Now that I have had a couple weeks to mull things over, it is a good time to review my first half-iron distance race as well as the entire season.
The Good…
First and foremost, I completed my first half-Ironman distance triathlon! That was the primary goal of the season and I was able to accomplish that even despite being setback from the original race(Pocono!). This is a big step towards my ultimate goal and it provides me with some good experience for improving. I started this triathlon journey 4 years ago and I really wasn’t sure if I would ever get this far.
Swimming is not my weakest discipline anymore. I only started competitively/properly swimming 4 years ago. The first time I swam I went 25 yards with my head above the water and I was wiped out. Now, I can swim at least a mile and a half non-stop and am still able to bike and run afterwards. I am actually beginning to really enjoy the swim. I still have a large amount of improving to do, but it is not so scary anymore.
My nutrition went fairly well I thought. One of the biggest unknowns for me was how the feeding would be on my first half-iron distance race. I think I did pretty well. I was actually kind of full at the end, but that could have been from the cola I had at the last 3 rest stops. The summary of my feeding…
| Discipline | Feeding |
| Swim | Hydrate before and Bar |
| T1 | Shotblocks ready to eat on bike |
| Bike | 5 Gels taped to bike, ate 3 2 1/2 bananas at aid station 4 bottles of water |
| T2 | Shot Blocks ready to eat for start of run |
| Run | water at each rest stop, occasional gatorade Cola at last 3 rest stops. |
The Things That Could Be Better…
The run was very slow. 2:19 half-marathon was much slower than I anticipated. Running 10-11 min/mile pace is too slow to be competitive. When I was running I was thinking my legs would cramp up if I tried to run faster, but now I am wondering if that was just my mind trying to make things easy on me and not push the pain barrier too much. I know I wanted to finish, which was a top priority. I accomplished that, but next time I need to push the limits a bit more. In addition, knowing how I felt it gives me something to really work on. I have run a half-marathon by itself at ~8:00 min/mi pace(1:47) so I think I could get a little closer to 2:00 in a half-iron distance. I also suffered during the run at the Steelman olympic too, so that seems to be my downfall.
Transitions could be quicker. Both T1 and T2 at Miami were ~4:00. I should be able to get down to around 2:00 each. The lack of adequate space really messed me up cause I had to run around the rack to get my bike. Also putting socks on wet feet takes a minute too. I have to admit I wasn’t really trying to break any record times there, so with a little more effort I can definitely pair them down.
My bike time was much slower than I anticipated for such a flat course, but taking into consideration wind, weather and conditions I don’t think an average of 19.2 mph over 56 miles is that bad. Have I ever actually gone that fast that far before? NO! The wind was usually always a head or cross wind at ~10 MPH, so without that I could have been 22-23(maybe?). Regardless, would like to increase my speed and endurance more so my legs are not so crampy next season.
Goals For Next Season
The following items are the things I need to work on and improve for next season…
- Run 9 min/mi or less pace for half-iron distance runs(8:30 for olympic dist). This will require some more speed work and some more brick workouts. For my LSD runs, inject some short tempo work into the mix. Not too much that I get injured.
- Get down to 165 lbs. I competed this entire season at ~185lbs, which I think is a little too much. I was around 170-175 for the 2010 season and I felt much better and was more competitive at that weight. Getting down to 165 will be tough but I think that 20 lbs will make a huge difference.
- Consistent strength training and especially core work throughout the season. Development of core and strength will aid in keeping together for 70.3 miles and especially in the run when keeping an upright posture is essential. This will need to start in the offseason building a good base and habit of basic strength training and continue into the tri season. Tri season will taper a bit due to time constraints.
- Maintain 20+ mph average speed for all races. Granted this will depend on the course and conditions, but moving out of the teens should not be out-of-range for even the most difficult races. Need to do more hill repeats this season too. Could probably look into an aero helmet to gain a little edge there as well.
- Decrease Transition times by 20%. This is just dialing in my transition times a bit more. Getting sockless running shoes will make a big difference here. Always room to fine tune things.
- 2:00 min/100 yds pace or less for swims. This should easily be accomplished by continuing to work on swim form and putting the time in the pool and open water swims. Swim leg is the shortest so no need to make any huge changes here.
- Dial-in on long course nutrition. Try out some different nutrition on long bikes and runs. I.e. Accelerade. Gels and shot blocks worked pretty good, but it seemed like so much sugar for my stomach. A calorie packed drink mix may be a good addition.
- Continue to Have Fun! Remember what this journey is all about and if you are not enjoying it than it is time to rethink things. Make sure that along with this I need to keep a balance with other things in my life. If I don’t finish smiling, then this goal is not being met.
