Oklahoma City Redman Triathlon - Half Redman - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

Funniest thing to happen all day occurred on the swim. The water was shallow enough between the bouy and the shore to stand up. Some dude was walking while bending over with his head near the water and moving his arms like he was swimming. Tried to draft off him but couldn't.

Not much. Stayed on the outside mostly so should have stayed nearer the bouys and tried to draft off someone actually swimming.

Biggest mistake of the day probably happened here. Sat down to put on shoes (don't have the jump on the bike thing yet) but did not dry my feet off enough and still had some grit on them. It was 60 degrees when I got on the bike and it took a long time for my feet to get warm.

Take the time to dry my feet completely.

Started really strong (for me) on the bike and was averaging just under 20 mph at the turn around. Problem was that I made the rookie mistake of continuing to try to keep that pace on the way in and the hills, while not big, took their toll. Had to stop at the turnaround to get the grit off my feet. Hated to stop but was so glad I did. Legs were fried for the run. The good news was that there was none of the notorious wind that I had heard so much about so that was good.

Back off and keep a pace that I know I can get off the bike and at least have a shot at running.

I knew getting off the bike that my legs were toast. I just took it easy and tried to move methodically to the next step.

Not much other than train/race smarter so as not to be so drained for the run.

Nothing really to say except that my thighs were screaming so loud I could not hear. Kept an 11 min pace for first three miles but that was it. Tried to run for 5 min then walk one but could not even make that work so I ended up just running for as long as could and just walking when I had to which was quite much. Tried to take my time through the aide stations. Certainly could not have made it without them. All those people get my vote for whatever elected office for which they choose to run.

Made the mistake of pouring too much water on my head at one point and got my feet wet which translated into a good blister. Got to the last straight away when I could hear the announcer so I just tried to relax and run (not very fast though) probably the last half to 3/4 mile.

Back off on the bike.

Not much of anything specific. I had walked so much that I really didn't need to warm down in any particular way.


Other than my buddy beating me by 28 min, I met all my other goals:
1. Finish
2. Not finish last
3. Finish under 6:30

Despite my overall misery on the run, I do not have enough good things to say about this race. Some were not in anyone's control such as weather, water temp, etc, but as far as volunteers and overall organization of the race, it was fantastic.