Whirlpool Steelhead 70.3 Triathlon - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

During a short run start I would try to keep a faster pace. I felt like I could have kept up a faster pace and recovered before the heavy cycling began.

Nothing.....it sucks to train that long for one event and have it get canceled. While I worked hard at training for this swim leg, I feel it would have been my best leg.

While I tried to keep the transition time down I was not overly concerned with the time. I was more concerned about leaving something behind.

Run with socks and cycle on shoes for the start. I should not be concerned about leaving something behind since every thing I need to grab should either by on my bike already or in my helmet.

The bike leg was prefect. The ride out was a little slow since there was such a head wind but the wind was at my back the whole way back. I laughed on the way back because heading down hill on the way out I was going really slow (16 mph) then on the way back I was hitting 24mph up hill. It was insane. I felt good the whole ride and was even able to hold a aero position for 95% of the ride. (Holding that position has been difficult in training) I planned on keeping very little water on my bike since the aid stations were close together. This worked well and I bet I could have gotten away with only having my aero bottle with no frame mounted bottle at all. As far as consumption, I took a gel almost every 30-45mins and a couple of mini salted pretzels. I had some enduralites but did not take them with any frequency.

Trouble with drinking??? While I did drink a lot of fluids (possibly more than normal since the water stations were frequent) I did not feel like I was over doing it. Around 40mi I felt the need to go to the bathroom. By the time I got to the transtion I had to take time out to go. This is the first time that this has happend to me. I am not sure if its because of the distance of the race or if I drank too much??? After you feel the need to go, do you continue to drink but slower OR do you consider yourself full and cut off water until you can go?? I continued to drink at a slower rate because I was fearing dehydration more than having to stop and go.

Heading into transition I did some flexing of my hips and legs on the bike. I think this really helped me with the run transition. The actual transition was long due to going to the bathroom. I felt a little worried about leaving for the run. This fear made me take a couple deep breathes and slow my mind in transition which cost time. I guess it was just first time jitters.

Figure out the hydration problem and dismount with shoes still clipped in.

My run was stellar for my ability level. I did not focus on my hrt rate, which was my undoing in capitol view. My game plan was to just run. I wanted to get settled into a nice rhythem and not worry about pace or heart rate. I still kept tabs on it but was not overly concerned when I went up 5 beats or down 5 beats. Each aid station I took a spounge if available, ice, and I alternated water and gatoraid. The singlet was AWESOME! Each station I would grab ice and dump it in the front or back of my suit. This keep the ice on my body for a longer time. It would get stuck on my hrt monitor or my race belt and cool me down. I also loved my new visor. I am ashamed that I was 'THAT GUY' that wore the race visor to the race. (PCU quote for those of you that are into funny movies). The visor worked much better than my old hat. I was able to drump water on my head with out removing the hat. I also felt that not having cloth over my head allowed me to disperse the heat faster. I walked the aid stations and two hills (a total of four times over those hills). As far as consumption goes I took a gel 30-34 mins, 3 mini salted pretzels that I grabbed from my bike, water and gatoraid rotating every water station

Not much. Great pace for me, kept my temp down, and had fun time. If I wanted to knit-pick I could cut back on the gatoraide. I felt a little bit of a discomfort in my stomach that I usually get when I consume too much gatoraide. I could also have pushed harder the last couple miles and ran the aid stations/hills. I just wanted to enjoy my first half-ironman.

There was a runner that I caught in the last mile who was awesome to chat with and I enjoyed running with. When he said 'come on let's sprint to the finish' I thought that I have sprinted to the finish in almost every race....not this one. I wanted to enjoy it. Crossing the finish line I took time to enjoy the experience. I high fived my family and even a couple of stangers. It was a great feeling to see an actual crowd at the finish line cheering you on when you finish. Perhaps I only hear my family but it was nice either way. It took me 5 hours and 23 mins to figure out why I do this but in the end I did.

Post race I jumped into the lake, ate, and hungout.


Figure out my drinking on the bike.
Not worry so much about leaving items behind in the transition.
Shoes on on the bike
Shoes off on the bike
train with Gatoraide or sports drink that they have at the race
Train harder on the run so that I dont have to walk water stations or hills


Overall this race is first class compaired to other races I have done. There are lots of great people helping out. The course is beautiful. The pre-race, goody bag(shirt, socks, water bottle), and website information were top notch. During the actual race I was never in fear of mismanaged stops, turns, or poor road conditions. 5 star job all around for volunteers and organizers. Although they canceled the swim, they handled the mega shift from swim to run for the first leg with effiecency. The organizers should get some props for pulling off a plan B with relative ease.