Pigman Triathlon - Long Course - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

I have not been in the pool in a month and a half. Before that I had not been putting in consistent quality workouts and it showed. I was slow, winded, and did I mention slow? My goggle issue came back to bite big time. I typically have a hard time sighting anyways, but working with only one eye made it even worse. I was way off course and could not see to find my way back on course. I suffered through it and got to the beach EXHAUSTED.

Prepare

I was WHOOPED from the swim and couldn't catch my breath. If I say I took my time through T1 to get settled down a bit, that is an understatement. Left and my heart was still hammering and I knew it was going to be a long ride on the bike.

be better prepared for the swim so I am not walking through T1 like a zombie.

Here is where I was hoping to make up time, because even though I had been slacking on the run and swim, preparation, I have been riding quite a bit and was ready to go. UNFORTUNATELY, I couldn't get my heart rate below 175 for the first 10 miles, despite moving at a snail's pace (10-15 mph). The headwind wasn't helping matters, but it wasn't as bad as my weak condition was making it out to be. Then it got fun. I dropped my chain not once, but three times. I spent about 15 minutes on the side of the road getting my chain unstuck and tightening up my front dérailleur cable, which had slipped out of the clamp. Luckily I had the tools I needed and the upside was that I was able to relax a bit while I was doing all of this. I also came to the realization that this "race" was a loss and I wasn't going to be able to salvage much out of it. Instead of throwing in the towel I decided to simply relax and make it to the finish line.

From there the rest of the bike went surprisingly well. With the bike working right I got up to speed and caught many of the people who passed me when I was out of commission. No problems through the bottle exchanges and was able to average about 20 mph for the remainder of the ride, no small thanks to the tailwind that carried me back in. Slowed down quite a bit the last 1-2 miles as I got myself mentally ready for the run and coasted into T2.

It keeps coming back to the hole I dug for myself during the swim.

A little slow as I decided to change out my socks, but not bad. I was in survival mode at this time and not race mode. I did forget to spray on my sunblock, which came back to bite me in the ass.

Put my can of spray on sunblock in my shoes so I don't forget.

As I said, I was in survival mode by now and didn't want to push my body too hard. The only thing I had to gain from going all out was an injury. Took the first 5 miles out at about a 9-9:30 pace and started to walk through the water stops and stopped at the porta-potty somewhere along mile 6. The sun was blazing pretty hard by this time and I was heating up. I slowed during mile 6 and walked up and down the hill during mile 7 to keep from aggravating my knee problem. Ran walked mile 8 then started mostly jogging/running again. walked up the hill at the end of mile 11 then again down the hill during mile 12, otherwise I kept o going until the finish. I know I could have pushed harder, but to what end? Felt pretty good considering.

Use my sunblock to avoid the nasty sunburn I got and don't soak my shoes with water, which led to a few blisters.

walked it off for 10 minutes or so. Ate any fruit I could get my hands on and drank the bottle of Endurox I had in my bag. Changed in a porta-potty and got on the road. Stretched and worked my massage stick for most of the ride home while the wife drove.


Lack of adequate preparation


The folks at Pigman put on a great event and I was glad to have put it on my calendar