Firmman Half Iron Triathlon - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

The swim went something like this: run from the beach into the water, step in holes and twist ankles and/or fall, get battered by waves until finally getting past the breakers, swim out to buoy and take a right, then lose all sense of direction. Swim for a few minutes, look up and realize I am half way to Block Island because the current is pulling me. Shit. Start swimming towards shore and the invisible buoys that may as well be invisible because they are so small and the waves are so big you can't see them! Swim some more and then look up and realize that I am once again the one-person Block Island ferry. Shit. Start swimming towards shore. This pattern continued until I finally reached the last buoy and headed into shore with the help of some waves. I wasted sooo much time and energy on this. My time was still ok but could have been better if I had navigated better.

Not get so off course!

This went smoothly. I took a moment to wipe the sand off my feet before putting my socks on and I'm glad I did.
My bike mount went really well- I have improved a lot on that. My dad and C love to comment on the guys who have their shoes attached to their pedals and waste more time trying to get into their shoes. LOL.

Nothing.

There was a head-wind on the way out which made route 1 pretty tough at times since it is wide open. I tried to stay aero but my legs were taking a long time to warm up and were cramping a lot so I had to move around to try and make myself comfortable. Just as I turned off route 1 onto Kings Factory road (and the climbing section) they finally started to loosen up. By this time I was basically riding by myself and at times I was afraid I'd gone off course but eventually I saw another rider or a painted arrow. Some of these hills were steeper than I remembered and really kicked my ass. Then I was back on route 1 for a while battling the wind until the turnaround, then it was a tailwind all the way back and I was able to make up some speed. On the very last turn before transition I took the corner too fast and nearly bit it. Oops.

Nothing, this was as good as I could have done on this day.

Nothing special. Changed shoes, grabbed my visor, hit the portolet.

Nothing.

In my last 2 HIM races this is where I really blew it. My main goal for this race was to have a good run and finally have a good HIM. Right away my legs felt good and I ran the 1st mile in 9:12. I knew that wouldn't last so I slowed it down and tried to maintain a steady pace. Usually by the end of mile 1 I develop a side stitch and that is the beginning of the end for me. I did get a stitch after about 2 miles but it wasn't a bad one and I was able to run through it and it eventually went away.
By now it had really started to heat up and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. I was pretty hot. I saw Cappy at his mile 5 and he was looking strong. Run run run. Drink drink drink. Some neighborhood kids had set up their own little aid stations and were giving out water and ice. On a hot day that was really helpful.
I tried to step up the pace for the last 3 miles so I could make it under 6:10, and I was on track to do that until I hit the sand. Ugh. Running in sand SUCKS, especially when you are tired. But I eventually made it to the finish, just not in under 6:10. Not a big deal. This is still the best run I've ever had in a HIM or olympic distance race. Goal acheived!

nothing

met up with C, my dad, Rob and Meredith on the beach. Took off my shoes and got back in the water :).


FIRM did a good job with this race, I'm just not a fan of the ocean swim and bike course.