USAT Halfmax National Championship - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

This was a pretty good swim for me. Thought it would take my usual :40, but came in well under that. Felt good, and thought I was driving straight at the buoys. Caught a couple of nice drafts. I'm still a crappy swimmer.

Just train more, to get faster....

This was the 7th fastest transition in my age group, so I guess it was okay.

Stayed longer in transition and ordered a latte.

Absolutely thought that this ride crushed me, but managed to finish it 9th in age group. The hills were just brutal, particularly at the end. Ran into Mike Wasserman at around mile 45, and after I said, "hello" to him he took off like a rabbit on fire. That monkey can climb!

Might just take this course on a road bike. So much climbing here that aero positioning was pretty irrelevant.

Well, I was totally pooped after coming off the bike, and couldn't figure out where my run gear was racked. I went past the rack, turned back, and finally found it. Still, 7th fastest transition in age group, so who knows what those other old goats were thinking...

Remember where my run gear is set up.

Eighth fastest run in age group, and it was a beast. After being totally beat on by the bike, running down a freakin' hill in blistering heat, only to have the privilege of running back up it was nuts!

Saw Mike Wasserman with about 1.5 miles left to run. Passed him and ran for all I was worth. Stunned to find that he didn't hang with me, and crush me, at the finish.

Bring a climbing rope and just repel down this course.

Finished a bit disappointed that this was my second slowest half-Ironman ever.

Assumed that I finished way down in the age group rankings, and planned to just head out, but Mike said that he thought this was one of the best races he's ever had, and that we should stick around to see the results. We finished 9th and 10th in our age group, thinking that we both made Team USA (top 10 age group finishers make it).


This course was a beast. I wasn't ready to race with that much climbing. Probably should have ridden the Merckx rather than the Specialized.


This was one of the greatest race experiences I've had. The course was just brutal, and the mental component was intense. I thought that I was done for, only to find out that I still mustered a top-ten age group finish.

This race can make the whole season a joy if it turns out that I'm eligible for Team USA, I think. We'll see....