I just wanted to take it easy on the first 5K. Running is not my strong suit and I was ill prepared for all of the running. I got to run the whole course with Todd so that was nice. We got passed by a lot of people but I was OK with that. I ran the whole thing so I was pleased

Just increase my run volume and start to work on speed. I've spent so much time just getting the distance down that it's time to start to bring the times down a bit.

T1 was fine. I hadn't checked where the ins and outs were so it kind of disoriented me a bit when I ran in from the first 5K. I finally found my bike and had just a bit of a problem getting my running tights off. Made a quick decision on what to wear on the bike and made sure I had everything.
Once again, I was looking for where the bike exit was. I was a bit confused at first but I found it. Fumbled with my Garmin to get it to reset for the bike leg.

Know where you're going.

So I was off and running on the bike course and I knew where I was going as I had ridden the course a couple of times. I knew that I was going to have to keep up on my nutrition if I was going to make it to the finish line and I think I did a great job. The first trip up to the turn around was nice. My rented race wheels were rolling very nicely and I was averaging in the high 17mph's to low 18mph's. I was very happy with the effort on the way out. My HR was about 151 and I thought that was a little high for where I wanted it but it was still Z2. I hit lap just after the turn around and it said 50 minutes so I knew I was right on track for my estimated time. The ride back into town I was expecting to be going about 25mph but there was just a little wind in our face so I was averaging about 19 mph on the way back. I wanted to finish my 1st bottle of infinit before I made the turn for loop 2 and I did. The 2nd loop I throttled it back just a bit and my speed and HR dropped. I actually had good speed of about 20-21mph on the way back out to the beeline but the way back down the hill the wind came up and it slowed me down in the 16-17moh range. I had off and on lower back spasms that I've never had before and the sore and stiff neck was pretty steady the 2nd loop. At mile 49 I got a bee in my tri top and it started stinging me. I felt the pain and was like WTF? I smashed it and saw the stinger hanging out of my belly. I grabbed it and pulled it out. It really didn't bother me the rest of the day. From all my training times, I was right in line with were I finished. I can't believe how many super fast bike riders there were out there.

I still need to work on my speed on the bike. I just didn't know how much effort to put out on the bike because this was my first HIM. I may have pushed a little more than I should because when I hit the run, I was pretty tired. I need to really work on the 56 mile distance and getting the sore neck thing to go away.

T2 was exactly what I expected. As I arrived off the bike, I saw a photographer from our TV station there filming. I yelled out to him and he came over and asked me a few questions. I just wanted to keep moving so I didn't make much time for him. I ended up on the 5 O'clock news though. I had a bit of an issue finding where all my stuff was because some bikes had been moved around a bit. I got my bike racked and switched back to my running shoes. I didn't know what the temp on the course would be so I left my arm warmers on. Once again, I just wanted to make sure I had everything I needed. Everything was laid out in a place that I knew what I needed to bring. As I ran out of T2 my family was there and I walked and chatted for a second with them. I told my wife that the 1/2 marathon was going to be long....that was very true.

Once again, I need to go from entrances and exits and know where I'm going. I haven't raced since last May and I was a bit rusty on some of those things.

I knew going into this that I was going to struggle on the run portion but I wasn't expecting to have already run a 5K. As soon as the run started, my knees felt sore so I took a couple of Advil that I had with me. I think that helped a bit. I really wanted to keep up on my hydration and nutrition and I think overall for the day, I did a great job. The 2nd loop I could have had some more sports drink as I cramped a bit on the final mile but I knew what I needed to do with calories and I never felt hungry or calorie fatigued. I tried to keep the 13.1 miles broken down into segments so it didn't overwhelm me. About 1/2 way through the 1st loop, I knew my 2 1/2 hour 13.1 mile time wasn't achievable. At that point, I still wanted to try to get the PR for the 1/2 marathlon and I kept pushing to keep running. The last aid station before the Mil Ave bridge they were serving beer at the aid station. I thought that was funny. The 2nd lap was when I really started to fall apart. There wasn't a lot of people left on the course and it was lonely sometimes. I, once again, tried to just keep things in little chunks. On the Priest bridge over Rio Salado my right foot felt like it had knives stabbing the bottom of it. It eventually went away about a mile later. Run to the bridge, now over the bridge, now run down to the dam. I knew if I could just make it to the out and back that I was golden. This is where I really fell apart though. The cramps started to hit my left hamstring and I tried to stretch it a little as I walked. I saw two people in front of me that were struggling also so I knew I wasn't alone. With 1 mile to go, the cramps were in both legs and I knew I would have to really push through the final leg. I drank a few sips of water and would run a couple hundred yards and walk about 20 seconds. I did this all along the South side of the lake to the finish. I had no idea how the finish was set up so my mind wandered about how much further I would have to run. When I finally hit the grassy patch close to the finish, I saw my friends and that picked up my spirits a bit. I still couldn't see the finish and I wondered how far I had to go. Thankfully it was just around the corner. Right after I crossed and got my finisher medal, my hamstrings cramped up really bad. I just kept walking and they eventually stopped cramping.

I just need to build up the run volume and speed. This will be my main goal for the summer. No excuses anymore. My run is killing my tri times and I can't have it anymore.

I hung out with my friends that came to watch me finish and I took a couple if pictures. I really should have taken more because I really wanted a picture with my parents and with Michelle. Oh well. I cleaned up transition and Kelly helped me carry some stuff back to my car.


Run...run...run. The duathlon didn't help my situation either. I also need to find out where the pain and HR threshold is for me dependent on how long my race is.


Really wish that the swim would have happened but after I was pissed for about 10 minutes, I got over it and accepted the 5K start.