Spirit of Racine Half Ironman Triathlon - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

Our wave eventually started and we all ran into the water and started swimming when it got deep enough. While swimming to the first buoy I saw another swimmer in my wave struggling to keep a swimmer from the previous wave above water and I started to swim towards them to help. In the time it took me to get there second swimmer started to help him and I was the 3rd swimmer helping out. The swimmer who was having trouble was awake and I'm not sure what her deal was but the lifeguards sure took their time getting there. After they got there and secured her we started our swim and it took me a while to get my head back. Eventually I was able to get into my rhythm and finished the swim fine.

Nothing. My first race was with TNT and someone from my team drowned. I couldn't stop thinking about that after helping the other guys. Eventually I relaxed and had a pretty good swim. Usually I get really dizzy coming out of the swim but read that I should kick hard on the last 100 yards. Tried this and was able to almost run in a straight line up the beach.

After the long run up the beach, and seeing family and friends, I made it into transition and started to strip my wetsuit off. Socks, bike shoes, glasses, helmet, bike, and on my way out.

Considering I had to take off a wetsuit I'm cool with this time. The only thing I'd like to do different is learn how to start with my shoes attached to my bike.

I remembered to start in an easy gear so the first hill wasn't a problem and I settled into the bike quickly. For the first 20 miles I was doing great and I've become a huge fan of Infinitnutrition. A friend has did this race a couple years ago and said it was a flat course so I was riding like I was expecting this. Either they've changed the route or we have a difference of definitions because the bike wasn't nearly as flat as I was expecting. I went from 21 - 22mph in the first 2/3 of the bike to 17 - 18mph at the end.

I didn't grab drinks at every aid station and a couple times I ran out. Especially after the last station. Ended up finishing the bike with only water and could have really used some sports drink. The other thing I have to work on is my climbing. I'm not all that good at it and got dropped more and more as the ride went on.

Got off the bike and ran through transition with out any problem. My spot was close to the swim entrance so had to run most of it in bike shoes. Racked bike, popped shoes off, running shoes on, helmet off, running hat on, take a deep breath, and jogged out feeling pretty good.

I haven't practiced riding with my feet out of my shoes and the running dismount. I'm going to make sure this is ready for the next race.

I didn't have any delusions of running the entire half marathon and had a plan of running 4 minutes / walking 1. This worked great for me and I adjusted my run time based on walking through aid stations. This strategy made it so I was able to run pretty strong the last mile or so and have a strong finish.

I stopped at every aid station and don't think I really needed to. Next race I think I'll bring a hydration belt and refill as needed. Also, I feel that I might have been able to push a little harder on my run.

After the race there was hardly any food left and my family left my bag with my post race drink in the car. They brought a plastic bag of dirty clothes instead. Oh well, still love them. Eventually the race brought in a truck load of food and I jumped all over that but had a hard time digesting the food. The family wasn't too interested in relaxing at the race much longer than it took for me to stretch out and I was very rushed into the back seat of a car to drive home.


I had a training program that a couple of friends where doing with a group. I was following it really well but there was no information about the intensity of the workouts so I ended doing them all about the same. Next time I'm going to either join a group or get a more detailed program.


I had set a goal window of 5:30 - 6:00 and even though I was outside of that window I'm OK with how the race went. It was a real test and I made it through with out injury.

The race over all was really unorganized but they did keep transition secure which was nice. Racine is a pretty cool little town and the people really came out to cheer and hose down the runners. It was fun and I'd recommend it to someone.