Whirlpool Steelhead 70.3 Triathlon - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

I was pretty confident of the swim beforehand, even though I hadn't had much experience in open water. I had been told about panicking at the start from others and thought I was prepared. I wasn't. I panicked at the first turn and couldn't catch my breath. I had to tell myself to slow down and get into my stroke, even though it felt like people were flying by me. Had trouble navigating (sun, left goggle leaked a little) and turned for shore one buoy too soon - had to swim back out and around final buoy. Was mentally disappointed at my time when I came out of water.

Swim more open water, especially Lake Michigan with swells. Also will wait and start in back of pack next time instead of middle. Total Immersion technique works great in pool, but I need to work on upper body strength more so I can pull harder in rougher water.

Wasn't too concerned about this since it was my first. Just wanted to make sure I didn't forget anything.

Work on having things laid out better so I can speed through this without forgetting something. Also wouldn't worry about trying to eat any in transition - I can do that on bike.

I went into this phase trying to hold back something for the run. What I discovered is that my legs were tired anyway when I got done, so it didn't seem to matter. Also started getting stomach cramps toward the end.

Push harder. I could have easily pushed it and been in the 18 to 18.5 range, saving a lot of time, and not been much worse off for the run. Also should have listened to my body instead of following set routine with the nutrition (I have hypoglycemia and was trying to make sure I was taking in enough calories). I overate and overdrank and paid for it on the run.

Again, wasn't too concerned here being my first one. Wasn't feeling very good at this point, so I didn't rush it.

Same as T1. Eat on run, not in transition.

This is where I got frustrated. Ran first couple of miles, but stomach cramps were getting worse. Ended up having to run/walk the entire rest of the course trying to let my body catch up.

Not eat so much on the bike and even on the run. Also need to train more bricks so I get use to the feeling of running when my legs are worn out instead of trying to save my legs on the bike - won't happen.

Plum, gatorade, sit down in chair for awhile. After about 1/2 hour I was feeling much better.


I let bad swim start drag me down mentally instead of letting go of it and focusing on the rest of the race. Should have pushed the bike harder, especially since that's the stage I felt most prepared for. Listen to my body and don't eat/drink more than I should. Learn to run on tired legs (more bricks). As frustrating as it sounds, I learned so much from my first race experience that I can change to make it better next time.


Only real issues were parking in the morning (which made a lot of people scramble to get to their swim wave in time) and a few of the rough roads. Overall a great race, wonderful volunteers, and a good experience for my first race. The real successes were finishing and raising $4000 toward digging a clean water well in Africa through Team World Vision (which is why I did this in the first place). I'm looking forward to doing a few shorter triathlons during training next year, and then really racing the race at Steelhead.