Half Ironman Analysis

The Steelhead Half Ironman was an excellent race. Triathlons tend to bring out the most serious athletes so I really don't stand a chance against most of the guys in my age group. This year's final participation was:

number of finishers: 1890
number of females: 511
number of males: 1379
average time: 5:14:30

My time was 5:21:53, good for 139th/194 in my age group and 924th among males.

I've always taken pride in a fast transition time. It gives me something to be best at, or at least better than most. When this race became a duathlon I had an even bigger advantage since I didn't have to change shoes like most serious bikers.

My transition #1 was good but could have been a lot better. I sprinted to my bike and threw on my helmet. I had prepared a peanut butter sandwich but forgot to unwrap it. Instead of just unwrapping it on the ride I stupidly unwrapped it in the transition area. DOH!! I had difficulties in my haste and it cost me at least 10 seconds. I needed it though. Here I am munching on the dry, very dry, but yummy sandwich.

My transition 1 time was 1:12, which was 154th place - not bad. Had I not messed with that peanut butter sandwich I would have been around 1:00, which was about 50th place. Some dude did it in 47 seconds. Only 3 people that finished slower than me overall had better transition 1 times, so I didn't give much up here.

Transition 2 was much better as I sprinted to my spot, dropped my bike and helmet, grabbed my cap, and took off. My bike was located on the outside aisle, so I lost time relative to most competitors because I had to run further. Either way, my transition 2 was 1:07, good for 53rd place overall! The best time was 38 seconds. This time NOBODY with a overall time above 5 hours transitioned faster than me. Sweet.

Now I should just focus on more important things, like running and biking faster.