Soma Half Iron Triathlon - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

This was the best swim that I have ever done!!!! Freestyled %90 of the time and Breaststroke %10, most of that was because I was way off course and drifted into the middle of the lake. Ended up swimming 250 meters more which mess with my time.

Right out of the gate it was chaos, by the time the gun went off half of my wave wasnt even in the water yet. I had remembered this from last year and decided to jump into the lake at the front of the line. Went throught the normal human blender, but I battled my way through it all. Normally I would BS until it cleared but I have been feeling really strong these last couple of weeks in the swim so I just moved everyone over and kept on swimming. As I the sun rose on the herizon it basically blinded everyone the bouys were small and hard to see and alot of people had either missed them or were redirted back on course.
Three things that made my swim go really well was entering the lake on the far right hand side early, two not letting other swimmers cause me to panic, and three, which was a new thing to do but I get thirsty when I swim longer than 1000 meters so I filled a Gu shot bottle with nuun and drank it about half way through the course, gettng that lake water out of my mouth was great.
Swimming the last 100meters I still felt strong and was happy when i got out of the water and my legs felt GREAT!!!!
I yelled "THAT WAS THE BEST SWIM EVER!!!!" People stared but I didnt care. On off to the bike
I was off my time by 8 minutes but I told myself that i would have a slower time in the swim if it meant stronger legs for the bike, need to make up that time in T1/Bike

Sight better into the Sun and stay on course. Use some body Glide, I got a rash during the swim..

Wetsuit strippers were great, quick time there and I actually ran in/out of T1. Was rushed setting up T1 and had alittle difficulty in getting things on. However, I was in no rush to do the 56.83 mile bike ride. 90 sec faster than I predicted.



Get to transion right when it open so I have time to set up and visit with the ESCKTC, TNT, Focus and Az-tri club. I got everything.

This will the first race with "Kristin" my TT bike. Legs feeling strong I started the bike in pretty good shape. Could'nt get my Garmin to start for the first minute or so, but was still traveling at 17 mph, once I got it started I went into areo and was really moving. Every time I would get into a groove, we had to slow down and make some kind of turn, whether it was a 90 degree or a 180. It was madding. Got passed by a lot of people. but didnt really care, i was moving a lot faster than in training feeling really good. Saw a lot of the ESCKTC's, specially when they passed me, which happened a lot. Got into the "hilly" part of the course and had to drop to the granny gears just so I didnt kill my legs. First lap I finish pretty fast, than second lap was five minutes faster and the third was the same as the first lap, and it got pretty lonely for the last 15 miles. I was riding really well for me, and that what it was all about, its all about me and having a good race. Finish the bike portion in 3:08 min 7 minutes faster than I predicted.

Nothing other than push my bike harder knowing that it would'nt make a difference on the run. Had a lot still in me even at that distance. Thanks "Kristin" there would have been no way I could have done this race with her..

After racking my bike I change over from bike to run a little slower than I had hope, but then again I wanted to make sure I had ever thing. I hate running. Ran in/out of T2, which is something I never done before. 1:40 faster which puts me at

Have T2 setup and more organized, either way I didnt want to leave anything behind.

OMG i hate running. I was 2min ahead of my predicted time and I was going to need all the time in the world to get under 7hrs. Legs felt great, so I thought, after running the first 1/2 they were toast, this was going to be a long run. Saw Chilie at the Art Center with his dog, we fisted and it gave me a bust to run another mile or so. At one of the aide stations I grab double expresso gu spit it out back onto the table. It was pretty nasty, but thats what they get, when I ask for plain gu and you give me double expresso gu Ill give it right back. I laugh and went on my way. I carried a frozen water bottle to help keep my cool and dump water on my body at every station. Held ice as long as I could thanks Torbjorn Sindballe for the tip. Dumpomg water all over myself was the best way to stay cool. A lot of people still passed me but now I was in crisis mode. Run/walk run/walk the rest of the course. Mile 6 my foot started and decided to take a shower at the Art center. Got really lonely on the second lap and by mile 8 I started to feel my hamstring tighten. Had gu and water every other station and gateriade on the opposite. All in all I felt pretty good. Mentally I was looking alert and smiling when getting past, which happens a lot, thought about taking a short cut by swimming across the lake, but thought better of it. Ran the last two mile at 13 min pace and was able to finish strongish. Wanted to run 13 minute miles, but hey I have never ran over 8 min in my life so I will not complain with the distance and or time. I am very happy with the whole race.

Run faster, this year will focus on the run and get faster.. 11 min mile is my goal..

Slip-n-slip at the finish, thought I was going to go into hell cramp mode but didnt. Walk around at the empty transition and drank my recovery drink.


My running. I didnt eat at all on this course. Just stuck to my infinit drink and the few gus on the bike and run, wasnt hungry until mole 9 on the run but it didnt effect my running time at all.


For my First HIM is was the best race I have ever race, what a great time to peak. And the Slip-n-slide finsh was the best.. Training with ESKTC and to of my other friends really help out alot. I wont do another HIM unless I can run 10 mile which wont happen. I will stick to Olympic distances from here on out. Even thought I didnt reach my gaol of 7 hrs I was very pleased on how I did and how I felt.