Whirlpool Steelhead 70.3 Triathlon - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

Weather was great for the first groups going out, very smooth. I was in wave 11 of 18. I started 1 hour after the pros started. By the time we went there was serious swells and waves building. Didn't affect me to much, some impact on sighting. At times I could see 3-4 bouys ahead, other times I was in the bottom of the swell and couldn't see anything.

Saved my legs and didn't use much kick at all. Figured I would need them later in the day.

I had my wetsuit top off prior to leaving the water. Felt really good coming out of the water.

Swim went well for me, can't complain. No real drafting on my part. I did have one guy from the wave behind me swim right over me, no big deal though.

Time seems long, but I am happy with it. I was very far down at the end of a very long and crowded transition area, probably about 150 yards, after 100 yard run off the beach. This would cause problems later on. Transiton area was on very new blacktop, which is good for attracting heat. This really did a job on my feet. I believe I burned my feet, broke some blisters, and ended up with a bunch of sand in the blisters. This occurred over during both T1 and T2. Tried to remove as much sand from my feet as possible.



Not much choice here, maybe run down the sand in the transition area vice the blacktop? I forgot to bring an extra water bottle to rinse the sand from my feet. Looking back I should have used one from my bike. It might have saved my feet later in the day. I could have replaced the water at the first aid station.

First half of the ride went very well. I was averaging 21 MPH, and the previously mentioned storm front started getting closer. Turned back into the final leg, about 18-20 miles, and got hit in the face by a serious headwind. I would guess about 20 MPH. My average speed quickly dropped to around 19 MPH. Seemed like everyone was struggling and fighting the last leg on the ride. Good thing is that Wisconsin has prepared me well for these winds. I was ready to get off the bike at the end. The course was a little more hilly than I expected.

We had to wear our bib number on the bike. This caused some unexpected issues. The fuel/race belt pushed a cliff bar up and out of my side pocket. I also lost a gel flask(3 gels worth) as I thought I was sliding it in my pocket and was actually sliding in between my belt and shirt, instead of in my side pocket, and it went bye bye. Time to improvise. Picked up 3 gels off the aid stations to make up for my lost calories. Seemed to work well, might have caused a little GI distress later on.

In the future I will tape all my gels on my top tube.

Another long run bare foot over the aforementioned ashphalt. Same issues mentioned in T1. Grabbed some gels, put shoes on and was on the way. I was feeling strong at this point. Had put the elastic shoe laces on the night before. I might have overtightened them, shoes might have been to tight.

Wear socks to help protect feet in transition.

About 1 mile into the run my feet felt like they were on fire with pins and needles. I think endorphins were masking my oncoming feet issues until this point. Not to be a wuss, but every step was extremely painful. The only way to manage the pain was to walk every mile, sometimes more. I would estimate anywhere from 1-3 minutes depending on pain. I have never experienced this in any of my long runs or long brick training evolutions. I attribute the pain to the aforementioned issues in T1/T2 with my feet getting torn up, having the sand in the blisters, potentially over tight shoes and possibly some swelling from the day as a whole. This was a serious gut check for me due to the pain.

The run was really dissappointing for me. My legs and lungs were strong going into the run and my feet really held me back. I would estimate I could have picked up 15-20 minutes without the pain issue. Going into the run I was on a sub 6 hour pace, which quickly faded as the run progressed.

I also needed to stop at a port-o-pottie for some GI relief. I attribute this to using the gels from the aid stations vice what I have been training with. Not a huge issue but it did cost a couple of minutes.

About 30-40 minutes into the run the weather front was now reaching the race area. At first the overcast was nice, but it was really windy. I was actually starting to get cold in the last couple of miles due to the sweat and cool winds now blowing. With about 1/2 mile left in my run it started to rain, how appropriate.

I noticed a guy from my wave was going neck and neck with me over the last mile. This was some motivation to run the final 1/2 mile and I actually finished ahead of the guy. This is about the only positive from the run.

Take better care of my feet before and during the race. Skip using the elastice shoe lace things.

Upon finishing it was now pouring rain. This put a damper on the event and I was unable to celebrate with my family and enjoy the atmoshpere of watching others finish etc. I was also now freezing, packing up my stuff and looking to get in a warm car. Long walk back to the car.

It did feel great to finish and I am proud to say I am a HIM finisher!


Feet


Could not enjoy the post race festivities due to the rain and me now freezing. Event was well organized, only complaint is crowded transition and the wear and tear on my feet. They could have used a few more port-o-potties in the transition area.

Great location, big beach area, for families to spend the day while watching the event take place. Limited opportunity to see the athletes on the course due to the layout.