Timberman - Half Iron - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

I wasn't really happy or disapointed with my swim time. I considered it pretty average. The only thing notable about the swim was that with about 75 yards to go, my hamstrings froze up on me. This also happened to me the last time I did a long open water swim. I swam in the ocean back in July for about 1700 meters and just as I was finishing the legs tightened up on me. The water was 60 degrees that day so I chalked it up to that, but now I have to wonder what I am doing or not doing in my long swims that is making my legs cramp up? The leg issue was a bit of an omen for the rest of the race.

While I was swimming, I was staying nice and calm and thinking how swimming in a pool and swimming in open water are just two totally different animals. It would be great if LA Fitness could install jets throughout their pools to give us the needed turbulence to properly train for open water swimming.

The tight legs effected my transition. I was more or less limping out of the water trying to get them loose.

My legs had already been an issue by the time I got on the bike course, and right out of T1 we were headed up hill. Considering all of that and the hills, I still felt pretty good at the bike turn around. My goal was to keep the bike at close to 3 hours, and I was on pace for that. But once I made that turn around my legs died on me. I went to the small ring and tried to spin for a while to get some life back in them, but they didn't respond. I was getting passed by a lot of people and getting more and more frustrated. I lost my focus, and that is when the real trouble started. I veered to far right and went off the shoulder onto the rocky gravel and then turned quickly to get back on the road. That was two mistakes in one! The shoulder was too elevated, and I hit the wall of my front tire against it and took a fall. I got a little banged up, but the fall was more embarassing than anything else or so I thought. Once back on the bike, I realized that I now had a flat up front. And it gets better: my spare tube had a 48mm valve that would work with my rear Zipp 909 with it's screw on adapter, but wasn't long enough to go through the front 404 on its own (and removing he back adapter would also let the air out of the back tire!). So I had a flat with no usable tube. Two support vehicles pulled up within the next 25 minutes and neither had the long valved tubes. I was very fortunate that the Mavic support car pulled up next and loaned me a front wheel/tire set up so I could continue the race. Giving up was not a choice for me, and I had started walking...but with a good 12 miles to go, I never would have made with out that guy! I took off as fast as I could and tried to make up some of the 30 minutes I had burned due to my boneheaded mistakes.

Everything! Starting with focusing on my bike parts. It was inexcusable not to have the proper tube for my race! It was inexcusable to run off a road that had 6 foot plus shoulders! My bike training was not what it needed to be in the last 6 weeks before the race. Life and work kind of took over and I didn't have the proper focus and quality training I really needed to do well on such a tough bike course. My legs weren't prepared for what they were going to experince at Timberman!

I thought both of my transitions were decent. I had my running shoes on in seconds, but that is when I first really felt the pain in my heels as I started to head out on the run course.

The heel pain I experienced in T2 was overshadowed by my overall leg pain once I got about 1/2 mile out of transition. I had pain on the sides of both of my quads that I never experienced before. This pain and stiffness made running very difficult, so I was left with jogging / walking the 13 miles. This was very humbling, but it was the best I could do. The people manning the support stands were amazing. This was my first half, and I have never seen such support in any other race. The local people joined in with cheering, singing, dancing, food, and just made a very tough day that much easier. As I approached the last 400 meters, I really got a charge out of the people still out in the street giving me encouragement and the sound of the announcer at the finish line and the cheers of the crowds. I rounded the corner and came down the finish shoot as strong as I could, but it was far from any finish-sprint I usually muster up. My wife was there waiting for me, and as it turned out she had a great race finishing in under 6 hours (my original goal!!). Knowing she had done so well lifted my spirits as I stood there after the race trying to make sense of it all.

I think that nearly all of my problems out on the run were from my beat up legs on the bike and maybe even all the way back to the end of the swim when they cramped up. There are a lot of unanswered questions in my head right now concerning my focus, training, nutrition during the race, bike fit, etc. I am working on the answers. It may take a while.

Unfortunately, I did not do a warm down. Instead, I stood around (in the food line) and when I did try to stretch, my legs totall spazzed on me -- making stretching impossible. Before we left the race site, I sought out the Mavic guy who helped me during my bike fiasco. I thanked him several times, and let him know that without him I wouldn't have been able to finish the race.

I iced down Sunday night and took an ice bath Monday once we got back to Philly, but neither have given me much relief. I am very sore. I am not too concerned about the sore muscles, but the heel issue is a concern. Hopefully that will subside in a few more days, and I can get back to running?



I've been involved in triathlons for a few years now, and training was always a priority in my life. After my Olympic distance race in June, my training took the back seat to other things in life that I couldn't compromise on. The quality and quantity of my training took a big hit, and the timing could not have been worse with Timberman on the horizon. In a race of this magnitude, you have to register, get rooms, plan things out well in advance, and you can't always forecast what life will bring in the months leading up to the race. I now know that I was unprepared for this race. I felt very good cardio wise throughout the race, but my legs just didn't have the required fitness for this distance.


I would highly recommend this race to anyone interested in a 70.3 distance. The area is beautiful. The race was very well organized, and it was fun despite my poor performance! Some big name athletes raced Timberman including the winners: Chrissy Wellington and Andy Potts.

Only complaint about the race was the post-race-food line which we stood in for an hour to eat pizza, cold cuts, and some antipasta.

Overall, Timberman was a great experience.