Chisago Lakes HIM - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

The swim went great. A little contact the first couple hundred yards but after that it was clear sailing. I was hoping for something around 35 minutes so I was really happy 31.36.

Not a thing.

took way too long, mostly because my transition area was just a mess.

not cram 1500 racers into a tiny park??

I felt great on the bike but I knew I was pushing a little too much. My goal was to keep the HR in low z3 but most of the ride was in mid zone 3. The course was decent - mostly flat with one real nasty bumpy stretch.



In hindsight I probaly should have drank a bit more water.

Another tough run. I just knew it was going to be though because I pushed the bike too hard once again. The course was also a little tougher than I expected.

Around mile 2 or 3 I saw David Thompson come flying by...oh to be able to run like that!

Around mile 7 I started having blister issues but that is what I get for wearing shoes that I normally don't wear on long runs.

The last 3 miles was just a good old suffer fest...




Not wear untested shoes, slow down on the bike, run more 13+ runs in training.

grabbed some water, took off my shoes and waited for Julie to finish. She did the race in 5 hrs 26 minutes (her first half) so she was pumped.




The run. But overall I was very happy with the race. My goal time was 5 hrs 30 minutes which I beat and my finish time is a 20+ minute improvement from my first HIM.


The good: I love the post race food! Pancakes, ice cream, fruit, pb&j sandwhiches, chocolate milk, they had it all! I thought volunteers at the aid stations did a nice job.

The not so good: Transition area is way too crowded. Why can they not get more biffys!! why?? You should not have to wait 20 minutes to use the bathroom. The timing chip pickup was lacking organization, they didn't have enough swim caps and I would have loved to have pretzels, coke, bananan's, etc. at the aid stations on the run.