New Balance 1/2 Ironman - Triathlon1/2 Ironman


View Member's Race Log View other race reports
Victoria, British Columbia
Canada
MULTI-SPORT PROMOTIONS
Overcast
Total Time = 4h 54m 55s
Overall Rank = 138/599
Age Group = M25-29
Age Group Rank = 11/25
Pre-race routine:

Got up at 4:30 after a night of tossing and turning. Ate a bagel and drank some coffee. I had everything together the night before so I just relaxed until we had to get going.

Once we got to the race I scored a great spot in transition, set everything up and ran around trying to find Kristi to wish her a good race. Couldn't find her though.
Event warmup:

Got in the water and swam for about 3 min. Not to much just loosened up the arms hoping to have a good swim.
Swim
  • 36m
  • 2000 meters
  • 01m 48s / 100 meters
Comments:

Swim was 2000m and not 1900m which is the standard Half Iron distance

Swim went really well. It was pretty rough at the beginning but I settled into a good pace and tried to hitch a draft when I could. I got a little off course at one point which probably cost me about 30 secs but all in all this was the best open water swim I've had to date.
What would you do differently?:

Not much. Work on sighting a little more.
Transition 1
  • 02m 40s
Comments:

Bad transition. I tried to get on arm warmers because it was kind of chilly but my body was so wet I spent around a min just trying to get those damn things on. I would have been ok without them in hindsight but what can you do.
What would you do differently?:

No arm warmers!
Bike
  • 2h 27m 6s
  • 80 kms
  • 32.63 km/hr
Comments:

Bike was shortened the week before the race due to road conflicts. It was 80k instead of 91k. Crappy.

When I started the bike I was still really dizzy from the swim. I was all over the road. It look be about 5 min to calm down and settle in. The good thing was is that I immediately started to pass people which gave me a boost.

I wasn't quite sure what to expect for this course. It was really hilly so there was crap loads of climbing which at the moment my body isn't build for. Take 20 pounds off my frame and I think I would enjoy them a lot more.

The first loop went really well. I just tried to take it nice and easy knowing that I had to run 20k after. There were two problems that started to surface though after the first loop. One was that my pertpertum (nutrition) was to strong and causing some stomach troubles and the other was my back was REALLY starting to hurt.

The second loop I slowed down a lot but that was mainly due to problem #2. My back was in agony. I dreaded getting back into the areo position and ended up spending a lot of time sitting up which slowed me down. My legs felt awesome though so I was looking forward to getting to the run and stretching out my back.
What would you do differently?:

Not sure. I think that I need to practice some harder efforts in the aero position to strengthen my back. I can't feel like that at Ironman or it will be an even longer day then it already will be.
Transition 2
  • 01m 6s
Comments:

Good. Felt pretty efficient and my back was happy to get off the bike.
Run
  • 1h 48m 5s
  • 20 kms
  • 05m 24s  min/km
Comments:

This run was 1k shorter then the standard half Iron distance.

When I first started to run I knew it was going to be painful. I felt sick right from the get go. I couldn't even think about drinking anything or eating anything. I was barely moving forward and was dry heaving. I actually was wishing that I would just have a nice good puke and get out what ever was causing these horrible pains. I got passed by about 50 people in the first 5k or the run. It was demoralizing. Everything was seeming to come apart.

Then something good happened. About 45 min into the run my stomach settled down and my legs which truly really didn't feel all that bad picked up the pace. All of a sudden I was back into it. I had been running around 6 min km's up till then and started to really pick up steam putting in a few sub 5 min kms. I didn't know how long the good feeling was going to last and how long my stomach would hold out so I decided to just push the pace as my legs were still doing really well and up to this point it was other problems holding back my speed.

I ended up holding a pretty good pace for the rest of the run. The last 3k was probably the most painful experience of my life, but I managed to hang on and run my second 10k 6 minutes faster then my first. It was a huge negative split which I was not expecting at all going into the race. It really felt good to finish off so strong. I think that If I could get the nutrition right I could run a lot faster next time.
What would you do differently?:

Not sure. I'll have to think about my nutrition a bit.
Post race
Warm down:

Walked around and chatted.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Inexperience as this was my first crack at a longer distance race, back issues on the bike and stomach issues on the run.

Event comments:

I was a little ticked that they changed the bike such that it was considerably shorter then a true half iron but it was still a good race. Based on this race and my paces it is about equivalent to around a 5:08 - 5:12 actual distance half iron taking into account the longer distance would have slowed me down even a little more.

I'm really happy with that as it is my first crack at the longer stuff. My goal was sub 5:30 half and I think that I would have beat that easily.




Last updated: 2007-06-18 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:36:00 | 2000 meters | 01m 48s / 100meters
Age Group: 16/25
Overall: 206/599
Performance: Good
1:37 / 100 yd
Suit: Nineteen wetsuit
Course: 1 loop
Start type: Wade Plus: Waves
Water temp: 0F / 0C Current:
200M Perf. Good Remainder: Good
Breathing: Good Drafting: Average
Waves: Navigation: Good
Rounding: Good
T1
Time: 02:40
Performance: Bad
Cap removal: Below average Helmet on/
Suit off:
No
Wetsuit stuck? Yes Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: No
Getting up to speed:
Biking
02:27:06 | 80 kms | 32.63 km/hr
Age Group: 9/25
Overall: 88/599
Performance: Average
20.25 mph
Wind: Some
Course: 2 loops very hilly
Road: Rough  Cadence:
Turns: Good Cornering: Good
Gear changes: Good Hills: Average
Race pace: Comfortable Drinks: Not enough
T2
Time: 01:06
Overall: Good
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike
Running with bike
Racking bike
Shoe and helmet removal
Running
01:48:05 | 20 kms | 05m 24s  min/km
Age Group: 19/25
Overall: 253/599
Performance: Below average
8:43 min/mi
Course: 2 loops trail run
Keeping cool Drinking
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall:
Mental exertion [1-5] 5
Physical exertion [1-5] 5
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? No
Post race activities:
Race evaluation [1-5]