The swim has proven to be a challenge to me as of late. I have been having pretty strong panic attacks at the beginning of the swim for several of my last races. The water was warm. I am well trained for this distance. I was with my best friends in a very low key event. I started in the back. I tried to start really slowly. It was a mental fight from the time the gun went off to the second bouy, basically half the race. MISERABLE! Finally I kicked it into gear and started to get into the flow of things. It is a really bad way to start things off. All that being said, I swam :10 minutes faster than my last half iron.

I keep going over that again and again in my mind. I have no idea what to do differently. I need to figure something out before IMFL!

It was fine.

I forgot to take off my googles and cap when I exited. That added a bit to my time.

I wanted to stay between 15-16.5 on the bike hoping this would give me a little something left to run on. Having never seen the course, I felt like I stayed within my "box" just fine.

I will package my nutrition a little differently. My salt tablets were wrapped in SaranWrap that I had to chew through to get at because it was so wet. I might replace my Bento bag with one that can zip close??

I knew this would be a long transition. I only have one pair of orthotics. I had to switch them from my bike shoes to my running shoes. It was worth the extra minute. I was lucky I covered my shoes and socks with a garbage bag so I had nice dry ones to start.

I am hoping to have a second pair of orthotics soon.

Ok, so could I have gone faster. Probably. I didn't know that for sure until I did so. Doing what I did reminds me why I am actually spending 15-20 hours a week for an Ironman, for great experiences with my buddies. It was one of the greatest runs of my life even though it wasn't fast. I was completely in the moment. I will take it anyday.

Drink a little more. I was pretty salty when I was done. I could have kept it up for a little while longer but I might have started really having trouble in the later miles of a marathon because I was a little shy on nutrtion.

Caught my breath, found a Coke, talked to other athletes. Found a big smile on my face!


I herniated a disc in my back last summer. I can feel it go down my leg on the run. It was starting to cramp my leg up a bit toward the end of the run. I need to keep it more "in the box" than the average person just to make sure I don't do anything that will end my running dreams. I guess inexeperience is another factor. Since this was only my second Half, I have a lot to learn yet. The rain for sure slowed me on the bike today. Maybe that actually paid off on the run. The swim needs some more mental work. Also, we basically didn't taper for this race. I think I fresher legs we all would have done better.


Really surprised by the great race. Our last race ran out of water the last 4 miles! This time we brought everything with us just in case. Just because this is a small race doesn't mean it isn't a great one. The awards were fun too. Beanies, socks and pint glass. My girlfriend's got a tank top for their first place finishes.I love that they also printed out your results right there and then.