Ironman 70.3 Timberman - Triathlon

About 75% of the swim I spent completely surrounded by other swimmers. Constantly hitting others and constantly being hit. I barely had any time to really swim like I wanted. I took two good smacks to the face around 500 yards in, but it comes with the territory! It just never eased up. I like to stay close to the buoys so I know this can be a turbulent area. I just wish people from earlier heats who resort to breaststroke, back stroke or not moving at all would get the hell out of the way. Move to the outside. It is not fun for me and i can't imagine it is fun for you either. The good thing was that the water was so clear that I could easily see underwater where everyone else was. I sighted much less than I normally would because I could see the people's feet in front of me.

Possibly move to the outside more, but probably not:)

I realized in T1 that i had not used my inhaler before the race. It was on my race belt so it took about 20 seconds to take it off and put it in my trisuit pocket just in case. The transition area was very very tight, so I took a bit longer because I definitely did not want to knock over anyone else's bike.

I did not use the wetsuit strippers because I don't have much trouble taking mine off. For the rest of the day you could tell who did use the strippers though because their back was covered in dirt.

Use inhaler before race.

Lost my water bottle on a downhill around mile 10. I still had two bottles of Gatorade Endurance with me but i knew I was going to need to grab a water bottle from the aid station which I had never done before. It surprising went well and the coldness of that water made me question why I don't always get a fresh water bottle half way through. I did not want to use my aero water bottle holder again to insure nothing fell out again so I ditched my own empty Endurance bottle when I picked up the water. The right velcro on my saddle bag also came undone at least a dozen times during the race. I could fix it while riding and it was never going to fall off completely because it is zip tied but every time I hit a bump the right side would swing off and hit my leg letting me know it was dangling. Luckily it was not hitting my wheel but this will definitely need to be fixed for the future! I added an extra tube and co2 cartridge in the bag before this race but the velcro of the bag could obviously not support this extra weight. It fist happened around mile 2 so I knew I was in for an annoying ride.

I knew the beginning 12 miles and last 12 miles were hilly but what I did not know what that the 14 miles or so until the turn around were slightly downhill, I was told it was flat, which I guess it technically is. I FLEW during this section clocking in my two fastest 5 mile splits ever! I was really happy, but I knew that if I was moving this fast that it was gonna be less fun after the turn around.... and it was. The 14 miles or so after the turnaround were slightly uphill and i was hurting! I was averaging about 15 mph and i was dying for a downhill or even a big uphill to get out of the saddle. This made the last section of hills an actual treat! I dreaded this last section of hills for weeks but it turned out to not even be my most painful section of the race!

UUUHHH lots of technical things! Secure aero water bottle better and saddle bag. I knew before the race that there could be an issue with the saddle bag. Next time if I think there could be any kind of issue assume there will be and take care of it before race!! Don't leave it up to chance! Overall I was pretty happy with my bike though!

Don't tell anyone but I sat down to change my shoes and as I did this I peed in the grass. I am very talented. It saved time and needed to be done! Then splashed a little water on myself and off I went:)

Nada

It was hot and hilly. My plan was to only walk aid stations. That lasted for about 6 miles, then on an uphill I was "running" the same pace the person in front of me was walking so I thought it a better use of my energy to walk (though quickly). I continued to run and walk the hills the rest of the run. I knew if I stayed around a 12:02 pace that I would PR so I aimed for that.

Not much. Even though I walked a bit I was happy with my performance considering conditions.

Collapsing on my butt in the shade:) Waited a bit before hitting the athlete food for watermelon, ice cream and pizza!


I had hoped for some cooler New England weather. I am sure I could have gone a bit faster if it had not been so terribly hot, but it is what it is.

I live in a flat area and it is hard to make time to travel 45 minutes to train on hills. I did train on hills but would have liked to more.

I stayed positive during the whole race, smiled and had fun.


I would love to do this race again but it is a bit far making it a big time commitment for a half.