EagleMan Ironman 70.3 Triathlon - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

Wetsuit is now on and I'm in line with other folks from my wave. It's a big one too - M 50-54, M 25-29, Men 13-19, and Clydesdales. I line up not too far from the front on the left as I decided from looking at other waves. Timer says 1 min and I start my watch....30 sec...15...10...5....GO! Can't remember if the horn blared or not as well. Anyway, there is now MASS PANDAMONIUM in the water!! The water is a churning area of bodies and neon green caps! Man, I had never been in this much of a churning mass before, not even last year! And then I realize it might've been a mistake lining up in front as faster guys are clamoring over me and bumping into me all over the place! While this is good to catch feet and draft, it proves to be a bit difficult to get my rhythm going. Still, I don't seem to be doing that bad as I get up to the first buoy. There are still a good number of neon green caps around. And I seem to be more relaxed than one would think for all the action around me. I just press on and let folks bump and roll off my legs when it happens. My sighting for this first leg and actually the second weren't too bad and I wasn't going off course too much. This despite the fact that the breeze is at our face before the first turn and we have a little bit of chop on the water, more than I was expecting. Now, after the second turn starts the long stretch to the second set of turns before going into shore. This stretch takes its toll on my left shoulder and I'm finding it's getting tired pretty quickly. So I try to compensate by only doing one side sometimes. That works to give me relief but I find myself going right when I do this too much. So, I have to sight more than I should to stay on course. I can see also, that I'm starting to lose a bit of ground with the rest of the wave too. But, I push myself forward. One thing working in our favor is the wind is with us and helping to push us forward as well. The third turn buoy finally comes up. I'm getting tired now and I'm starting to breast stroke a bit more than I should. But onward I go as the last turn buoy is coming up. This puts us back in the wind and its a bit of a challenge to continue pressing. Still, the transition arch is in sight. I finally get close enough to touch bottom and decide it's better to jog into shore. And I emerge from the water completing the swim portion of this year's Eagleman!


More training required. I really did need to do more long distance swims though I did get a lot of wetsuit training in due to the pool heater being down.

my rack is real close to the swim in area and I know I've got to get my wetsuit off quickly. No zipper problem (it's been stuck in the past) and peel the top down to my waist as I jog along. At my rack, get the rest of it off, put number on, put shoes on, sweat band, sun glasses, and finally helmet. And I'm outta there! Last year, I really took my time but now I'm a bit more practiced and shaved nearly 4 minutes off of last year's T1 time - 26/81 AG

Really nothing. Just need to practice more to get faster.

At the bike mount area and I'm off on the bike portion. I still don't have my shoes in my pedals yet and will save that for perhaps next season. Now, the bike course is pretty darn flat with some slight changes in elevation. The challenges on the bike course are the unpredictable winds when they're there and the fact that you're always pedaling. So, I try not to hammer here and keep cadence in the 80s. Like last year, I've started my countdown timer to remind to take in food and drink about every 20 min. My nutrition consisted of my electrolyte drink, shot blocks, water, and electrolyte pills. I also had some gel with me just in case but I would stick to the main stuff along the way. On the way out, the wind seemed to have stiffened up a lot more that I was expecting. In several places this was a crosswind and in others a tailwind. But, I should've realized that meant a possible headwind on the way back. I was moving along smartly passing a good number of people and trying as best as I could to not get in the way of the faster folks. I passed Lisa Houck at one point and wished her a good ride. I wished a few others the same. Saw a few blocking issues and a few drafting folks which I really dislike seeing. Anyway, the first half of the bike seemed fairly uneventful though we did have to watch we didn't move over some newly cut rumble strips on the road shoulder. As traffic was light, just stayed on the road and avoided these. So, I was hopeful at mile 31 of a having a good ride as my average speed was 21 mph. But, turning to the NE at that point, the headwind hit us. I had to downshift to keep the cadence up. Actually, what I should've realized was just how much this was affecting me and I should've cut speed and kept cadence much higher. But, I attempted to keep pushing it a bit. There was also a guy in my AG I was chasing too and I finally caught and passed him on a leg that gave us a tailwind for a bit. But on the rest of the return trip, pushing into the headwind led to the problems I encountered later. And I was getting tired. Still, nothing was really bothering me per se. Last year, my quads started to cramp at mile 40 and this year, there wasn't anything like that except a bit in my calves early on. At mile 45, I take the gatorade bottle to replenish my electrolyte drink. I also decided to take a few big drinks too so I would stay hydrated. Nutrition seemed to be going well also as I paused enough to take in a block, water, pill, or combination thereof. After nearly 20 miles or so of the wind in my face, I finally saw a turn I recognized to be near the town and my spirits brightened. I was actually looking forward to the run at this point to get out of this headwind. Last turn now onto a straightaway leading right into transition and I get out of my shoes. I've gotten much better at this since I first attempted this a Mussleman last year. My one hamstring complained but I relaxed and eased out of the shoe. Then the other one. And as I come up to the dismount point, I smartly swing my one leg over my seat and balance on the other pedal with both feet and then hit the ground running off the bike into T2. The ground's a bit muddy but I didn't really care as I jogged with my bike to my rack. And the picture of me I saw shows me smiling as I'm doing this. It was a good transition from bike to run.

I should've adjusted to the fact that since I hadn't run in a few weeks, I should've dropped my speed down and spun more easily especially into the headwind so I would've saved my legs for the run.

In T2, I remove my helmet after racking my bike and then remove a bit of dirt from my feet and try to get socks on as quickly as possible. Then shoes slip on. I shouldn't have paused here to put on my hat and should've just grabbed everything and left. So just a few seconds there lost. Still T2 time is also much improved from last year - 2:46, which is a minute and a half better than last year.
17/81 in AG


I should've grabbed all my stuff and left. I spent a bit too much time putting things on rather than grabbing and running.

