Whirlpool Steelhead 70.3 Triathlon - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

When a tri becomes a Du I have no idea how to log this. I'll just capture the time and move on...

Sacrifice small animals to appease the angry Lake Michigan god... angry lake is bad. Very bad.

My first Du, a few of us at the beginning pondered how to pace this, for 2.1 miles how much time could be made when biking 56 miles after? We decided not much - wise thoughts Jeff, thanks. I ran "comfortably fast". Sounds good?

This transition was a run to bike, NEVER did this before! Well, I kicked it in the a$$. I smoke this transition, the one good thing I did was left the running hat and all non-essentials at the transition, all I had to do was jump on the bike. I have never did a race where you bike with the run bib on, so that made it easy not to forget.

Nada

This was a fast bike - period. The roads were not all that great. I biked well for me, I was aero most of the time, I did find it easier to sit on my bars with the wind at my back when climbing. Most of my passes were on the hills, I didn't think I was that great a climber. I consumed all 24 oz in the aerobottle, and about 35 oz on the back bottles. I took a few gulps from the oncouse aid water stations, so all totaled about 64 oz. of fluids and three gus. The traffic on the course was bad, the first 10 miles was ok, but when I hit the early waves it was tough not to come close to a wreck. The course managers should rethink the "slower first" mentality.

Nothing, it went better than plan and a PR in the bike 2:30 vs. last 1/2 IM bike of 2:45. Wow.

Another good transition, in and out and running quickly.

Nothing.

This was a solid run, from last years 1/2IM I crashed at mile 10... NOT this year. The difference was I took some Endurolytes but hydrated well and PACED MYSELF, yippee! Last year I took off way too hard and crashed in the end, this year I practiced cadence for my pace and maintained it for most of the race until mile 10-11, then I was able to pick it back up to finish.

Nothing.

Sat in tent, stood under cooling showers that were awesome. Chugged a gatorade, a Cola, ate two plums, a banana, and just chilled.


Nothing, I matched my abilities to the course well. I finally did a "complete" 1/2 IM... I now "get it". Last year was a learning experience for sure in a bad way, but those are sometimes the best lessons to learn. I ran well and without stopping at any aide stations with a strong bike (strong for me). If there was a swim... well I can't do that to myself now.


Ok, now the downside. I am not angry or pissed about the swim cancellation, that was 110% the right decision. Frankly, I thought the race expo was not great, the parking and registration layout way to cramped and small, and the bike check and registration was not well thought out. I am glad I did this race, but I would rather search for another 1/2IM if it means less people or more organization, I would come back if the on-course congestion could be figured out. Maybe without the swim it was worse than usual, but I do want to say thank you to ALL the volunteers who helped, they put up with some rather rude people when the swim got cancelled, the volunteers are great and I thanked as many as I could before leaving.