Started near the back as I knew I was way out of my league in this race. I'm normally right below the median for the swim in a typical HIM but in this race, I was definitely BOP. No real issues swimming alone as I gave some room on the inside. Biggest issue was getting kicked in the groin as I was approaching the first turn buoy. Almost DNF'd right there but the pain subsided and I was able to continue, albeit slowly. Everyone seems to think the course was about 150m long but still a slow swim for me as I couldn't find anyone to draft for longer than a few strokes as they were much faster.

Avoid getting hit? Besides more regular swim training, the only other thing I can think of is to use a swim skin as my tri top has 2 pockets on the side.

Took my time with T1. Long run from swim exit with slippery sections and I just walked most of it. Put on my shoes at the bike as I didn't want to risk fiddling with shoes on wet roads and no real good place to get them on near the start. I was definitely one of the last ones out of the water as there were few bikes left when I got to my rack.

Perhaps hurry it up just a little bit. something around 6 minutes would have still been a relaxed T1

This was a tough bike course with a lot of hills. Glad I borrowed an 11-28 cassette for the back as I was on the 39/28 on a lot of uphills and even that was too much wattage if I tried to keep cadence over 85 in some sections. Wet roads made it scary the first few miles, but the clearer roads were much better after we got out of Lake Las Vegas development. Sun came out around the 40 mile mark and it started to warm up quick. Also, I now know what BOP feels like - not much traffic and didn't pass hundreds of people like I normally do at a 70.3. Still passed a few people here and there but not a whole lot. I also had to stop twice - once for water (didn't want to risk a hand-up), and then near the end when my quads just cramped on the last uphill.

Train better. First race where I cramped even though my NP was right on target (about 5W less than my race last month). Average Power was even lower at 155W so I think the effort was fine. Cadence average was low though so maybe I did need an easier gear (compact crank?).

I had just cramped up so I just took the time to recover. First time with a bike catcher so that was nice that I didn't have to rack. I did not get my feet out of my shoes on the bike as I typically do as I was just wanting to get off the bike and not cramp. Rested a bit in the changing tent. Put on some Vaseline to prevent chafing and let the volunteer put a generous amount of sunscreen on shoulders/neck so I did not get sunburned.

Hurry it up a bit - something under 5 minutes was definitely still a relaxed T2

When I cramped on the last half mile of the bike, I knew that the run was going to be survival mode. I ran a decent first mile pacing right around 8:45/mile but could feel cramps starting. Started managing the run by heart rate and would start walking when I was around 150bpm repeating to myself that I need to finish. Ran as much as I could before either HR was too high or started cramping up. I knew I had good enough nutrition but just not enough training. I walked most of the uphills and tried to run most of the downhills until my quads cramped.

Train more consistently and incorporate some hill training to get used to the pounding on the quads and the different strain on the muscles. This was my slowest half-marathon ever. I thought right around 2 hrs would be a conservative target but couldn't even finish at 10:00/mile average.

Not much - just had water and got pictures. Just glad to finish.


Training was about 4.5 hrs/week average in the 4 weeks leading up to the race, with about 2 weeks of almost no cycling and running. Also got sick the weekend before the race (coughing) so that didn't help.


It's the World Championship and I was just glad to be part of it. Within 10 miles of the bike leg, I knew I wasn't racing anymore as I am normally a top 15-20% cyclist but couldn't make any gains there in this race. My run is usually pretty good also, but couldn't even run it as i was already cramping before the bike even ended. Earned that finisher medal and glad to say that I qualified for and finished a World Championship! I rated this race a "4" while I normally would rate it a "5" because my new standard was the Cebu Ironman Philippines 70.3 in terms of race production!