Buffalo Springs Lake Ironman 70.3 - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

This was a pretty poor swim for me. I knew it would be for a few reasons. First, I haven't been swimming a lot lately. Second, I decided last minute not to wear my wetsuit. The water temp was 77 degrees and my full suit (the only one I have) was just too hot. I also swam in my tri top, which I'm sure created drag. I wouldn't have been blazing fast with a wetsuit or without the tri top, but it cost me some time, I know.

Fact is, I just have to swim more. I've been getting steadily slower, so pool time is what I need.

Not much to do better. I might start next time with shoes on the bike. The transition line was not as close to the first hill as I was afraid it would be. I would have had time to get clipped in before going up. I would also put my socks on in T1 instead of T2. No blisters from the bike, but my feet weren't comfortable for 56 miles with no socks.

This course was deceptively fast. I heard for months about the hard climbs and not getting the benefit of the downhills. Well, the climbs were hard, but the downhills were faster than I expected. The flats were pretty nice because there wasn't too much wind. I felt pretty good on the bike. No hard pushing, no real discomfort in the legs. I got off feeling fairly refreshed, considering the length of the ride and number of hills. That's what makes my run so disappointing . . .

I might back off just a bit more than I did. I ramped my effort down just a bit from Iron Star. My legs felt much better off the bike this time, but my back was still sore. I need to figure a way to get myself used to riding aero so much. The back was a bit of a limiter on the run.

Nothing. It was a good transition for me.

Not a good run for me. In fact, it was terrible, and I don't know where things went wrong. I suppose it starts with training . . . I haven't done enough . . . but it doesn't end there. When I began the run, I felt fine. My back was a bit sore from the bike, but my legs felt fairly refreshed. I hit the run course about about 10:00 AM or so, and I thought I was on pace for a PR. I'd trained more running since October and really felt I could go under 2 hours and possibly close to 1:50 for the 1/2 marathon.

I started slow to work the kinks out and it seemed to be working. After 2 miles, my back was loosening up and my legs felt fine. But, at Mile 3 or 4, the wheels came off my left leg. I'd been having problems with a sore hamstring and calf, but they weren't bothering me on the BSLT run. No . . . what got me was a stabbing pain in my left knee that got progressively worse as the run went on. I had to slow to a walk every so often because the pain was so intense. When it started, I knew my hopes for a sub 2 hour run were going out the window. I still thought I might get close to a 5:15 total finish if I could manage to jog constantly and walk briskly through the aid stations. It just wasn't to be. Running up and down the hills was just excrutiating . . . down even more so than up.

This was all the more disappointing because my heart rate wasn't high at all. I didn't feel like I was pushing myself much, and I really wanted to go faster. My knee just couldn't take the pounding. I don't know what the pain is/was . . . I'm told by several folks that it's an IT band issue. Maybe. It doesn't feel muscular, but then, I've never had IT band problems before. Also, my quads, hamstrings, and calves weren't too tired and didn't feel fatigued, so I'm a bit mystified by that.

The only thing I can figure is that my previous hamstring and calf issues in my left leg, along with my sore back after the ride might have had me running with poor form and a bad gait, which put too much stress on my left knee. I need to pay attention to form more, no doubt. Anyhoo . . . hopefully, I'll figure it out soon and be able to correct for it before IM Moo. I don't think I could do 26.2 miles with that kind of pain.

Back off a little more on the bike. Although I didn't feel fatigued afterward, I think my run form suffered because of my back issues and my leg muscle tightness. A slower bike might have reduced those issues significantly.

They need better post race food. The fruit was nice, but I didn't find any really good substantial food. If they had pizza and that kind of stuff, I didn't see it.