Spirit of Racine Half Ironman Triathlon - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

Very good swim. I felt comfortable the whole time. I pretty much swam this one by myself, since I never found any good feet to stay with. When I did, their sighting wasn't good, so I left them. I took it as a warm up and tried to stay comfortably fast. Mission accomplished.

I enjoyed the swim in the big Lake and we were a little lucky in that the waves were nothing like the day before. Much wavier than an inland lake, but not bad for Lake Michigan.

Not much. I got off to a good start, and really found a good comfortable rhythm.

Good transition. With approximately 1300 people in the race and assigned transition areas, the transition area is big. So, a good deal of this time is jogging through transtion. Had the shoes in the pedals, so it was: wetsuit off, helmet and glasses on, and off to do 56 miles. Considering the length of the race, and I was trying to be cautiously fast, this time was good. I also went number one here, b/c, well, I had too and no one was around.

Not much, pretty efficient.

The bike for me was awesome. I really stuck to my pacing plan and my nutrition. I nailed the full 2.5 hours here. My plan was to take the first 15 miles easy (thanks for the tip, Jorge!) and then find a groove. So, I let the hammerheads go at the beginning. When the people in my age group passed me, I just uttered, "nice swim" (under my breath of course - humor is great medicine).

I wasn't going to look at speed, just cadence and AHR, but I peeked at 15 miles and I was doing 20.8 and I was really just getting warmed up, so that felt great. My HR was like 135 and I felt I could go forever. Then, I slowly started to pick up the pace and then just dialed it back, if my HR got out of the zone.

The ride was very fun. The people of Racine really come out to watch. Nice scenery and just a fun ride. I was thinking I might catch Whizz around mile 50 or so, but when I saw her at mile 20, I knew I was having a good race, b/c she was moving at a good pace herself. I said something about her age (which was on her calf), which at the time I thought was funny, but probably wasn't. I did see tripletmom on the bike and tried to give some encouragement. I wasn't sure it was her, until she acknowledged. I caught up to sneaky Pete (PeterAK) at around 35 miles, I think. He was going good, too. He had got caught up in this pace line as it was passing him. I am pretty sure he didn't get penalized, as he definitely wasn't drafting. I actually tried to pass him but couldn't. I dropped back and then ended up passing him after another couple of miles. We talked a little bit, but not sure about what (that damn pace line?).

Another cool part of my ride was watching the pros come back in. They were flying. They had the motorcycles and cameras in front of them, so you knew when they were coming.

I took in 5 gels, 5 salt tablets, 24oz GE, 72oz of water, and a cliff bar.

Not much. I dropped my chance at one last water bottle at the 45mile mark. I think I could have used about 8-12 more oz, but I guess the bike was lighter coming in.

T2 was OK. I took a little time to gather myself for the run and tried to go to the bathroom in one of my towels. I was unsuccessful. Oh well, I figured I could find a place on the run. I started to put on my socks, and there was only one there. Oh crap! I looked around under my towel, everywhere. A little bit of panic, here. For a second, I thought I would have to run the 1/2 mary w/o socks. Not good. I put on my fuel belt trying to think this over and then I saw it velcroed to my bike shoe on my bike. I must have attached as I was racking my bike. Whew, that was a relief.

This time could have been better, but I wanted to be sure I had everything for the run.

Put the belt on during the jog through transition. I had the fuel belt, so that messed my timing up a bit. OK, though.

Going into the run, I felt pretty good. I had kept the HR down, and I was properly fueled and hydrated. I probably felt too good, b/c I went out a little fast. My plan was to take the first 4 miles easy, and then pick up the pace from there. Well, I felt so good, I ended up do the first 6 miles in just over 49 minutes. I started thinking maybe I could break 5 hours! Well, it didn't take long before my HR was getting very high and my pace was slowing down. Darn it.

I ended up going to the bathroom at one of the porta potties along the way around mile 4. And that helped for the next couple miles, but I think my body was starting to rebel at exerting myself for longer than ever before. I saw David Thompson (winner of the event) coming in and he was just flying. I got passed by Lisa Bently, but I saw the motorcycle with camera, so I did a big "Love Life" symbol as she flew by. I am sure that will be left on the editing room floor, but would be cool to see if it makes the broadcast.

Mile 8 and 9 were tough, as my walks through the aid stations became even longer than the first walks. I kept seeing fellow BTers, which kept me moving forward. All triathletes are awesome, but BTers have a way to keep you motivated (probably b/c you don't want them to see you falling apart).

The last 3 miles, I was just kind of holding on. I wanted to push it in the last mile, but I couldn't.

Got to the last tenth of a mile, and as I was looking for my family when my son popped out to run the last 100m with me. And, he almost beat me in. Very cool pick me up. I found out later that my daughter was going to do the same thing, but she tripped and scrapped her arm up. She was pretty disapointed. I told her she could do it next time. Nothing a nice pink cookie from the food tent couldn't solve.

Run splits (unfortunately, I only got HR for 1st mile, and at the halfway point b/c I didn't have the Garmin HR strap on):

1m: 8:12, ahr 149
2m: 8:05 (feeling good)
3m: 8:18
4m: 8:10 (When I saw Dumpster here, he looked good to me, and I was in range, which told me I was having a good race)
5m: 8:11
6m: 8:16 (hit the HR split here and for the 1st 6 miles it was 153...I wanted to stay below 149 for the 1st half)
7m: 8:32
8m: 8:36 (minor calf cramps and some arch pain)
9m: 8:56 (hitting a bit of a soft wall)
10m: 9:08 (not dead yet)
11m: 9:05 (OK, 13.1 is a LONG way)
12m: 9:16
13m: 9:33 (not exactly the strong finish I was visioning the night before)
.1m: 8:24 (a little surge from seeing the crowd, my wife and kids and my mother-in-law)

Stick to my plan and start out slower. Walk ALL aid stations. That is how I trained, but somehow thought I was OK. Even with that, I am satisfied with this run.

Talked with the family, kids, mother-in-law. Went to get some food. I got some ice for my foot (arch hurt), and then went to the Cabana. Talked with Coredump awhile about our races. Then he suggested a swim in the lake, so I took my son down there to cool off. Great idea, Dumpster! The lake felt awesome!!!

Got back in time to see Whizz, Jowisc, and HL finish. Listened to the live music, and then packed up the cabana and the family.


This was a great race for me. Much better than I imagined (and trust me, I imagined some lofty times). I think I did much better than I expected for a first HIM. Minor mistake would be going out a little fast on the run, but I am not sure how much time that cost me.



Wow, what a great race and race venue. The beach and Lake Michigan are beautiful. The volunteers were amazing. They were everywhere. The people of Racine really embrace this event. If you are looking for an HIM to do in the Midwest, put this one on the calendar.