LongHorn Triathlon Festival - Half Iron - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

during the start I keep an eye out for the guy I was laughing at and making fun of that tripped on the boat ramp saturday.. just in case...I ended up swimming more just since I was zig-zaging,,, I really wanted to have an easy swim [45min] and do my best attempt at drafting,, it seems that everyone I got behind either stopped to site or take a break as soon as I got on them or were slower than I wanted to go so I ended up dropping my hips to stay with them.. for now I think I'm better off just going out and swimming. I didn't site really well but I think a lot of people had the same issue. There were always people to my right and when I'd breath on the left there would be people there also.. plus I was t-boning people from each side,??? don't know how?? when I just went on my own and swam I sighted better, and was a more relaxed swimmer,, I decided to take a short break just to check my HR, which was fine.. my tritop must not fit correctly since I could feel it rubbing on my right underarm so I had to keep attempting to pull it down

until I learn to draft, I just need to swim and not look for people, just take them as they pass me for quick burst. considering for the whole plan I was doing I skipped 15hrs of swimming not bad.

took my time walking up the hill to transition.. foreshadowing of the days events.. I felt pretty good,, I thought I saw ??bill?? helping people out of the water.. thanks Bill. got some sunscreen on, socks on, and double checked to make sure my food was still in the bento box.. got going on the bike pretty well I just had an issue getting my right foot in the shoe once I got moving

slow jog out of the water, not wear socks and make an attempt to go faster. I just didn't want to forget anything,my plan was to take a bit longer to make sure everything was ok.

I was thinking I'd do this right around 3 1/2 hrs so I hit that pretty good,, I think I could have pushed harder but I knew there were a couple of hills at the end so I wanted to save something.. For me this was a great bike ride.. I did really well and the rolling stuff, well for most of them. the couple little uphills right after the right turns I slowed too much, but a few of them I had a great downhill and was up to get uphill without too much effort. I hit 42 on the one downhill which was great.. saw a guy on a Mtn bike and found out later they gave him a road bike for the rest of the course. I didn't take in enough calories though.. I would be ready to eat something then would either hit a turn or uphill and forget for about 15 mins to ate.. I thought I downed 2 cliff bars and a bag of shot blocks but later found 1/2 a cliff bar and I only had 1/2 the cliff blocks.

I need to raise the aero bars some, too much of a drop and I ended up with a stiff neck from my position.. But for my ability level and my training times this was right where I should have been time wise.. I might have been able to push my avg to mid 17's but since this was my first half iron I was a bit too conservative. increase my calories on the bike and make sure I take it all, jump in the couple of pace lines that passed me maybe but then again maybe not

pretty good transition.. sprayed some more sunscreen, but my gel's in the shirt pocket and set off for the port-a-potty, so I know I was hydrated enough which I was worried about

not much I was feeling ok, just needed to go #1, and was looking for those port-a-john's

I really thought i'd do better on the run,, got a water and gatoraid out of t2, then ran into the bathroom, my legs felt really good not rubbery so I knew I didn't overpush on the bike, my first mile was right at 10:15 so I was doing good then all of a sudden boom,, killer headache that I just couldn't get past.. I forgot that when I forget to eat I get headaches, I didn't realize I was "bonking" until it was too late,, started a walk/run combo that was a lot more walking. this course had a lot of uphills and downhills, downhills hurt more to me, and well uphills just suck.. My HR never really got over 150 except for a couple of hills.. about mile 3 I realized I needed something for my headache, and I was thankfull the aid station had something, then I realized I really needed to eat, so I started taking at least 2 gels at each stop along with extra water since i was worried about the NAIDs effect. it was hot,,I had nothing in the tank, i walked,, what was great was seeing everyone out on the course and being able to cheer for them.. I won't mention everyone since this would be a very long RR. but you guys really pulled me through, after my first lap of 90+ minutes I realized that I wasn't hitting my 2 1/2 goal so I decided to have some fun.. I offered piggy back rides to all the cute girls, accused one of stalking me since we were playing leap frog. saw how long I could keep a cup of water on my head. just before the big grass hill Ashley I heard someone yelling my name.. fearing the no fun police were out there I turned to see ashley,, we jogged a bit,, walked the hill some, then I ate her dust as she took off.. the second loop I started to come to life some I just did an easy 10min run one min walk. Tossed a sponge at Aaron who actually caught the deed on film. !! right at the end I caught up to karen who was doing her hair and asked if I had any eyeliner for her finishing photo.. she was gracious enough to let me go ahead of her to announce to the gathered masses that she would be arriving

Hey I felt like crap for the first loop and still had lots of fun..Eat more on the bike,, train more,, Hey I got my first HIM done. last Aug I had a chest tube sticking out of my side and it hurt to breath,, I'm corking happy about this !!!!

hung out with everyone else, now know as the usual suspects.watched the others finished,,, attempted to get a betting pool going on the next injury for clint. and cheer for everyone coming across the line.


my budda belly,& lack of any speed training this year,
I really think if I had some sweet race wheels and saved my legs, I could have cut almost a full minute off my time


I was hoping for a 45 min swim, 3.5 bike and 2.5 run for something in the 6hr 45 min range or at least under 7hr.. I'll take this though. For my first half and just starting training this year in january I know there is no race day magic that will make me faster I finished in a time that matched my training,learned a lot, got to meet my fellow BTs.
This race was fantastic,, after gettting home and reading about the chicago marathon mess, I am so thankfull that this one was so well run. I'm in for lonestar and will hopefully be able to do at least one of Keith races a year for a while.. it was that great