Ironman 70.3 Rhode Island - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

With my conservative, "I'm going to enjoy this race" attitude, I started more toward the back than I normally do. As a result there was lots of jostling, wrestling and contact for the first 1/4 mile, but I never swam outside myself. My sighting was decent but a few times in the very beginning and very end I drifted and easily cost myself a total of two or three minutes. The sun glare on the swim back was horrific. And speaking of horrific, at almost exactly the one mile mark I figured I'd start a "kick" and try to HTFY and finish the swim ...and sure enough both legs immediatley cramped. Hard.

1.) I need to establish a better tempo right out of the gate. I was too laid back. 2.) I need to do many more kick board drills. This is the second time my legs cramped during a swim in a Race and it's just a precursor of terrible things to come later in the day. 3.) On a postive note, things I corrected from previous OPWS: I made sure my left goggle didn't leak; I sighted decent while swimming; I didn't swallow any water!

One small victory, my T1 kicked butt. I made sure to go through T1 twice the day before, memorize where my spot was, and as a result I had a top 100 T1 time.

Run even faster.

First of all, in all honesty, I was in no way freaking ready for the hills -- mentally or from a training standpoint. At no point did I "hammer" the bike, a few times I could feel my hamstrings cramping and I just stayed within myself the entire ride.

A few things went wrong: At the second or third aid station I looked down and there was bright pink flourescent paint that read BUMP! I lost my untocuhed bottom water bottle wich contained my Hammer Sustained Energy! Guess the Tri Gods didn't want me to have it; I dropped my chain at the bottom of one hill (lost 90 seconds putting it back on); I lost the black foam thing from atop my aerodrink ... but overall nothing catastrophic happened on the bike. I saw a few riders changing flats or just sitting on someone's lawn waiting for the Bike Help Crew. I was grateful to not be one of them.

About halfway through I heard a British accent from behind say, "Are you Bobby from BT?" It was James G! He went flying by me on a very nice P2C. I told him, as per his advice I was saving myself for the last 20 miles of the bike course ;) Very nice to meet you James.

On a side note: The difference between a local Tri race and a HIM is learning to put your pride and ego aside when all race long, every five minutes a Cervelo, Kuota or Trek goes flying past you like your standing still!

Final Side Note: Kudos to the Rhode Island Police Department. They, no joke, had close to fifty intersections (or more) entirely blocked off from the southern tip of Rhode Island, all the way up to Providence. In many cases, there were long lines of cars with not-so-happy drivers.

Not be afraid of 56 miles on the bike just cause I've never gone over 40 miles before. I've hammered 22 miles on Race Day before and was just fine. My goal was to average 21.5 mph... more training and maybe I'll get her done next time.

And lastly, swim more. I'll explain later.

Once again a good Transition. Feet out of shoes and a perfect flying dismount. Walked transition the day prior so I knew exactly where I was going.

Run faster, and then keep that same cadence throughout the Run portion!

Cue Vincent Price voice: "Then the horror began..."

Let me start by saying this is the first time I ever, EVER walked up a hill during a race. I walked up it twice. That's all I want to say about that, except I VOW not walk it next year and will train accordingly.

I don't know how many people DNF'd, but supposedly 1500 or so toed the line and only 1200 and change show finishing in the final results. In all honesty the conditions (course, sun, temps, etc..) were not butal, but they were somewhat challening.

I was rocking the Roctane GU's, ate some banana's, got sponges at every aid station, I felt terrible at times (seeing red lines and imaginary dots) and other times I felt fine ...even really good ...but whenever I tried to maintain a decent pace, my legs cramped. Even when I did push and sprinted through the chute across the finish line, my legs locked up and I had trouble walking through the finish line committee.


Not run "George miles!"

Seriously: I think it all boils down to two words -- Swim more.

I ran two half marathons in the last three and a half months, in both I flirted with breaking 1:30. Sure I could always run more but I need to figure out why I cannot replicate even a close-to-reasonable time in a Tri?? I have an idea why, but I am open to suggestions.... really.

Anyone??

The best part of my day was seeing my wife and two children at the finishing line. I could have been pulled out of the water by a kayaker, gotten three flats on the bike, or ran the slowest half mary ever -- oh wait, I did!! -- but as long as my wife and kids are there to shower me with smiles, hugs and kisses ...I'm a huge winner!


I read an article a few months ago in Triathlete Magazine that stressed how important the Swim leg is. Basically the articles said Yes, you want to become a better swimmer because you'll cut your overall time down, but more importantly, you want to become a better, more fit swimmer so you'll come out of the water fresher and feeling better which will automatically translate into better Bike/Run times.

Three weeks ago I biked 40 miles on rolling hills at a faster avg MPH then today, jumped off and ran three 7:30 min/miles with moderate effort. The difference is I didn't swim prior. I have a strong feeling that only using the kick board once in six months is my ultimate downfall. Big time. I'm thinking perhaps we use different leg muscles when swim kicking as opposed to Running and Biking?

The good news is my legs (quads and hamstrings mainly) are cramping less and less with each Race I complete. The other good news is I have my first 70.3 out of the way and going forward I have 'No Excuse' not to hammer my next 70.3 in October.

It's the day after and I am just a little sore, when really I should be wiped out. Instead I feel like going for a run.

Thanks to all my BT friends for excellent advice and support. You guys are awesome.




The Ironman team put on an amazingly well-run, well-organized event. It was definitley worth the price of admission. The hundreds of volunteers were also amazing and extremely supportive. The back-drop of Providence and the State Capitol building was breathtaking. This is a challening but rewarding course. I will be back next year, and I will be prepared this time.