Swim start was delayed 45 minutes due to fog over the lake making sighting of buoys and swimmers unsafe. Started at the front middle of the pack to try a new strategy making people swim past me rather than me getting stuck behind slower swimmers. Once in the water, felt very good overall and got into a great rhythm. Swam without kicking to try and save the legs for the bike and run. Overall, very happy with the swim and left the water feeling fresh.

Nothing

Not much to say here. Not sure if this time includes the hill climb challenge, but if it doesn't it is definitely an area for improvement.

Not really focused too much on the transitions, but I'm sure I could pick up some time here.

Felt great on the bike, with no major breathing problems like experienced at Amica. Loved the new bike, and felt like the fit was just right as no major pain was experienced. The only major issue on bike physically was fatigued from holding the neck in the new aero position. Other than that, losing a bottle out of rear cages and losing cyclometer sensor were less than ideal in the first 5 miles of the race.

Fueling: Took a gu before getting on the bike, 1/2 clif bar at 45 min, another gui at 1.5 hrs, and second 1/2 of clif bar at 2.25 hours. Also drank 1.5 24 oz bottles of gatorade endurance that I brought along, didnt use bottle exchange.

Nothing, felt great about the final numbers as well as the amount of legs left for the run.

Stretched the quads for ~15 secs each which I think was a great idea. Left the legs feeling much looser for the start of the run.

Almost left without visor, need to look over transition setup again to make sure items are easily identified and put on or removed.

Amazed at how good the legs and breathing felt at this point in the race. Didn't wear Garmin, so relied on the mile markers for race relative to splits from the Timex. Started around 7:30 pace and kept in that general area until the legs or breathing started to go. Ended up completing the whole run around that pace. Loved the very cold sponges that were handed out. Also, had to concentrate on taking in a number of GUs or HEED gels as I could feel hunger starting in the stomach roughly half way through the run. Overall, drank almost exclusively gatorade and had 3 or 4 GUs/gels. Very happy with performance overall.

Nothing, better than I could have hoped for.

Got some gatorade and a banana at the finish line. Met up with the family, walked a bit down towards the lake, stretched, and then headed for the feast. Amazing turkey, stuffing, potatoes, squash, gravy and whoopie pie! Drove back to the condo for some R&R.


Still need more time on the bike to bring results closer to the top of the division. Also, at this level of competition, more time in the pool and consistency will be needed to compete on the swim leg.


Great event at a great venue. Enjoyed every minute of my first half iron and I would definitely suggest the race to anyone looking for a well run event.