Miami Man 1/2 Iron Triathlon - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

First few meters were a mess...people everywhere and one girl clawed my arm. Up until past the first bouy it was a washing machine..got pummled a ton and people could not swim straight to save their lives. I would ge in a groove then get smooshed between 2 swimmers. I tried to focus but once in a while had to stop and let people pass, so I could get away from them and go a different path. I would have had a better time if I didn't do this. Once I got to the 2nd loop I tought it would be better..but we started getting mixed up with other waves. I just kept my speed up and breathing calmly.

try adn ingone others swimming and not care if I run into anyone..I am way too polite in the swim!

Got out of the water and had a stripper peel my suit...So fasT! Jsumped up adn ran the pretty long run (maye 1/2 mile) to my rack. Toweled off my feet, threw on my socks, helmet and shoes nad was off running. Set my computer once i was running and jumped on teh bike...I was off!

Nothing

there was a decent tailwind going out to the first turn and then winds coming on my left for most the way...there was only one straight road that had a great tailwind, but you only hit that twice on the loop...every other road had a crosswind or headwind. there were times I thought I was going nowhere!

train more...I was happy that it has been windy here lately, so I knew what to expect.

Feet out of shoes about 2oo yds from dismount..saw a few friends cheering at the bike entrance and it really helped me keep my excitment going! Only the run left and I was donE!!!! Got right to my rack and grabbed my garmin and visor and had to take a quick bathroom break. Probably lost over a minute on that, but then I was off.

nothing..maybe I drank too much on the bike..that's why i had to pee?

I started out very strong..look at my garmin and i was runnig an 8:41 pace...whoa..only in speed group do I do 7-8 mm..needed to slow down. Got down to a 9:30 pace and fell inot a groove. I was doing great the first 3 miles, then had some tightness in my hamstring. This is where i fell apart. I Started taking walking breaks. I should have kept running ,but at a slower pace, but once i got the walking in my head, it was hard to start running again. I would do the walk/run for the next 2 miles, then was able to keep it going for mile 6-7..then again started walk/run until mile 11..the last 2 miles I picked it up (especialll since i had passed a girl in my age group and I kept looking over my shoulder to see if i had enough of a lead) I lost her at the last aid station. But, in the last few seconds as I was running it in, she came from behind and sprinted in..which of course made me sprint, but she finished exactly 1 second ahead of me...hope she is happy with the 43 slot. Was that really necessary? Oh well...

just keep running more and also know that I should push myself a bit harder to keep running..I also need ot stretch much more in my training

Once i finished I was so ecited and found my parents and friends. Went over to the Gold Coast tent and did the whole rounds of "How was your race" on got congrats on my first half-iron. We started taking team pictures and I was not feeling well at all. Started Feeling like I ws gonig to faint nad had to walk away from everyone and sit down..still didn't feel good nad had to lie down. It was about an hour later i started feeling semi normal. Was starving, but could barely eat anything...


Still need to train more! btu, hell....i could barely run 6 miles last year and now I did a half iron man!!!!! I've come so far!


there wasn't any post race activities/food for the athletes, but not sure if I would have cared...still wish they would do more for the athletes before/during and after the race. Sooo happy i did this and can't beilive I made such a great accomplishment. I am realyl proud of myself and can't wait to anotehr and beat my time!!!