This is a deep water start, but you can stand close to shore if you'd prefer. Water temps were in the upper 60's, and I only saw a couple people in the full race without wet suits. The sun was low on the horizon on the right side on the outbound leg. It was pretty blinding, and I had a light tint in my goggles.

The swim exit is a dock about 2' above the water.....with no ramp or beach. You swim up to it and reach up with both arms. A couple burly guys grab your arms and pull you out of the water. It's not quite as bad as it seems, but it sure is different! As soon as I got a leg swung up onto the dock, my calk cramped and I dropped like a sack of wet cement. Luckily, the cramp went away after a couple seconds.

I saw pretty well for the first 3/4 of the swim, but started to get tired and my stroke went to pieces for the last portion. My sighting was very poor, and I'm pretty sure I swam a snake-like course for most of the race. However, I didn't really do much in the way of serious swim training for this race. I figured my risk of drowning was pretty low with the wet suit on, so I really let the training slide. This was my first IM-distance swim with a wet suit, and I think I should be able to get this time down without too much work!

I think actually learning how to swim might be a start!

Remember, this is a small race.....not nearly as many volunteers to help out in the changing tents as one of the big M-dot races. That being said, the volunteers in the tent were really hustling to help repack gear bags and do what they could. I got some help pulling my shirt down, which was a life saver. Weather on race morning was cool, so I wore tri-shorts under the wet suit, but no top. I toweled off and put on a sleeveless tri-top for the bike ride. I had toe covers, sleeves, and leg warmers, but didn't use any of them since it seemed warm enough to go without.

My transition was slow, but my focus was on having a comfortable bike ride and letting my system settle down a little before hitting the first climb right outside of T1.

Coming into the race, this course had me scared! I live just north of Houston, and all of my training is on either flats or small rollers. The only bigs hills I've riden have been in HIM races (BSLT & Branson). After a lot of worry, I put both a compact crank and an 11-28 cassette on the bike. This was a life-saver. I was able to spin up all the hills except the 3-Sisters. I had to stand for those....everything else I was comfortable staying in the saddle. I used H3 race wheels, and would use them again. I figured that the wind was bad enough to off-set any weight penalty.

Aid stations were about 10-miles apart, plenty of volunteers and hand-ups. I lived off gatorade hand-ups and two gel flasks. One tip from Dave Scott that I tried was to not eat or drink anything on the bike until after the first climb was over. I followed his recommendation, and it worked out well.

I had driven most the bike course on Friday, so I pretty much knew what to expect (except for the constant head wind and that #&%* bike trail). I didn't think things were too tough until the long climbs after the half-guys turned back. I don't know how long the two big ones were, but they seemed to go on forever.

During his talk on Saturday, Dave Scott said he though the toughest part of the course was actually the bike trail between Lake Las Vegas and Henderson. He said the false flat and the slight headwind can be a little taxing. REALLY DAVE! Slight Headwind? To start with, I think I would have walked the bike up the third sister if there hadn't been a bunch of hecklers at the top of the hill. Then....the rest of that stinking bike trail was both mentally and physically draining. You're so close to town....but the trail just keeps going and going. UGH.

The other big difference between this course and the big M-dot courses is that you're off on your own for large portions of the ride. The solitude and the beauty of the desert mountains are pretty amazing. One thing I'd never seen before is there were a lot of "chase cars" out on the course, where people were leap-frogging ahead of racers to take pictures and encourage them. I thought this was kind of neat! After the half turnaround point, the course opened up enough where I thought there was pleanty of room and people could do this without it getting too dangerous.

My bike leg went very well. I think I rode this course at or close to my current level of fitness. Other than more training, my biggest gain would probably come from losing another 10 or 15 lbs. I didn't seen any sunscreen people at T1, so I went without and got a little burned on my ears and shoulders.

Volunteers at T2 took your bike, and located your gear bag. There was almost no help in the changing tent when I went though. It looked like one man and a jr high kid. Luckily I didn't need to do much. Put on some body glide (which I don't usually need help with), socks and changed shoes, then off to run! I did end up having to bag my bike stuff and ask where to leave my bag.

I got a little turned around leaving the changing tent, and wasn't sure wich way to go. I asked a couple people where the run exit was and they didn't know. I took a guess that ended up being correct. While I doubt this cost me any time, it did make me a little nervous

I ran most of thie course, up til about the 17-mile point, then walked some at the aid stations and a little on some of the up hills. It got dark early (no daylight savings time), so most of my run was in the dark. The aid stations were all excellent...they all had lots of everything. Most had so many volunteers that kids seemed to have a competition going to try and get you to take stuff. I was able to just live off the course....gatorade, water, and a gel every hour.

I had a nice relaxed run up to about mile 17. From that point on, I didn't really have any major aches or pains, but I was getting ready for the day to be over. I made sure my focus was one aid station to the next. Temps were cool and comfortable. I ran the first lap in my sleeveless tri top that I wore on the bike. I'd stashed a long sleeve shirt in my run feed bag that I wore for lap 2. I would have been fine in either, but I'm guessing that people who spent much time walking were a little chilly if they didn't have long sleeves on.

I had a few family members at the race who hung out in The District for most of the run. This was a great spot to see them. They got to watch the runners come through. The District is about a 10-minute walk from the finish if you go straight there. On the run course, it's about a mile and a half.

When I run at night or early mornings, I have some small LED blinkers I wear for visability. They would have been great to have. portions of the course were VERY dark.

Overall, I had a nice relaxed run. I was ready for it to be over, but I could have kept going for a while. I probably could have gone faster, but after the first lap I as feeling pretty good and didn't want to push and blow up!

Went through the chute. and milled around. Turned in the chip, got the medal, and got a finisher shirt. The family took a few picture, and we milled around a bit. After that we picked up bike & bags, and called it a night!


This race was a big improvement over last year's IM-Louisville performance. Faster swim and run. Slower bike, but a MUCH tougher course. At this point, I really need to learn how to swim!. I'm thinking I could also save some serious time if I could get some of those dimpled race wheels.....and maybe really flashy Newton Running Shoes! I was also thinking that a pair of those low-rider tri shorts might not improve my time, but may help me place higher, since I'm pretty sure it would discourage people from wanting to come up behind me and pass!


Coming into Silverman, I had a 15-hour goal, but I was pretty intimidated by the course. In the back of my mind I had some lingering doubts about my ability to finish period, let alone within 15-hours. Instead of 15-hours, I ended up with about a 20-minute IM PR. To PR on such a tough course I'm taking as a sign that my fitness levels are improving. Any time a short paunchy guy like me can finish in the MOP, I'm a happy camper! I'm much less sore than after IM-Lou last year, and am starting to look forward to IM-Texas. I'm confident now I'll break 13-hours in May, and may be able to get close to 12!

The only negative comment I have is that I think the half -distance racers must have cleaned out the shirts. They only had L, XL, and XXL left when I came through the chute. I'm about 175#, and the L is quite a bit too big for me. I sure most of the full distance people walked away with shirts that don't fit them! Kind of a bummer when everything else was so well done!

That being said, Silverman is a tremendous race. Frank and his crew do an excellent job, and the community support is fantastic. Someone at one of the bike aid stations was even offering free lap dances for racers.....you just don't see that kind of support many places! I was almost scared off by the reputation, but you don't have to be a tri-sport wizard to have a good experience at Silverman! MOP/BOP triathletes can have a GREAT EXPERIENCE on this course! If you're thinking about this race....my advice is "JUST DO IT!". Sign up early. It's a bargin!