This swim was super fast! We'd heard that the current was going to be a huge factor and that was absolutely the truth. I tried from the start to get as close to the buoys in the middle of the river to take advantage of as much of the current as possible. I did a decent job holding a straight line, but I know that I need to work on this to prevent my open water zig-zagging. I also felt that my stroke felt a little sloppy today. Regardless, this is probably the fastest half ironman swim I'll ever have!

Even though my time ended up being 5-7 minutes faster than I anticipated, I still feel like I held a little too much back. Swimming is probably my strongest leg and I feel like I didn't take advantage of it today. I think I may do better, relative to the field, in non wetsuit-legal swims.

Got dragged a little by the wetsuit strippers...a little comic relief. Felt very calm and HR was in check.

Nothing. It was a huge transition area and I had to get a wetsuit off,so I knew T1 was going to take longer than usual.

Ha! Here's where my race took a distinct turn! I had banked alot on this being a good ride. Bethany and I both rented race wheels (a Zipp disc and a 404 front) and I could really feel the difference. The first 18 miles were really flat and I was averaging around 21 mph. I felt good and was keeping my HR in check.

As I approached the first bottle exchange, I reached down to grab the bottle on my downtube when my saddle fell out from under me! Because I was in an awkward position I couldn't catch myself, so I ended up either going over my handlebars or just to the side...not really sure which. Either way, it hurt! I landed on my left hip, elbow, and knee. I hopped up, brushed myself off and felt fine but after looking at my bike, knew it wasn't faring as well. My saddle was wobbling back and forth and barely hanging onto the seat post. I tried fixing it but immediately realized I didn't have the equipment needed to re-attach the saddle. Luckily I was right next to the bottle exchange. A race official came to check on me and had the medics come look me over. He also called a roving mechanic, but told me it may be a while.

As I watched racer after racer ride past me, my emotions ranged from anger to impatience, and finally to acceptance of my situation. I'd worked so hard for this day...tapered for 2 weeks, rented race wheels, blah blah blah! I ended up waiting for 30 minutes for the mechanic to arrive. This may sound a bit lame, but during the wait I had an epiphany of sorts. Why was I so worked up about a HOBBY? I'm never going to be a professional triathlete! Ha!, I may never even be the fastest person in my household! I made a distinct choice that I would not be a sore loser today, but enjoy the race. The mechanic and I managed to rig my saddle back in place. Thank you Outspokin' Bicycles of Augusta, GA! Overall, it cost me about 45 minutes.

From that point on I kept pushing hard, but I enjoyed the scenery and just had fun. The course got hillier, but nothing steeper than what I'd been training on. Overall, this was a really fun course to ride. My only issue at this point was major discomfort from my seat position. Minus the 45 minutes on the side of the road, I should have averaged between 19.5 and 20 mph...I'll take that today. Ultimately, not where I think I can get to, but ok for where I'm at now.




Nothing, I felt good about what I ate (Clif Shot Bloks and a Clif Shot), drank (lots of G2, some Gatorade, lots of water), and my effort level. I'm gonna really try and work on my bike fitness during the offseason. So, I felt good about all the factors I was in control of.

I always get through T2 pretty quickly in comparison to the field. Today I was THRILLED to finally get on to running after my biking debacle!

Nothing

At this point, I was really relieved to be off of my bike and on the run course. My knees were hurting a little from the start...I think a result of being in a bad bike position. My goal for the run today was to start out conservatively at just under an 8:30/mile pace, hold this pace for a few miles and ultimately negative split it until the end. The first 4 miles felt good with splits of 8:21, 8:20, 8:32, 8:18.

Around mile 5 it seemed to be getting harder and harder to maintain the same pace. I think it was a combination of a little more heat, knees that were definitely hurting, and quads/hamstrings on the verge of cramping. The next 4 mile splits were 8:50, 8:42, 8:45, 9:28 what!

I had planned from the start to walk all the water stations to make sure I got 2 cups of water/gatorade each time. Though, as the race went on I found that getting started running became tough. My next 4 splits were 8:43, 9:24, 9:40, 9:06.

My last mile I was so excited about finishing the race and passing the Atlanta Tri Club tents again...they did a phenomenal job of cheering everyone on and giving us an energy injection. I think the 200 yds before and after the tents were my fastest of the race! My last mile split was 8:18. I finally saw the finish line and was thrilled to finish a long day.

I think that I have a 1:45 half-ironman run in me...maybe next time. I also think I need to get stronger on the bike to be able to have legs left for the run. This was maybe the 5th time I've ever run this far in my life, so I can't have unrealistic expectations, but I know next year will show some big gains at this distance.

Caught up w/ Bethany and my parents after the finish. Drank some water, then had some beer, pizza, and a banana. Felt extremely tight and cramped a little when I tried to stretch. It was lots of fun sharing race stories w/ everyone. Told everyone about my bike incident and enjoyed hearing about all the PRs.


I think that without the bike crash and delay I would've finished somewhere around 5:20. This would've been 10 minutes or so under my goal of 5:30, so I can't complain about my effort today. For my 1st HIM, I was pleased. Today I also learned a lot about myself and I realized that I'm really the only one who really cares if I hit my goal times or not. In the grand scheme of things it's far more important that I tried my best, finished w/ a smile on my face, and enjoyed the day w/ my great family and friends.


Awesome race! I think PEM did a fantastic job w/ this race, especially for it's inaugural event. The course was fast and fun...definitely a PR course. My only issues were with the logistics of getting around pre-race and for fans during the race. Lastly, a race of this size (nearly 3,000 racers) makes any bike course a drafters paradise...no way around inadvertent drafting with a crowded bike course. Other than a few minor hiccups, there seemed to be more than enough volunteers and the fans were great! I would already be signed up for next year's race if I hadn't already signed up for IM Wisconsin. For a 1st time 1/2 IM, I couldn't imagine a better event.