Rockman Half Ironman - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

mass start, much more kicking and "fighting" then in previous long swims that i have done, some one gave me a good kick in the left eye in the first 500, but it did not knock my goggle off, also someone with a wide freeslyle stroke hit me in the head like three times as i was passing them, one another swimmer seemed to start swimming ziz zag as to not let me pass when I got up near him.
there were some long weeds twice during the swim that i saw people get tangled in and freak out

nothing swim time was almost as I planned it except i did not sight that well at one point and ended up zig zaging about 200 yards or so

nothing special here, felt strong running out of the water and with bike

nothing

bike was going very well until mile 44, at that point my bike computer said that average speed was 19.5mph, and then the it got dark, and the most gigantic storm came over us that I have ever ridden in. When it started raining the drops were hitting me so hard I thought it was a big cloud of bugs, but no it was rain, it escalated to a massive downpour with flodding that I could not see the surface of the road for at least 3 miles, I was soaked completely, wind picked up to 20+mph and I felt like I was standing still, this lasted for about 10 miles. Oh I forgot to mention the lightning, twice it hit right by the side of the road... it made me almost fall of the bike. I was passing one guy during all this, and he was like "at this point I just want to finish alive"...Amen.

nothing I was having an awesome ride, the storm ruined the average speed, but it made it a true race of endurance

at that point I was glad to be alive, it was still raining but the lighting stopped

nothing

massive cramps in quads on mile two, made me rethink my hill strategy, then cramps a few times again forced me to walk, was really disappointed when I realized at mile 10 that I was not going to break 6hrs.

nothing at this point, need to train more, loose more weight.

walked around in a daze


im happy, august 2007 I did a half-ironman in 6hr54 minutes, today 6h13, and this was a much harder run course, so im getting better.
As far as the race itself, these people are cheap, last year they gave out a finishers sticker, this year a lousy tee-shirt, I paid $144.