Memorial Hermann Ironman 70.3 Texas - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

This swim was tough for me. I didn't do a great first leg and was fighting quite a bit. Decided to go inside to avoid the crowd but drifted a bit too far inside and had to swim back out to make the turn buoy. Didn't really draft anyone either and it was hard to sight due to the chop. At one point, I thought I was sighting off an orange buoy but it was actually someone's swim cap!

Worst part was that I cramped the last 100m (my left leg just locked up) and was able to gut it out and get to the little bridge out of the water. I actually fell off it since my leg was still cramping, and had to take several minutes to recover.

I haven't really been consistently swimming so it wasn't bad. I probably trained less for this race than the previous 2 years.

rain more. My swim was severely undertrained for this race compared to last year so it was great that I was faster. I swam probably 20k yards in 3 months prior to the race.

Prior years:
2011: 50:03
2012: 43:03
2013: 42:04
2014: 46:10

However, I probably lost about 2 minutes or so from cramping so a finish time of about 44 min would've been about right given the toughest conditions I've seen here ever since I started doing this event in 2011.

T1 was slow as I was not able to run due to the cramps. Took a little more time than I typically do. Used my spare bottle to wash off saltwater and got on the bike. It was drizzling so I took extra caution and was worried that my cramp would return. Fortunately, it did not.

A little more sense of urgency and since I had a decent transition spot, I probably could've gone under 3 minutes here.

Prior years:
2011: 5:10
2012: 3:27
2013: 4:10
2014: 3:46

My best bike leg ever, but was helped by a tailwind heading out then the wind shifted and had more of a cross/tail wind on the way back so I didn't have to slow down much. Had a minor cramp that I was able to shake off right after the turn around. Also was not taking chances with hydration and over-hydrated a bit so had to go on the bike for the first time. Fortunately, I had an extra water bottle and was able to clean off pretty easy. Bike was drizzling/raining but stopped raining near the end. Hit my power numbers as planned (actually about 5W higher but HR was fine so I went with it.

Nothing much - probably not mess up my disk as that would have been the ideal rear wheel to use but hard to complain when I PR by 10 minutes.

Prior years:

2011: 2:47:20
2012: 2:49:19
2013: 2:40:59
2014: 2:30:02

PR'd this transition by 1 sec so I can't complain. Need to get myself more conscious of speeding up transition as I can probably get to under 2:30 but in the big scheme of things, this isn't much time though.

Not much.
Prior years:

2011: 3:21
2012: 3:35
2013: 2:43
2014: 2:42

Didn't have too many issues with the run. It stayed overcast so it wasn't as hot as previous years. Ran the last 2 loops with a lady who was running close to my pace. Tried to keep pace even and hold sub 8-minute splits and was successful. Finished pretty good but probably walked a little too many aid stations or would've been able to save another 30 sec or so.

Train more - didn't have as much run training as I'd like coming into this race but since I had just run a hilly half-marathon at 1:40, I think it would've been good to be able to get close to that with a taper and a flatter course. However, I did PR so can't complain!

Prior years:

2011: 1:57:14
2012: 1:48:52
2013: 1:52:05
2014: 1:43:53

Not much, just walked around and stretched.


Training - I trained the least for this race since my first one that was bit spur of the moment. Also had the least cycling outside but got some solid trainer workouts due to trainerroad.com


Definitely a great race at a great location. This was my first 70.3 and I have done this every year with this being my 4th time. It's also convenient since it's just about a 5 hr drive away so no need to fly.