. I put the race belt on top of my shoes so I wouldn't forget my number, but I think even after a long ride I can be pretty sure I'll remember the number if it's also RIGHT there. Not sure why that one thing got in my head -that I'd forget my number!

My goal here was to run at a HR of about 155 or so for the first 9-10 miles then see if I could push up to 165 (my threshold HR) for the last 5k or so, and also to avoid injury or burying myself sooooo deeply that I had to take a couple weeks to recover (as I should have done the last two, but didn't - and sustained minor injuries coming back to training too quickly both times). Said another way, to race smart and not recover stoopid.

My last two HIM runs, I was muscularly fatigued to the point that I could only manage a slow decline in HR over the last 10k and could not move my legs fast/hard enough to push my HR back up. Definitely felt like a muscular fatigue over lack of aerobic capacity (my pace at the end didn't feel limited by cardio, but rather by being able to "pick 'em up and put 'em down" quickly).

Wasn't sure what the pace would be, but was hopeful that it would be steady and get me close to a 1:43. That's about what a good run should have been for me given a recent 10k race time and a well executed bike (which this felt like it was coming in to T2).

LESSON TWELVE: Triathlon is just like flying or deep-water sailing. Always have, and be willing to use, a plan B (and maybe C). It keeps you from getting into some nasty jams.

So, it turns out Texas can be hot. I know: shocker.

The run started great. It was reasonably cool and overcast, and my target HR saw a pace in the low 7m/m range through mile 3.5 (so it was sustained, not just a fast start and then a blow up). Then the sun started to peeeeeeek out. Boom - same HR got me up to around 8m/m.

Then the clouds went away... BAM - felt like a lobster who just arrived at a "clam bake," only to realize how inaccurate that event name is.

Here is where I decided to switch to plan B. I think I could have held a similar heart rate and just had a slightly lower pace, but I pulled back even a bit more, trading my first goal of seeing what pace would correlate with a given HR (even with those data being not entirely informative, given that the high heat and humidity came on midway in the run) for my second and more important goal of not burying myself so dang deeply again.

I consciously walked the rest stops. That was the plan for high heat, but I have never done it before and definitely had the internal conversation about wussing out and such. Then rational thought prevailed, and I walked the aid stations, grabbed and ate lots of ice, hydrated to thirst (not ignoring it in favor of running past) and made sure to eat two of my three GU's for both the calories and the salt (even though my stomach didn't entirely want food - also a nice change from previous races where I bailed on my run nutrition when my stomach felt a little iffy... this worked better).

I also allowed my HR to drop below the target by an additional 2-4 bpm for a few middle miles. When I got to the last 2 miles or so, I decided that I actually felt pretty good and could at least test whether I could push the pace back up and see if I could get my HR near my LTHR. I did, and finished strong.

While about 8-9 of my AG passed me during the middle, slower portion of the run, avoiding blowing up in that heat (and I knew what pace would work to keep me from exploding - see below) let me pass all but 3 of them in the last 2 miles.

Finished 12th in my AG, with which I was quite happy. I also learned a thing or two about the trade offs of mitigating heat effects against pace, and that going slower (walking water stations) in spots in the heat can lead to going faster than you would otherwise (finishing strong). I wouldn't do that on a cool day, but it sure worked here.

LESSON THIRTEEN: Train in conditions you might encounter in your race.

This one applies to all three elements. I swam without a wetsuit and learned body position - that really helped. I biked in rain and wind and snotty conditions - that gave me confidence when the weather went a bit south. I ran in the heat of the day and that... well, that sucked. But at least I knew by how much I needed to modify my pace to avoid blowing up or digging myself into a hole that would take 2-3 weeks from which to recover.

It felt great to finish actually running for the last couple miles instead of jogging and coming across the line feeling all tall and stridey (which is something, for a short guy).


Not my fastest, or even the fastest I could have perhaps run on this day, but it was sure close. Much more importantly, I finished well (about 30" from an overall PR at the distance), got a good test of fitness and really had to race intelligently. Perhaps not something for which I'm known... This was the most challenging race I've done from that standpoint, and I really took a ton away from this one. Not much I'd change.

Crossed the line. Stretched and drank water and chatted with racers - awesome energy and emotion among all those finishers! Ate my extra GU (still was hungry!). Stretched lightly and took inventory. Best I've felt after a HIM - and a couple Oly's, too - so far.

Marc and Nicole went off after I did and didn't pass me, so I waited a short time for them both to come across and tri-geeked out talking about our races and such. Great fun.

Saw Andy Potts and thanked him for some running advice he gave me a couple years ago after another race that had really helped (how's that for a name drop and fan-boy-ing all at the same time!?!). Super nice guy. Marc asked him a question on how he targeted the bike effort and he responded with, basically, "I just race hard on the bike." On follow up, he responded, "I just go out and race hard on the bike." What a killer answer!

Got some Pizza with Nicole and her mom in the after tent, then cleaned up and met them and Marc at Galveston Island Brewery for more tri-talk and a fantastic IPA (my kryptonite or spinach, depending on the hero cycle I'm in... after a race, it's more the latter!). Went back for awards and roll down with Marc, but got there late and just caught the very end.

Drove home through an epic lightning storm and was finally able to get on top of my hunger!


I went faster than I thought I would in this race. Non-wetsuit, early in the season, fewer long bikes than I'd like even at this point in the season and then some tougher weather in the form of wind, hail and then heat by the end of the race (I don't like late waves!)... To be about 30" off my previous best, even with a very flat course, was more than I had hoped for.


Very fun race. Great people, volunteers, racers, etc. Well run, even if the registration taking 2 hours was not ideal, and a nice venue. I even didn't mind the short loops on the run (three more... two more... last time around!). Likely will be back yearly.