LongHorn Triathlon Festival - Half Iron - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

I was in the fourth wave and got a good position in the front and just slightly off to the left of the center of the pack. When the horn sounded to start us, I sprinted to the first bouy and was able to spread myself out some from the pack. I didn't have too many issues with avoiding contact or swimming around people. My sighting was great and I was able to pick my swim lines really well. B the first buoy I had caught up to some of the swimmers in the wave in front of us so there was a little congestion but nothing too bad. I settled in to a comfortable pace between the first and second buoy and managed to pass some people in the second wave. By the time we rounded the second buoy and headed for home, the field had really thinned out. I swam until my stroke hit bottom then jumped up and made my way out of the lake.

The swim portion went pretty well for me but if I could change anything, I might have held my sprint pace a little longer. I think I could have knocked another :30 to a minute off my time doing that.

Long run up a hill after the swim to get to T1, which was mostly dirt in the first few rows. Fortunately I had checked out the transition area the day before and saw all the dirt so I went out and bought a small basin at the Dollar Store and had water waiting at my bike to rinse my feet off. It worked out great since my feet were completely covered in sand and mud by that point.
The rest of transition went pretty well up until the bike mount line where I couldn't seem to get my shoes clipped in. I was off to the side but someone still hit my bike from behind. It seemed like it took forever to finally get clipped in but I am sure it was just a few seconds.

Get clipped in faster! Very, very soon I need to buy some triathlon shoes that I can leave clipped on the bike. I'm still using road shoes and I think I can save some time there by eliminating the need to run with my shoes on and trying to clip in at the mount line.

I started out really well and was averaging 20.6MPH at the first aid station. I actually had the thought that I might be able to get in under 3 hours at that point. Unfortunately, as is usually the case, the rest of the course adjusted my average speed back to where it should be. I did a good job of passing when I needed to and staying out of the way when I didn't. I took Gatorade at the second and third aid stations with no issues (unlike BKarhu, read his report) and held a good pace. The last two hills were killer but I was ready for them and felt I did really well on my climbs. I finished the race at a 17.7 MPH average which is the fastest average I have had for anything over a 20 mile ride so no complaints.

I need to put in more time on the bike. I am also looking to get a tri bike as well so hopefully that will help too. Right now I ride a road bike with clip on aero bars and I think the bike might be just a little small for me. Hopefully off season goes well and Santa pays me a visit.

Bike dismount went well and I ran to my rack fine. I got changed into my running shoes and hat pretty quick then detoured to a porto-can. After waiting in a short line for an available opening and then finding out it was pretty much a false alarm, I got off to the run. I probably could have saved a minute or so off my transition time if I didn't make that stop.

Not have the urge to hit the can? I dunno, overall I think it went well.

Starting the run I had roughly 2hrs and 15 minutes to finish and get under 6hrs for the day. I hit my first mile at 7:45 and thought I was going to rock this run course. Then everything just seemed to go downhill from there. I dropped to a 9 minute pace by the second mile and then a 10:30 pace by the third. I was walking aid stations by the 4th mile. I was hot, dusty, pissed off at my running and thirsty. I shuffled on through the rest of the course doing a 4min run / 1 min walk.

I did several bricks during my training but the longest was apparently not enough as I was unprepared for how quickly everything fell apart. I really thought going into this that I could do around a 2hr run and obviously that just didn't happen. Bricks, bricks, bricks.

Crossed the line and got my cold towel and finishers medal. After giving my timing chip back I was in some line for something but didn't know what it was. About that time, two medics came through carrying someone and moved everyone out of the way. I decided to just go out to the run chute fence and watch for my brother to finish. I later found out the line I had been in was for pictures with your finishers medal. Guess I won't have one of those.
After my brother came in we went to the BT tent for a little while and talked with Gaarryy, Zia Cyclist, DavidB and KSH then headed back to check things out at the finish. Talked with Chris (Livestrong) for a little bit then wound up going to the Med tent to get my brother an IV. He wasn't in real bad shape but he was getting pretty nauseous and needed it for sure.


Everything pretty much went according to my plan or better for the swim and bike. My downfall came on the run. I really wanted to go under 6hrs and I still think I can, I just need to be better prepared headed into the run. I really was not ready for how badly that portion was going to kick my ass.


I didn't go under 6hrs but I did finish my first Half Ironman so I can't be too upset. The race was well organized and there were tons of nice people (spectators and athletes) that I met along the way. It was a great day and a great sense of accomplishment to finish out my season.