The big key to success was finding a pair of nice feet. This was by far the best OW swimming performance yet for me because I was able to draft very well and feel relaxed throughout the process. It helps that Minnegaukee had good visibility that morning so I could see 10 ft in front of me. I drafted off two-three swimmers either because I was able to latch onto them or because I noticed my original race rabbit was significantly off-course with his navigation.



Only problem with drafting occured when we caught up with subsequent waves, then there were too many feet. If anything, maybe if I can try to latch on two pairs of feet (a three-way) and draft in-between them come October, then things will be made!

No need to rush in the HIM. The seconds you gain here can easily be lost later down the line if you rush through T1. Was fast and smooth. At this distance, this is all you need.

Have my transition stuff out of my plastic bags. I had shoes and T1, T2 stuff in plastic bags so they wouldn't get wet.

Tough bike session. The bike started off nice a tough with a climb immediately out of transition. This wasn't so bad as it gave me a chance to get warmed up. But my quads were incredibly tight during the first 10 miles for the bike. It was the same tightness I felt on the previous mornings ride.

Mile 7- Pffftttt!!!!! A nice whiz sound came from my front Zipps as I headed down the 11A highway. Crud, a flat. As I was just about getting warmed up, the air literally went out of my front tire due to a small glass shard in the tire. It took me over 10 minutes to get the tires dislodged, change the flat and back onto the bike. In the process, I sliced up my hand in the attempt to open up the clinchers. It was my first in-race tire change and took way longer than anticipated.

The rest of the bike ride was tough for me. It wasn't In knowing that I lost 10 minutes on the bike, I struggled to get back onto pace for the rest of the ride. I did manage to get into a pack and did some drafting for about 10-15 miles. If I learned anything, you can get away with quite a bit of drafting in these races so long as you take your turn up at the front as well!

The course itself was rolling hills and nothing I hadn't seen before. The steep climbs in the first & last 8 miles were fairly standard stuff and great practice for GFT.

Not get a flat. Need more Big Gear and Hill Training. Need more time in the saddle.

Normal T2- Very smooth and efficient. Socks on, Shoes on, Go. Very simple.

Once again, no need for bags in T2. I didn't want my stuff to get wet from the rain but who knew the weather would clear up?!!?

Running for the bacon. The course itself was just amazing. While not technically difficult, the crowds and volunteers and extracurricular activities were A+++ all the way. The funnest portion of run occurred at the turnaround point where we ran through Cirque de Timber and It's a Small World aid stations. Hilarious and took my mind off the running, which wasn't so bad with my sub-8:00 min/mile pace. I was passing a lot of people who just ran out of gas on the course (of course I was helped by the fact that I had my 10-minute tire "break" on the bike segment). I finished the run strong, but not spent as I was doing Timberman for fun.



Bike better

Walked around, chilled out. Ate


the bike


Best Half Iron I've done thus far. Actually, out of all the races I've raced, this ranks up there for festivities, atmosphere, organization, and fans. Timberman had to be the most fun triathlon out there, even better than the NYC Triathlon. The only other event I've done that has been this much fun was the NYC Marathon. Would do it again in a heart beat!