Okay, first- if you're the guy who helped get my wetsuit zipped over a broken zipper 30 seconds before the swim start- THANKS!

As far as the swim itself- the start was disorganized with some people leaving early, others starting farther over than they were supposed to, and just general light confusion. This may have actually helped spread out the mass start and make it easier to get going.

Once my zipper was closed (Blue Seventy sent me a brand new wetsuit no questions asked after I emailed them and returned my suit to them- great customer service), the only other negative to the swim was my inability to find the right person(s) to draft on.

My swim was slow, 2 to 4 minutes slower than I was capable of, but that was by design- this was my first half ironman and my goal was to burn absolutely nothing on the swim and be fresh for the bike.

From my performance on the bike this worked. That said, next year I will be faster

Work on drafting.

I don't jump on my bike. Ever. Just not that coordinated. Did have a bit of trouble with the wetsuit, was taking my time. First time, long race.

Practice getting the wetsuit off.

Exceeded my expectations on a challenging (but not too challenging) bike course.

Wind was about 11 mph from the SE, led to a mix of headwind tailwind situations. I had ridden the course previouly with the wind from the NE about the same speed.

I used my knowledge of wind speed direction and curse layout to my advantage and knew where to turn on the speed and where I would find it more difficult. Also I was well rested coming out of T1, followed my hydration/nutrition strategy perfectly, and it just worked.

I went from bottom half to top third overall on the bike.

Bought a new wheelset two weeks after the race. Will be faster next year.

Also, will probably go lighter on on the bike fluids (three bottles this year) as they seemed to have the bike aid station thing down well.

Tore one whole on my race number (had to wear the number on the bike and run- hope that changes next year). Took a second to take care of. Took my time again- long run ahead.

Not tear my race number

Run overall was good, with two exceptions:

1. Cramped for the first seven miles of run. Not due to dehydration. I've had issues with this since I started running. Have tried breathing exercises, different hydration strategies, ab strengthening, etc..., but sometimes it just happens. May be overheating or humidity related, but happens even when well hydrated. Over time, I have developed the capability to run 8:30 miles with bad side cramps, unfortunately I can run faster than that without side cramps (not too much faster, though).

By mile 7 or so, cramps faded ( about the same time I started to run into a light wind)...

2.Aid stations could use some work (first year race, I'm sure it will be better next year. I took an accelerade bottle and gels with me because they said they would have water and Heed on the course. First aid station-I could not get anyone's attention to figure out what was what, grabbed a cup of clear liquid off the table (volunteers were behind table) and it was not water (not sure what it was)- worse stuff I ever tasted- I spit it out and kept going. Thankfully I had my accelerade, but aid stations were only about every two miles and by the second aid station my accelerade was gone. Second aid station- They were out of water. I've never had that happen in a race. They did have ice chips which I took.

Other aid stations were fine as advertised.



Magic pill for side cramping?

Walked around, found my wife (she thought it would take me a little longer than it did).


Cramping


For me, for my first 1/2 ironman (and only 4th Triathlon), a super effort with super results, particularly considering the cramping and ultra conservative swim start. I'll be back next year and plan to be faster.

Course was super. Challenging but fun.

Organization was uneven. Pre race organization could have been better. Had to pick up chips after regiatering, morning of race, no marking so you had to wear your run number on the bike, Swim went off on time, but very disorganized. Bike aid stations great, but intersections need to be manned. No mile markers on run course, more and better stocked aid stations on run course would have been nice. Overall a good effort for a first year race and I am sure it will get better over time.