Ironman World Championships 70.3 - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

This was my first ocean swim race, so I was worried about how salt water and the chop might affect me, especially since I tend to swallow a lot of water when I swim. But, aside from the fact that I managed to lose my swim cap somehow, the swim went pretty smooth and it was my best time for the distance.

Not lose my swim cap - put it on tighter, would have probably saved me a minute

Wet suit strippers rock!!! Long transitions – you had to cover a lot of territory – running to the bag, then to the change tent, then back to the exit.

Personal best for the distance, but I can’t say I am proud of it. Drafting was pretty much unavoidable. I went on my own for about 20 miles and passed a few girls in my AG. Every minute I saw a huge group flying by in the other direction after the turn around. I just thought whatever, I am not fast enough to be up there with them anyway… Then all the girls that I passed caught up to me in one big peloton following a couple guys who were obviously faster. Yeah, maybe I could have shifted down and fell back but since everyone else was doing it, I just jumped on their tail. After about 20 miles, a course marshal motorcycle came by and gave a red card to two of us at the front, but didn’t bother with giving it to everyone. After that, people were less aggressive in their drafting. You can tell that I drafted on the second segment by the average speeds for 3 segments – 20.23/21.6/20.04.

I was shooting for sub 1:40, especially since I did it in Troika. A little disappointed, but I deserved it. After breaking 1:30 in Jock and Jill half marathon back in September, I barely did any running. Figured I had that leg down, and focused on my swim and bike. Lesson learned – have to keep training in all disciplines, even in your strongest

Do more running and bricks in my training

Delicious seafood dinner at Island Way Grill (highly recommend if you are ever in Clearwater). Then - drank lots of recovery beer and went out recovery-dancing at the Ironman party with all the folks that I stayed with. I think that helped, at least I’ve recovered really fast!


Perhaps, not training at all in September?


What a great weekend! Getting away to sunny Florida for a few days, seeing triathlon legends race like Andy Potts and the Hoyts family, and setting a new PR on top of it! AWESOME :)