Soma Half Iron Triathlon - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

I went straight to the front as no one was around and thought what the heck. I haven't swam in 10 days I might as well be first. I've never tried that strategy before. The gun went off and we all took off and of course everybody bunched together so that we could get through the first bridge opening. I'd say all the way up to the first buoy was a complete struggle. I didn't feel like I had anything in way of rhythm or stamina. I of course immediately thought I wasn't going to be able to make it, the self-doubt started creeping in. I turned the fist buoy and the second wasn't far so I kept concentrating on that. After turning that one we were going directly into the sun. I immediately forgot about how I felt and just thought about where I was supposed to go. Things cleared out a lot then and I felt like I was just cruising along with not to many people around. I think that's when I started different colored caps passing me. I wasn't even half way done and the wave after me was flying by. I was convinced I was swimming the slowest I'd ever gone, although for some reason I didn't really care. I knew that if I was going to get through the day I couldn't worry about anyone else but myeself.

After a while I realized that I was by myself because I was way out wide. I then remembered in the back of my head that the announcer said we could only use two passages under the bridge. I, of course, was swimming towards a third. I had to alter course to get back on track and luckily I don't think it cost me to much time. The rest of the swim had me out wide but on course. I was quite happy to turn around the last time and head towards the buoy in front of the stairs!

Get more practive in and not take almost two weeks off before the race.

I got out of the water and ran straight to the wet suit strippers. I heard a lot of complaints about them after the race, but the two ladies I got rocked. The ripped it off the top, I sat down and they ripped off the bottom. I was up and out in no time.

I started running to transition and looked at my HR monitor. I was about about 186. I laughed and kept going.

They made me run the long way to my bike which as silly but whatever. I got there grabbed a towel, dried off, put on my socks, shoes, helmet and glasses. I noticed that everyone was putting on their race belts so I asked somebody and he said that you were supposed to. Weird, as I've never had to do that on the bike, but i put it on anyway. I also grabbed a handful of GU's, my bike and then jammed.

PUT ON SUNSCREEN JACKA$$!!!!!!

When I was running out of transition I saw Dave at his sweet spot (three away from the bike exit) and yelled at him. I got out the exit and he was behind me yelling "I'm coming for you!". I was laughing as people probably thought we were nuts.

He past me a few miles and and made a comment about my a$$, so I threw a bottle at him, j/k. I spent the rest of the day yelling at him every time I saw him.

I had ridden the course a few months ago so I knew what to expect. It's very flat so the real trick was to know when to go and when to slow for turns and turn arounds. The first loop I figured everything out including the course change that they had. Although the hills were small I really had nothing in my legs to get me up then. I honestly think I was in the granny gear every time. What's up with that? I just pulled to the side and spun up them thinking at least my HR is low. Oh yeah, it wasn't.

Side note: I have no idea what was up with my HR. It was higher than a kite all day long. I think for the whole race I averaged 172 and I'm guessing that's not good. No wonder it almost ended in disaster.

I started my nutrition plan as soon as I jumped on the bike by drinking some Infinit and followed by water. My plan was to drink Inifinit every 15 minutes, with water in between and then GU's every 45 minutes or so. I ate my first GU at 45 and the my second at 1:35 and then my third at about 2:20. My bottle of Infinit was mixed with 4 scoops, so it was 1/2 mix and 1/2 water. I would take sips and then dilute it with water from my aerobottle.

Side note: This is the first time I used my aerobottle and I really like it. I drank more water than I ever had on the bike.

I drank and filled up the aerobottle 3 times and on the last loop I grabbed some gatorade to change it up a bit.

On the second loop I was about 1/3 of the way done and I started feeling my neck. It was then that I realized I forgot to use my sunscreen. I was so pissed, I couldn't believe it. I'm really the last person that should forget that as I burn at night. Ridiculous. There was nothing I could do as I didn't have any and I had nothing that I could put on my neck to cover it up. What are you going to do? I just kept going.