Okay, I'm now out of transition just starting the run course and even pass a guy asking if we're having fun and is this the fun part? So, I'm in good spirits and not feeling bad, happy that I'm on the last part of the triathlon without a mechanical on the bike. Alas, it all falls apart right here. Right after passing this guy, both quads cramp, hurt, and freeze up. I am in disbelief as to what is happening and try to ignore this but just can't. I stop. Legs completely stiffen and I now can barely walk. A wave of light panic comes over me. I really don't believe this and am in somewhat a state of shock! I hobble around the corner and try to stretch things out. Then jog a little. Back to walk. As I round the next corner, there's a photographer. This picture tells it all - head is down, I'm stiff legged, and walking. No smile this time. Okay, I try to relax my legs and get them to a point where I can at least lightly jog or shuffle. The pain has not exactly gone away, though, and they try to cramp up on me again. After a while, I'm finally able to lightly jog and stop when I need to. Decide I should walk through each aid station and see if I can run/jog in between. That was my strategy last year but I wasn't in pain then. I find I can't keep to this strategy and end up stopping to walk more often than I would've liked. I then realize after the first couple of aid stations that I have gotten dehydrated more than I expected as I was really throwing the water down. The sun was out by this time and temperature by now was in the low 80s. With little shade on the run course, I decided I should continue to down a couple of water cups at each aid station. The run course is an out and back with earlier runners going the other way back to finish. And I see Mike, Vicki, and Tamara. I looked for Julian but never recognized him. I tell Tamara that I'm not having a good run and won't be catching her today. The "jog when I can, stop when I have to" strategy continues for 8 miles. And it's fairly painful each step. Last year, I was feeling so good even in the heat that I stared to sing to myself at the halfway point. Not this year. I feeling pretty lousy. And I look at my watch to check my time. It's taken over an hour to get here. (sigh) No PR on this course unless some miracle occurs. Now, after this, I do get a few boosts of encouragement from folks passing me and this does go a long way to keeping me going. Interestingly at mile 8, I don't know what happened but I was able to force myself to run/jog to each aid station and walk through them. No stopping in between any more. I was able to pass a few people that had passed me earlier and were still stopping along the way. But, it's still real difficult to keep going here. And the number of folks going out are growing smaller. I did see Lisa Houck and wished her well while saying things weren't going well. The last few run mile stretches are becoming agonizingly long now. But, after passing the last aid station at mile 12, there's only 1.1 miles to go. I see the last turn ahead and continue to run forward knowing the finish is less than a mile now. I am pushing harder, anxious to finish, but I have no idea at this point just what is keeping me going and not falling down. Last couple of turns and I see the turn to the finish. Incredibly, there's another "Dave" in front of me and I somehow manage a short sprint to the finish while passing him. And while I know the crowd is cheering him, I hear shouts to "DAVE"! to finish strong. Just at the finish, arms go up in triumph but I think perhaps more in relief that I'm done.

Definitely remember on the bike that this is triathlon, not Aquavelo. I just didn't adjust on the bike and save my legs since I hadn't run in several weeks due to the hamstring problem. I definitely would've been doing bricks still and long distance had that not happened.

Walk around as much as possible, take in food and fluids, sit a spell.


The lack of run and brick training the last few weeks and my lack of adjustment on the bike to save myself for the run.

Note below that the Mental effort I take as holding myself together. I did okay on the swim, fretted too much on the bike about my speed, but really tested myself to not panic and keep going on the run.

Physical effort I take to mean how much could I push and still do well. Didn't really do that great today.


Eagleman is a first class event and very well organized. There's enough of everything and I really do enjoy the course. I actually would like some hot food than cold afterwards. Minor issue, though. The food is pretty good I thought overall. Additional reporting comments on what happened after I finished:

I stop to allow the nice volunteers to take my chip and give me my finishing medal. I'm moving very slowly ahead to the gatorade table and grab one to take along as I get out of the way of others. I considered going to the medical tent, but I didn't think I was feeling that bad. Just tired and my legs hurt a great deal. I really just needed to get food, drink, and sit in a chair a spell. So I go and grab some chow, thanking all the nice volunteers I saw there. Now after I have food, I don't dare sit on the ground as I'm afraid I won't get back up. So, I find a chair by a table and this suits me just fine. Eventually my friend Mike joins me too and we discuss the race. Then go and get a massage. It may or may not help but I thought I should give it a try. Despite some pain, it does seem to feel good, but I know it will be several days later to recover from this. After this, I watch another friend from our club finish and said my congrats. I also met with another member getting an award. Then it was at last time to pack my gear, head back to the car for the trip home, and close the book on this year's Eagleman event.

Overall, I was very pleased with my transition times and my dismount performance heading into T2. I was okay with my swim, but I obviously needed a bit more of something as my arm got tired too quickly. I should've probably stayed back a bit more as well. Now while the bike didn't really give me too many problems and I finished with a time only about 30sec slower that last year, a lesson-learned here is to drop speed and increase cadence if my run training has suffered prior to the race. I should've done this when the headwind started and not fought it quite as much. It would've been the smart thing to do rather than fretting about going slower than last year which I was thinking about during the headwind portion and not thinking about the rest of the race. I think this would've really have saved my legs from the disaster that occurred. Overall, though, I finished only 5 minutes more than last year. Shows what practicing transitions can do to make up time.

After this you may ask if I'd do it again. You betcha! It's a great race, close, and I really do like the flat course. I just wasn't smart wrt the lack of run training and needed to compensate my bike portion so my legs would be saved for the run. They say you can't teach an old dog new tricks, but this old dog certainly learned his lesson.