Spirit of Racine Half Ironman Triathlon - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

Swim started off great. Got out front and jockyed for position to get up front. Did that and took off around the first buoy. Dolphin diving was perfect to start off and get out there. After about the first 200 yards though i ran into a bunch of people thinking it would be fun to stand up and catch their breath. After about 200 yards off that crap, jumped to the outside to get away from them and get on my own. After that things went pretty good. I know that slowed me down a little bit but not too bad. Stroke felt good and everything was going smooth. I felt like i swam pretty straight and i didnt get clubbed much accept for one person that got me in the side of the head but wasnt too bad. just kept looking for that yellow buoy and when i did i took off and left it all out. Went good for the last buoy. Turned the buoy and swam about 30 yards before i was able to dolphin dive twice and start running. I looked at the watch and thought either holy crap im fast, or it was short. I went with the fast for some confidence boosters. Jumped out and saw parents holly and theresa and was feeling really good at this point.

I would start off more in front to get away from the guys who feel like standing. other than that, just make sure stay on path and swim harder sooner before the final orange buoy.

This went great. I had a great position on the transition area. The only problem was getting my dang wetsuit off. Couldnt find the velcro right away. Didnt slow me down too much at all. Felt like ive been through this before, and it went to plan. Got up and out and had no one next to me during the transition.


Get my suit off faster, other than that, i still need to get the whole jump on bike think with cleats on bike!

The bike started off good. wanted to get my HR down for the first 40 min and pace myself. HR was coming down, but off the bat was avg about 20 mph. Legs were feeling great right away and the HR was coming down. Since they legs were good and HR was good, i just kept up the pace at where i was at. at about mile 10 my legs just got tight sore. kept stretching them out as much as i could but kept going along and knew it would leave it sooner or later. HR was down at about mile 18 where i wanted it to be, and was still avg about 20mph so decided to kick it up just a notch. saw the parents holly and theresa at mile 18ish and that was great. was feeling really good then and kept going on at the pace i was at. at this point was avg about 21.8 and didnt hit many hills at this point. mile 30 hit and started playing back and forth with a guy i knew from school so that made it fun. couple hills and wind made me come down to about a 21.5 mph. after about mile 45 and the help from seeing the fam again, i decided to leave it all out on the pavement and start heading to the finish. followed the nutrition plan to a T and everything was going good on the stomach part. quit taking anything at about mile 45 on the nutrition, just focused on cadence and keeping the mph at a good 22 cuz it was pretty flat the home stretch. the final 6 miles felt like the first 20, but i think it was the excitement that i was killing the bike at this point!

I wouldnt do much for the race part, i now know i need an upgrade in pedals and cleats, the feet were pretty uncomfortable and numb at about mile 49-50. Didnt like that, not a ton of stability in what i got, but money at the time of purchase of the bike made it affordable. oh well, still did 1.4 mph above what my goal was so not complaining!

This went as good as the first transition. jumped off the bike great and legs were feeling good on the run to rack the bike. racked the bike and saw theresa next to me for some great support. bike was racked and the shoes were on. grabbed the visor and looked down for a second, and was good to go.

Nothing here, this went about as perfect as it could have for this one!

The run started off great. Got the HR down for the first 3or4 miles and the legs were feeling decent at this point. was at about a 8'30 or below avg at this point. grabbed some water at the first two aid stations and also a banana at the second. the gels at this point didnt sound good at all. hit the turn around and still felt pretty good. the HR was down where i wanted it to be but the legs kept faltering here. got to the finish turn around and it was great to see everyone really needed it at this point. Still was avg about 8'15" and felt like things were going great. after i got up the hill, my legs just hit a wall! i just slowed down all of a sudden and had not much left in my legs. i slowed down to about a 9' pace but HR was still good. i got about to mile 9 and was hurting pretty bad at this point. I walked the final 3 aid stations to grab my water and another banana for something. legs were still killing me and wanted to save everything i had for the final .5 miles. at about .5 miles left and took off with all i had. saw some great BT writing on the ground and took off. hit about a 8' to 7'45" pace to finish and knew the finish had to come sooner or later. It seemed much later than sooner thats for sure. I saw the crowd and then ran by the BT tents and Theresa and got really excited. I knew i killed my time that i wanted and was so pumped. Hit the finish and i thought i was gonna collapse at first. Legs were shaking, nothing left in them which is good, the way it should have been. so overwhelmed with it all and so glad i ran into no big problems at all.

I wouldnt do anything more during the race, but i know i need to get some stronger legs. plan is to get much needed strength training in the off season to carry a much faster pace after a hard ride. thats about it.

Got done and headed straight for Theresa. Got a huge hug and kiss from her, and she was so happy for me. I knew i killed it and she kept saying that at every time we saw. i gave her a sheet that had my A, B, and C times of where i wanted to be at each point. She kept telling me that i was A++ and just keep it up. headed to the food station to get some food in me and fluids. legs were shaking and was so tired but on a high at this point. grabbed some food and headed to the tents to see everyone. got a huge hug from the parents and got to talk with schmize, bscharff, djdavey (who passed me at about mile 10 that SOB), sgoehner, and the rest to cheer the rest of the donkeys on to the finish. Stretched out pretty good and ended up laying down for two seconds and almost fell asleep haha. jumped back up and had a few beers which tasted awesome and just traded stories with everyone and cheered on everyone finishing.


The only thing that limited me in the end was strength on the run. I had an awesome swim, a even better bike, but my legs needs some more power behind them to run a sub 8' for next year. thats the plan, and just need to get some strength in the sticks. other than that, had a goal of 5:30:00 (or the super secret of 5:20:00 between schmize and me) and killed it! So i got nothing to complain about here.


First HIM, and it was an awesome race. Plan on doing this again, no doubt. Had a blast with all the donkeys. Been training for this puppy since about January and before. Since last winter, ive lost about 40lbs training for this. Been a great experience going through this and changed a lot for the better throughout the months. No doubt about it, i am addicted to this sport. So many times you wanna say "thats it, why the hell am i doing this" and as soon as you see that finish, every pain and thought goes away! Owe a lot to Theresa for so much support through this, and to schmize (my coach) who helped me the whole way with training plans and game time decisions. He helped me pretty much do the right things to achieve my goals, and def did hit my goals. Been a great, take that back, a tremendous tri season so far. Before we know it IM 2011 will be here before i know it!!