Timberman - Half Iron - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

I usually stay off to the side and back at the swim starts but I decided I'd get right in line with the buoys but still towards the back. I started drafting right away and was going along pretty well. I didn't feel like I was going quite fast enough (amazing right?) so I looked ahead and saw a group ahead. I decided I'd try to catch it so I pushed hard for a couple mintues and caught the next group and then settled in behind some feet. After I caught by breath again I tried to move up to a different set of feet. I think I did this twice...then I found some feet that I was satisfied with and stayed there for probably half the swim. After the last turn I noticed a fast swimmer coming by me to my right from the wave behind us. I thought I'd try to stick on those feet but quickly realized that wasn't happening and moved back behind someone more my speed. In the last 200 yards or so tried going from one set of feet to the next moving up in the ranks a little bit. I passed maybe 3-5 people that were right around me. (Who knows if they passed me again on the beach or whatever)

Wow! Great Swim!! The water was so clear I could see feet about a body length ahead which made it easy to see if I could make a move.

I can't think of anything I could have done differently other than just getting over all faster. I PR'd my HIM swim by 3 minutes and had my best pace for any distance!!

The distance through transition seemed pretty long. I had a good spot since I didn't have far to go with my bike but the run from the swim start to the entrance seemed far.
Goggles and cap came off and I left them in my wetsuit sleeve (just like the transition video!). Unfortunately, my suit didn't come off so well. The strippers struggled with my suit too. I dont' know if it was them or if I didn't pull it down far enough. *shrug*
When I got to my bike I put my shoes on but couldn't get my helmet clipped. Of course I thought of McCormick. I'm not sure how long that took but it felt like forever. At that point I said screw it and put on my race number as well. I headed out, ran passed the mount line, and got on pretty quick. (No flying mount or anything)

Pull off my westuit sleeves with more authority. Pull down my suit down my legs more for the strippers.
Learn how to buckle a chin strap?

I tried to take it easy as possible until after the "monstah" and then start to race. Since my legs were fresh the hills didn't feel too bad but my HR and breath were going pretty good by the time I got over the last hill in the beginning. Then the fun began! I was going great. I was getting passed by the studs but I was doing my share of passing as well. Most importantly, I was going right as I wanted my pace/watts to be and felt good. At the run around I knew I was about where I wanted so I just had to maintain my plan. At one point my left lower back started to hurt but it passed after a couple minutes. I got back to the hills at the start and tried to push a little harder to try to keep my time goal. At one of the down hills I got to 47mph which was cool :) I was feeling a little more tired but still good.

Great bike! PRd my HIM bike and my average pace was the best for any distance! My 2nd half was only slightly slower than my 1st half so I think I paced pretty well.

I dismounted with my left foot still clipped and still moving which I never practiced so that was kind of dumb but it worked. I get off my trainer this way usually so it just happened. Got to my spot and racked my bike, switched helmet and shoes for hat and running shoes, and grabbed my Garmin. I strapped my Garmin as I was jogging and turned my race number around. I noticed one side ripped so I hesitated for a moment but then realized there was nothing I could do so kept going.
Once again the transition exit seemed like a long way *shrug*

Practice taking off my shoes on the bike and dismounting that way. Nothing spectacularly bad though.

During the first 1-2 miles I tried to keep my pace slower so I could keep the run going well. I had a 5 minute cusion to reach my over all race goal...if I could run like I wanted/should.
At mile 3 my gut started to bother me. I figured I'd hit the porta-jon quick....and all would be well. I got to the turn around and my gut wasn't feeling better. Looked like another visit to the porta-jon was needed...uh oh. Another mile or so and I'm not feeling better...porta-jon again. 5 times! I hadn't been able to really run and now my motivation was gone. By the time my stomach felt "ok" it was close to mile 10. My legs weren't terrible but I just didn't want to run. My goal was gone and I was doing the walk-a-thon. After the last big hill (about 2 miles left) I realized if I didn't pick up the pace I wasn't even going to PR my total HIM race time. Hey, at least I finished strong ;)

A couple things.
Not eat so much at the carbo loading dinner.
Get coffee in the morning to help me make sure I'm evacualted :)

Practice more long transition runs to help me get my nutrition in order. I never have this issue in training but then I don't do a run longer than 30 minutes.

Race more. This will help me get over the "issues" mentally. I could still have knocked a lot of time off my run if I didn't get down on myself. Plus racing will help me push myself harder/better.

Cheered some people on. Stretched and then went for a swim/wade in the lake. I dried off and then changed into my Zoot recovery tights. So, if anyone saw a dork with recovery tights on after the race that was me :)


Nutrition. I'm not sure if it was the day(s) before the race, pre-race morning, or during the race but I need to figure something out.


It would have been nice to get a massage but who wants to wait 3 hrs? Us slow guys want massages too!
The shuttle back to Gunstock had way too long of a wait...especially on tired legs. (Maybe make a seperate shuttle for athletes?)

Still a very good race. Swim, bike, run courses were all good and the event was well run. The delay to start (due to a car accident) kinda sucked but that was out of the RD's control.