I swam this as I was thinking I will swim IM in Sept. I got into a nice flow and maintained an even effort. I wanted to exit the water feeling that I could jump back in and swim the course again. And I did feel that way upon my exit!

If I cannot wear a wetsuit, I think I want to wear a one piece tri suit so I could have my HRM strap on. Without wearing a top, the strap would not have stayed put for the swim. I tried to swim in my top, but it was distracting so I took it and my HRM strap off and my wife put it by my bike. If I can do this at IM, I will be happy. I think I can go 1:45 for IM if I wear a wetsuit.

Took my time in T1. I walked up the hill, put HRM strap on, shirt on, sprayed some sunscreen on, shoes, helmet, beanie hat, glasses, gloves, and walked bike to mount line.

Nothing. T1 went smooth for me.

Unfortunately, this is where I get negative. My plan was to do this ride at a slow pace to practice for IM. I wanted to stay close to 140BPM for my HR and be able to feel strong off the bike, keeping in mind that I will be doubling my distances for IM. It was hard to let so many riders pass me when I knew I could go much faster, but I stayed disciplined and rode "my" race. I stayed relaxed and comfortable, just pedalling along. However, my legs and my right leg in particular starting giving me pain in the back near the top of my calf within a few miles riding. I continued to ride trying to figure out why I am having such issues with calf pain this year. I don't know if it is a bike fit issue or an old injury flaring up. I had this issue in my right leg years ago and 2 years off running, 2 MRI's, one "scope", 2 rounds of physical therapy didn't fix it. I finally started doing some calf strenghtening and that seemed to fix it and I went on with training for the last couple years completing half marathons, HIM's, etc. Now it is back. Do you think I could try the strength training again? I have been to so many bike fitters around here and I have spent hundred's of dollars trying to get dialed in. I said something to my recent fitter and he said that I need to work on my pedal technique and flexibility. Well, I do work on it some, but my pedal stroke is what it is. And at 50+ years old, I don't have the flexibility of a 20 year old even if I stretch. He also said that this is nature of triathlon due to the biking and running. Okay, but there are a lot of others competing in triathlon. Do they all have such pain on the bike that they are happy to get off it and begin running? I actually felt good running off the bike without the heaviness I usually feel when I first start out. I guess my concern is: I went slow on the bike and experienced this kind of pain. I won't be able to go 112 miles and endure that pain, let alone then run a marathon. I'm already pedaling slow and spinning at a decent cadence. I don't know what else I can do. If you have read this far, I am open to suggestions!

Push a little harder on the flats and descents. Pee on the side of the road instead of using 5 minutes to hit the porta-potty.

I was happy with my speed though. I was expecting to average 15 MPH to maintain my target HR.

I was so glad to get off the bike! I changed into my running shoes, used the porta-potty and headed out.

Nothing

Walked the aid stations, ran in between. Ran with Alice Hohl, Mary Cockburn and for about 2 seconds with Mindy as she blew past me looking really strong! My calves were still bothering me, but they felt better on the run.

I would have pushed just a little harder so I could have finished under 6 hours. At one point, I did the math and thought I may be able to finish under 6 so I picked up the pace, but at mile 12 I realized I wasn't going to make it so I backed down to my target pace and finished.

Walked around some.


Self imposed as this was a practice for IM. I was practicing relaxed transitions, pacing, mentally dealing with people passing me on a regular basis and nutrition. However, nutrition didn't get practiced so well as I left my Infinit in my motel room and had to live off the course. So I started out with regular Gatorade and gels and lived with GI distress for the first 40 miles of the bike until I picked up some Gatorade Perform on the course which seemed to settle my stomach some. I handled it well though reminding myself to control what I can, and don't stress about the rest. I was able to live off the course though that won't be my first choice for IM. I will start out with Infinit and switch to course living for the run.


This is probably the best race I have done. Excellent support, well organized, great swim, closed roads a real plus. I will come back and make this my "A" race one year and do much better!