5430 Long Course Triathlon - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

Holy cow I had a hard time with the swim. I got kicked a lot at the start and one guy knocked the wind out of me. I ended up doing the breath stroke for a few minutes to recover. I never got in a good rhythm until about half way. After the second turn I started feeling better. Was hoping for a time of 38 to 40 min. for the swim. Oh well. Also after the swim I looked at my watch to see how pathetic my time was and my watch stopped working. CRAP! My HRM watch got water in it and was ruined for the entire race! I must not have sealed the back well enough when I replaced the battery. DOH!
Only had one open water swim with the wet suit I used on. I guess I should have done more.

More open water swimming with a wet suit on.

Felt like a good transition, however for each transition I felt like I was forgetting something and would take a few seconds to review what needed to be done before I left transition. I guess that is better than taking off without something...
My wetsuit has zippers on the back of each calf to help remove the suit. I forgot to unzip them until I had the suit stripped down to my knees. I then had to pull back up the suit and unzip the two zippers. Only lost a few seconds here and got the suit off quickly after that.

Not forget to unzip my calf zippers.

Bike felt good on the first lap. Average speed on the GPS showed 22.7 mph. On the second lap my right hamstring cramped up really bad and was hardly able to peddle with it. Started taking in more liquids and the cramp would eventually go away at the start of the run.

Drink more on the first lap to prevent cramps.

Thought this transition was ok. Rack for bike was far from bike entry and run exit so I think I did ok.

Ok run. Was still working with the cramp in my right leg for the first mile. Didn't push myself too hard. Drank some coke for the first time and was a weird feeling. I felt like I was walking on clouds for the next mile. Tried to drink more at the aid stations, but most were out. Was looking for 1:45 or better on the run but was happy to finish.

Probably nothing. Would try harder for sub 5 hr if I was closer to making it.

Rest and drank a protein shake.


I believe my swim killed me. I think experience played a huge roll in this. I will be ready next race!


Last of the 5430 races and my first. Hopefully Boulder IRONMAN 70.3 next year will be as good. Thanks BT for all your help!