I'm starting to believe that I am a 1:10:00-1:15:00 IM swimmer. I keep posting those times and keep thinking "way faster than I am!", but I guess not.

I think for my next IM I want to focus on shaving some time off here. I see no good reason I couldn't be a <1:05:00 swimmer.

Lake Erie is VILE. VILE VILE VILE. Seriously, the mud is up to your waist and you have to run in because it is so shallow for so far. That said, they did a great job getting out as much mud as they could - common theme - they do a good job running a race.

The course was easy, plenty of sighting buoys and i think I did my best job ever sighting.

I was panicking on the first 600m thinking I was way slow and that my body was not as ready as I may have thought. I considered bailing on the turnaround but got a rhythm soon thereafter and kept it up.

Just be a better swimmer, I am what I am right now. 1:09 @ IMKY and 1:14 here. This was a harder swim despite the wetsuit.

Decent T1. I kinda took it a little easy here and probably could have shaved 30 seconds on this if I had "rushed"

Oh, no one put sunscreen on me - I had to myself. Just a difference to point out versus IMKY (in T2 they did apply for me here though)

Also, the sunscreen was Jack Black lotion - seemed to work well.

I chose to go slower than IMKY, it was overall faster, but just because tehre is less distance to travel.

So this was an adventure... first the course and race staff.... they were awesome. The course has a 10 mile stretch of chip seal which was AWFUL, but else it wa sa great course. I loved biking up the hill into Milan. Great town. Don't think this course is flat - it is NOT. It is not VERY hilly, but it is CONSTANT rollers with 1 steep but VERY short climb. Aid stations were well stocked with water, gels (gu - multiple flavors including roctane), and Gatorade Pro LL and Orange.

Plenty of staff at all aid stations, plenty of police on the course... great event, like I keep saying.

Now, about my ride. I went into this ride/race telling people actively that I was aiming for a 6:30 here - slower than IMKY on a slightly easier course (I say slightly, but I'm not entirely sure how I'd stack them up. This was def easier, but by how much? not a ton, IMKY is not really "hilly" either, just rollers with a couple real climbs - wind was more of an issue here than there).

So anyway, coming out of transition my bike pc (Timex Ironman Global Trainer) is telling me I'm going 15-16mph. No one is passing me and I'm totally stunned. My HR is already in the mid 130s and I feel like I'm going fast... but I'm not. Am I going to have to shut it down? Am I not nearly as recovered as I thought I was?

Around mile 10 or so I ask a guy passing me his speed... he was going 24. He didn't FLY by me, there was no way he was 9mph faster than me. SO i try to tag onto him in a legal length and assume he stays somewhat constant... my speedo says 18mph... did he drop 6mph after passing me on a flat with no wind? I doubt it...

Finally I see a mile marker for mile 20... my speedo says roughly 15. I do some quick math, I'm running at 75% of actual so 15~-20mph.

What happened? I just rode my bike the other day and it was all working? Is it possible that my sensor is picking up a consistent 75% of all revolutions? I eventually figure it out that my watch had reset the night before and part of that was WHEEL CIRCUMFRENCE! DUHHHH. It thinks I'm on some mega-small wheel.

Anyway, I recognize this means that the deviation is constant and use the math as something to play with - always trying to figure out my exact speed using some math. I also realize my average is WAY above what will get me a 6:30... I also realize I"m at 19.1mph when I averaged it all out at one point.

At that point I made the call... if my HR stays within 1-2 beats of 140 average, I'm not paying attention to speed... it is what it is. I know my training well enough to know that @ 140 I'm safe.

Regarding nutrition where I royally screwed up 2 weeks ago... this time I took in a ton. Nothing I had ever practiced - just had faith in the old iron stomach.

6 Gu (600 calories)~
2 Gu Chomps (360 calories)
1.5 snickers (340 calories)
1 Bonk Buster (240 calories)
2 scoops IM perform (160 calories)
1.5 20oz G Pro (225 calories)
2 Endurolytes
Roughly 12-20oz of water per hour depending on various things.


Total of 1925 calories on the bike - compared to roughly 800-900 (solid and liquid) @ IMKY.

What a difference. Mile 70 came and went with no bonk. Never had to stop, though I could have to pee, but I didn't.

Nothing, I think I've got a good bead on this now. I'm ready to get faster.

Good T2 - nothing different here.

Not pee, but I just had to. Need to learn to pee on bike better, I've dont it before, but could not today.

This was fantastic. I came out of T2 like a beast... posted my first 4.4 miles @ 9:44. I felt STRONG. I kept thinking to Kinetic which was the first 70.3 where I put a good run together and kept thinking that this felt like that - manageable pain. I was literally enjoying the pain, exactly like I wanted to.

I kept seeing aid stations and run mile markers go by and I'd only walk the aid stations - I did that for the entire first 13.1 I walked a touch more then next 4 miles to mile 17 and then put it together and did 10:12s or something for the last segment.

Aid stations were fantastic and well stocked, one even had jelly beans.

Karen, with whom i traveled, did notice a lot of "help" happening with nutrition being left on the course for people, so it is a shame that the refs didn't catch more of this (it doesn't look like they did). BUt it is what it is... I'm there to do the best I can. And I think I did. I wonder what my time would have been had I not just done IMKY 2 weeks prior, but I can't complain - I PR'd by 1:16:00 over my IMKY time (and thus best IM time).

It was mostly thanks to the run which I just gutted it out... I felt great for the first time on an IM run, no cramps, no headache, nausea... just running like I was training.

GREAT time.

A touch more mental toughness to reduce the middle split to under 11:00 averages.

And that's all it was... mental toughness, I had the legs to do it.

Went to medic tent to get ice for knees, purely precautionary. Was considering trying to bum an IV, but medics were busy tending to people that looked like they really needed them, so I let it be.


IMKY 2 weeks prior, but I wouldn't trade it for anything.


Really well done race. Rev3 does what they say they do.

I can list complaints easily since there are so few:

1) I registered on Monday prior to the race for the full and they had me registered for the half - the resolved on-site with no issues

2) Athlete brunch Monday AM was LAME. Bagels and muffins. I just did an IM... give me some eggs or something.

3) Practice swim was cancelled Monday AM with no online notice.