this is the moment of glory for the swimmers. in these long races, those runners/bikers have all day to catch you, so might as well make them look silly in the beginning.
i was in wave six with waves being sent three minutes apart. i was talking with friends and fellow bt-ers as we watched and cheered the other waves. just before one of the starts, a boat zipped across the race route creating wake for the heat before us, but they were going to help someone who was already swimming back. my goggles had some crap on them making them blurry, i was a little worried about sighting. finally got them right and waited for the start.

....and we're off! i ran into the water and started stroking. within 30 seconds, i was in the lead. "oh crap," i thought, "i'm i going out too fast? why isn't there anyone else?" i didn't think i was going too fast, so i just kept on keeping on. the stroke felt great and i just kept thinking long and strong. soon, i started running into the previous heats and then it was just dodging one person after another. i was trying hard not to run into anyone, i feel bad, the swim can be hard enough for some people.

rounded the first bouy and didn't even bother to look for the next one, i just followed the herd. more dodging, long and strong baby. nice and easy. it would have been nice if the race crew wasn't zipping around the lake and creating wake, but, you take what you get.
rounded the last bouy and headed for shore. now i was seeing caps from the second heat (clydesdales/athenas). hopped out on shore feeling good and ran into transistion. looked at my watch, holy smokes! nailed that swim, felt great!

nothing, nothing at all. pace felt great and i got the tenth fastest swim split of the entire race (teams included!). my moment in the sun, er, overcast cloudyness.

la-la-la. felt like i spent all day in t1. maybe next race i won't bother with riding gloves. rach came down just as i was in t1, she snapped a couple of pictures. i was just looking around at all the bikes still in the racks. yep, moment in the sun for the swimmer.
the shoes in the pedals were a-ok getting into. still, it would be nice to have some tri-shoes instead of roadies.

since it was my first one, you gotta leave time to improve. i think that was done here. way too much time in t1, try to fix that next HIM ;)

okay, so i'm following mark ricci's "how to pace a 1/2 ironman" and something i found on gordo's website. i've got my zones which i need to stay in. the only thing that kept me to this was knowing i had a half marathon to run after this.
started out very slow. people were passing me right and left. i felt like this was my first time on a bike out there. wow, i just felt like i was going really, really slow. i kept telling myself - "first HIM, calm down, we are just trying to finish, not break any records. you want to finish strong, don't you? you'll see some of these hot rods on the run."
and that's what it was. a constant battle trying to stay in my zones and not catch people. telling myself while i could definetly go faster, i would pay for it at the end. just hit the nutrition like you planned and keep pedaling.
it was raining for about the first 30 minutes, making the road slick. i saw a guy eat it about mile 10. luckly, he was okay and got right back up. lots of water bottles flung over the train tracks. one flat tire.
i was greatful when i got to hit a new zone, but it didn't help all that much.
the last 10 miles my legs started cramping and my back started to hurt. i think i was a little too tense about the slow bike. i wanted to hit 20+, but i was realizing that it wasn't going to happen. i thought about hammering out the last ten miles only for a second or two. decide to save my energy for the half mary coming up.

train on the bike more, get my fitness up. i thought i had some good fitness on the bike. maybe throw in more interval training.
for those of you scoring at home, i was slightly above average on the bike compared to the entire race.
i took two gel flasks and only needed one. next time i'll save the trouble.

got into t2 and my shoe came off after i hopped off. had to throw the bike on the snow fence and run to get it. aside from that, t2 went a little better than t1, but again, always room to improve. hit the porta potty and was growing impatient with all the peeing i was doing (enough man, we gotta go!)

the shoe thing was a freak occurance, how do you prepare for that?

i am not a runner. never have been and may never be. the goal of this was to survive.
got running and felt good, really good. checked my hr and told myself to stay in my zones, you've stuck to the plan this far and it's been panning out, don't blow it. i'm also haunted by the past rr of fellow bt-er's hitting the wall about mile 7-8. just stick to the plan.
i don't think i've ever felt this good on a run at a tri. maybe there's something to this race plan! kept the nutrition going but instead of every 15 minutes, it switched to every mile. the aid station volunteers were starting to get overwhelmed with runners coming at them from both sides. i promised my friend who coaches marathons that i would powerwalk the aid stations. stick to the plan.
the first half was awesome, i had to slow myself down to stay in the zones, but i felt great. i noticed that the first half of the course was all slightly downhill and that i would be running uphill on the way...nevermind, don't think about that now, just stay in the zones.
the longer the race went on, the more people i started to pass. more and more people were walking and struggling. a smirk of satisfaction came on my face, even though i biked like a sissy, i am making up for it now.
the sun came out and started to warm the place up quickly. stick to the plan. i had a gel flask with me and taking pulls off it every odd mile w/ water and every even mile was powerade and a e-cap. every mile got a cup of water dumped on me. my shoes felt like they were full of water.
turned around, started high five people i knew. still feeling good. mile 8 i started to run but still saving somethin-somethin for the giant hill (and the other long hill in the park!)
i decided to enjoy my first ever HIM and not put the pedal to the metal, but i didn't slouch it either. the giant hill was just that, giant. but i had enough in the tank to run up the whole thing.
the last aid station i still had some gatorade and water. a guy passed me saying "it's not going to do anything now." i don't know if he was saying to himself or to me, but i took it as me. so i just ran right around him, see you later pal.
got up the final hill and turned the corner, it's a downhill slope to the finish. people were waiting on the sides for there athletes and cheering for the others. i started asking for more cowbell. "com'on people, that's not going to get me into the finish! more cowbell!! i've been out there for five hours!!! let's go!!!" yeah, that was fun. jumped into the finish with a time of 5:15. beautiful.

for my first time? nothing. it was great! the next time i do it i'll have to give it all i got at the end.

walked around a bit and ate everything i could get my hands on. free massages? yes please!!! the day contiuned with me eating anything and everything. back to sensible eating tomorrow!


bike fitness. i stayed in my zones, but better fitness would have allowed me going faster without leaving my zones.
even though i was a little disapointed with my bike speed, it was my first HIM, so room to improve. maybe i will choose a more agressive training program.
that, of course, is not to say that the beginner 1/2 program from this site was bad, by any means! it did fantastic and worked well with my limited time. combined with mark ricci's pacing plan, i finished a (somewhat challenging) HIM with no problem. never once was there a question if i was going to finish or not.
oh, and that triathlon calculator (www.triathloncalculator.com) was only about 3 minutes off.


this was a great and challenging race! plently of helpful and friendly volunteers. well organized and seems to be in an area that is immune to bad weather for some reason.