LongHorn Triathlon Festival - Half Iron - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

I started out a bit too fast. Probably from all the excitement. Eventually found my groove and fell into a nice speed. I kept on drifting off course and got lost a couple of times. I need to figure out how to not swim crooked. I think I might have actually done the full 1.2 once you consider how off course I got. I also had to stop a couple of times because I kept on getting water in my goggles. That hasn't happened before.

Not swim crooked.

Had a fairly long run back to transition from the lake. My feet got really, really muddy. Good thing I brought a towel to wipe them clean. I walked through transition instead of running to save energy.

Learn to hover so that my feet don't get muddy.

This was a fun course. It was really hard not to draft though with all the people out there. I really didn't look at a map beforehand because I didn't want to know where I was on the course. If I knew all the turns before, I would have been psyched-out. The hills were not was bad as I was expecting, however, because of that (and excitement) I ended up taking the entire course way too hard. The headwind for half the course did not help the situation either. Towards mile 45, my knee was starting to act up, and my legs were losing it. I tried to stand up and stretch, but my legs were really shaky and on the verge of cramping bad. I knew I went way too hard and I was about to pay for it... My nutrition plan worked out great though. Same with my water plan. I had to use aid-station water though, because like pretty much everyone else, I lost a bottle on the Bridge Bump.

Slow down and spin up the hills.

I got off the bike at the mount line, and the second I put my feet on the ground, both my legs instantly cramped and seized up. I almost fell over because I couldn't move. I tried to hobble into transition, but the pain was way too bad. A volunteer saw me and was trying to get me to stop and rest. I listened to him, and just stood there next to a rack for a good 2 minutes or so. He asked if I needed a doctor, but I refused. Eventually, my legs came back and I was able to walk again. I got to my spot, changed into my running shoes, put band-aids on my nipples (they were already hurting bad), and took off walking toward the exit.

Figure out how to protect my nipples better. I wasted soooo much time trying to get the stupid band-aid packets open.

Ugh... As I exited transition, I was able to start off at a good run pace and I was pretty comfortable. I immediately took a gel at the first aid station and was going to stick to my nutrition plan. I was able to run the first 3-4 miles pretty well. I took a gel every 3 miles (~30 minutes) as planned and didn't feel hungry or weak. I also grabbed a cold sponge at every opportunity I got. That kept me cool. The course was very motivating. As the run went on, I felt my quads trying to start cramping again on uphills. I started having to walk/jog up most hills. When I got to Quadzilla, I ran up 3/4 of it before I felt more leg cramps coming on. The second loop was worse. By this time, I was having to walk up all the hills as well as stop and stretch at all the aid stations. Now, my hamstrings were starting to cramp. I took it easy and just run/walked as I could handle it. I kept on telling myself to just keep moving and don't stop. It was almost over. I ran down the finish chute strong and let out a yell of victory as I crossed the line. My legs then cramped up and I couldn't walk again....

Not go so hard on the bike and save my legs.

I hobbled around the finish area almost falling over, and collected my towel, medal and water bottle. As I stood in line for the finishing picture, my legs came back to me again, and I was able to walk around the post-race activities fine.

Unfortunately, the spectators drank the last of the beer, so I was out of luck in that department. But, there were plenty of burritos left!! It was so good to eat real food again. And of course, the BT tailgate was awesome!! Those ribs were goooooood....


Going too hard on the bike and blowing up on the run. Probably not doing enough long bricks during training.


The aid-stations/buffet tables were awesome!!!!