good swim, felt strong the whole swim and stayed with a middle pack

a little slow getting up boat ramp and congestion running to transition...quite a long run from exit to transition. a little slow getting on shoes but over all ok.

i did not want to toast my legs as this was my first half iron so i dialed it back a little for the whole course. even so, legs did not really come in until about mile 20. seemed like i got passed by everybody but stuck to my game plan of not over burning the bike. course was great with a mix of flat, rollers and some downhills. middle 3rd and last 3rd alot faster with the rollers in the middle 3rd. Actually ate some bananas at aid stations which i have not done before on the bike...felt fine and felt hydration was fine...took electrolytes as scheduled.

i would actually push the flats and downhills a little more next time. need to work on some bike fitness over the winter so i can improve overall pace.

i had to pee right off the bike so that some time and needed to add some sunscreen but overall not really sure why this took so long...maybe a precursor to what happened on the run.

move faster!

started out at my training paces and felt well. had some slight tightness and slight cramps at about mile 3 but stretched quickly and felt good. took on hydration at each aid station for the first half. about mile 6 started to feel a little weak and made sure i was eating and drinking. at mile 8 the wheels came off and i started cramping bad and legs started seize. so miles 9 thru 12 were run/walk alternating about every quarter mile. kept drinking and eating to try to resolve and also reverted to a little coke at each station to keep me going. just kept talking to myself to make it to the next mile. not sure if i missed nutrition completely coming off the bike and onto the run or if it was also due to fitness since this was my first half iron. i only had enough electrolyte tablets for the first part of the run...could be the reason. regardless i finished and feel good about not giving up. times really suffered at the end of again, i finished.!

need to continue to work on my nutrition as that also was an issue on my olympic distances until i got it dialed in....

went to athlete area and drank water...felt sick at my stomach for almost an hour but finally was able to eat a little and head back to the car.


i think nutrition is an issue but need to also assess my overall fitness


overall enjoyed the race and feel great about completing. however, i am disappointed that i did not meet my goal of 6:00 to 6:15. but regardless, my first half iron and will look the positive that i finished and have a better idea of what i need to do next time and areas to improve in my training