During the third and final loop my "area" started hurting pretty bad. The seat contact was not treating me so sweet. I've worn the my trisuit at a couple of races and 1 of the 2 times I had an issue. Well I had the issue again and it's not what I was hoping for.

I'll try not to get to graphic, but I had to adjust myself quite often and I could tell that perhaps body glide might have been appropriate, a strange revelation to be sure. I'll leave it at that.

On the three loop course I saw my family on the second loop for the first time that day and then missed them on the third.

I was pretty happy after the last hills on the third loop because I only had a few miles left until I could get off the bike.

Get better shorts, train more, put on sunscreen, eat more......

I jumped off the bike and started to run and immediately stopped. I guess I didn't feel like it. I don't think the people directly behind me liked that move, but I wasn't there to please them.

I found my isle and started going down it and since I was almost at the end, my family was down there yelling for me. I gave them a smile and a wave and racked my bike. My wife asked me how it was going and I said I was burnt. She said she had sunscreen but so did I. Mistake. She had cream and I had the spray stuff. I sprayed it on my neck and almost fell off my bucket and started cussing. That's when I found out that I had a wetsuit rash on my neck. Wetsuit rash + sunburn + alcohol in sunscreen = intense pain. Good times.

I put on my hat and my shoes and walked over to my wife. I borrowed her shirt to clean my glasses and then high fived the kids. I said bye and ran out the other way.

Not spray alcohol into an open wound. What....

I got out of transition and ran straight to the Porta Potty. I went in and it was about 125 degrees in there. I thought I was going to pass out on the spot. I struggled a bit with my tri suit but that's life. I came out of the bathroom and walked over to my wife. She asked how it was going and I told her that I wasn't feeling so hot. She told me to take it slow and drink a ton. I told her I'd give it a go and so I started running the slowest run ever. It felt silly. I thought I might be able to walk faster but didn't want to try.

The first aid station was about 200 yards away and I stopped and got some gatorade and water. I walked a few while I drank them and then started my sweet shuffle again. On the way to the next station some guy passed me with a cup of ice that was making so much noise. At first I didn't know how he could run with the annoying clatter but after a while I thought I could I not run without a cup of ice. It was so hot and I couldn't cool down. The next station and everyone after that I grabbed a cup of ice and carried it with me until I got a new one. I'd put ice in my mouth and eat it or let it melt and then then whatever melted in the cup would either go on my head or my neck and back. I think it's the only think that saved me.

At about mile two I went to take my first GU. I took a small amount in my mouth and gagged. I choked it down with some water but it felt like it was coming back up. I tried again and the same thing happened. I tossed the GU and decided I try again at the next aid station. Of course the same thing happened again and now my stomach was hurting and I started to cramp. I didn't know what to do except to keep going.

I walked every aid station and a couple times under bridges when there was shade. It seemed like everyone was passing me but I just wanted to make it to the end. At the far end of the lake, there was an out and back, and on my way back I saw Paulette hauling by. I yelled but I don't think she knew who I was. After the out and back there was an incline up to the bridge and at the top was another aid station. While I was there she smoked right through. It looked like she was doing a 5k, pretty awesome.

I continued my run/shuffle all the way back to the start. I got under a bridge and some people yelled my name and I waved but I have no idea who it was.

I got back to where my wife was and told her I was dead. She repeated the take your time and drink gatorade and so I took off. After the first aid station I started to run, not shuffle but to actually run. All of a sudden I felt like I was fine (except for the heat) and that I was going to be ok. I started talking to people, encouraging them, telling them they were doing great and was having fun.

I knew that my swim time was ok and my goal for the bike was to average over 20 mph and so I knew that I had some cushion for me to come in under my goal of 6 hours. I couldn't remember exactly what time I started so I was kind of guessing how long I had to make the loop. The first loop was about 1:25 so I knew that I had to be faster than that.

I kept chugging along and then with about three miles to go I died. It's like everything hit at once. I was hot, my legs were dead, I felt like I need to pee but couldn't, and I knew that I hadn't been able to take in enough calories. I started to walk. Then I would pick a spot and say I'll run to there and then I can walk again. The ice wasn't helping anymore. At this poing I was trying water, gatorade, pepsi, ice....anything that my body would accept and it was sips at best.

I finally got over the bridge which meant I had maybe a mile to go. I was walking and a guy walked up next to me. I asked him if he was almost done and he said yes. He asked me the same and I said "yes, but I've got nothing left. I can't muster it up to run it in." He said "just think, when you finish you can get yourself a nice cold Corona."

Side note: I, and later my wife, were amazed by the amount of people being encouraged by the thought of having a beer at the end of the race. People that were rooting for friends were yelling "we've got your beer all chilled for you when you finish" or "hurry up before we drink all your beer". My wife said she heard the same thing multiple times. I had never really heard it so much at a race. I mean why do a HIM to have a beer? It didn't add up.

Anyway, when the guy said that I was in awe. I mean it sounded like the last thing I wanted to do when I finished. I looked at him and said "I'll give it what I've got" and started to run again. Who knows how much farther I got but I stopped again and thought I was done. I could see the bridge and was pretty sure I wasn't going to make the 6 hours but didn't care. I was just thinking about what my body was going to do. After going over in my head how I needed to run through the finish and to look good for my picture (what a funny thought) I still couldn't go. That's when I came up with the grand plan. I told myself that if I could just run the rest of the race, I could run right the finish line, straight to the medical tent and that I would get an IV. I said that 20 minutes later I'd be golden! Apparently that cucko logic worked and I started the run in.

I'm cruising along, not feeling great, and I started to wonder about where the family was. I hadn't seen them anywhere. I was about 10 feet from where the gates are put up for the chute when out of the corner of my eye I see my daughter. I yelled at her because I didn't see my wife. In a split second she yells at her brother who then are next to me telling me they are going to run in with me.

Sidenote: I'm not a big propenent of this but at the time I couldn't figure out how to stop it.

I tried to get them oraganized by having one on each side of me and then running to the side in case anyone was going to pass me, which was very likely. About 15 yards down the chute my wife was standing on the side with the camera taking pictures. It then clicked that they had set this up.

Sidenote: They hadn't. The kids decided they were going to do it on their own. We taked after the race (my wife and I) and she's not really into that either as she saw a guy with 5 kids and stroller running through blocking a ton of others.

I continued down with the kids in hand and heard my name as if in a dream and then crossed the line.

Eat, drink, be merry.....

Immediately a lady pushed her way through the others and started dumping ice and water on me. It felt so good. She then gave the more to my kids to do. Great, now it's a game. We kept moving and I saw the medical tent but now I had my kids with me and my wife couldn't get into the finish area. I had to figure out how to get my kids back to my wife so I could figure out what I needed to do. After about 5 minutes I handed them off and went back to do who knows what. I walked by the medical tent and saw that there were people way worse than I so I skipped the IV request. (I still think that's a funny thought, hey give me an IV, I don't feel good. I'm sure they would have told me to beat it.)

I grabbed a piece of pizza and ate about 1/2 of it. I drank water, which seemed to go down no problem and grabbed a PB&J. I walked out of the finishing area and went straight to the bathroom. After that I sat on the curb and told my wife that I did't want to move. That lasted about 5 minutes until she told me that we had to check out of our hotel at 2:00, that she hadn't packed anything and it was 1:45. Sweet.

I guess my warm down would be packing up transition and getting back to the hotel.


Fires, unable to workout for 8 days before the race, not eating a good breakfast, not using body glide or sunscreen, and perhaps record heat?


I thought this was a great race. I missed almost all the pre and post activities but they seemed like they would be fun.

I keep going back and forth from dissapointed to happy about my results. I think that I made some major mistakes and sometimes that's the only way to learn. I know that I won't make them again. I also think that after all of the snafu's and with how badly I was feeling, I only missed my goal time by 5 minutes and 47 seconds. Not bad. If I can get my nutrition in order, I think that I can tighten up my run which I think would be me in the 5:45 area which wold be awesome.