Race Report: 2026 Ironman 70.3 Boise
A duathlon in the heat.
Given to Tri
A Triathlon Training & Racing Blog
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Race Report: 2026 Ironman 70.3 Coeur d’Alene
Not my best, not my worst.
Race Report: 2026 Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon
Welcome to The Rock.
Escape from Alcatraz changes starting procedures for this year’s race
The swim start for this race seems chaotic—athletes jump from the San Francisco Belle into San Francisco Bay en masse, and the entire ship is emptied in less than eight minutes. From what I’ve read, last year’s start was more rushed and disorganized than in previous years, which led to an athlete being paralyzed after someone landed directly on his head during the swim start. Needless to say, I’ve…
T-2 weeks to Escape from Alcatraz
I’ve been reading a lot about this race to prepare for it, including this race report from Ray Maker, this course preview from two-time winner Eric Lagerstrom, and this race review by Kelly O’Mara, and suffice to say, I’m more than a little anxious about the swim. To ease my anxiety, I built a swim conditions dashboard for San Francisco Bay southwest of Alcatraz, using forecast data from NOAA’s…
Ironman updates their competition rules for 2026
This year’s rules formalize the 20-meter bike draft rules for pros, which they announced last month, and clarify how they will work when age groupers interact with pros. They also lessen the penalty for having an unzipped trisuit from disqualification to a warning and a time penalty if not remedied, ban video recording during races (so leave those Meta Oakley glasses home), and rename the…
No more Mortal Hydration in Ironman aid stations in 2026
From Ironman, via email: Ahead of your race next year, we wanted to introduce you to Precision Fuel & Hydration, our Official Hydration Partner for the 2026 IRONMAN and IRONMAN 70.3 Global Series, including the 2026 IRONMAN World Championship in Kona, Hawai’i and the 2026 IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship in Nice, France. Trusted by reigning IRONMAN World Champion Solveig Løvseth and 2x IRONMAN 70.3…
I’m Escaping from Alcatraz next June
I entered the random drawing for a race entry for next year’s Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon on a whim, and to my surprise, got a slot in the first drawing. It’s a bucket list race, which involves jumping from a ship near Alcatraz Island into the icy cold waters of San Francisco Bay for a 2.4 km swim, a 29 km bike ride through the Presidio of San Francisco, and ending with a 12.9 km run that…
Race Report: 2025 Hole Half Marathon
I finished all three of my local half marathons for the first time, a neat little milestone.
Race Report: 2025 Ironman 70.3 Washington Tri-Cities
I finished my tenth Ironman 70.3 with no regrets.
Paula Findlay’s recap of Ironman 70.3 Boise
I don’t normally post about professional triathlon racing, but I enjoyed Paula Findlay’s race recap from Ironman 70.3 Boise on the That Triathlon Life podcast. It’s interesting, and sometimes validating, to hear about I race I did from a pro’s perspective: The swim was choppy, and long; the buoys were hard to sight—I’m glad it wasn’t just me.
Race Report: 2025 Ironman 70.3 Boise
A solid result despite a sleepless night, a rough swim, and one judgmental cowboy.
Ironman announces new performance-based qualification for Ironman and Ironman 70.3 World Championships
This new system, which takes effect with the 2026 qualification cycle starting this month, basically does away with the old roll-down system, in which unclaimed slots would roll down indefinitely within an age group. Ironman has a good explanation in their FAQ, but the short version is: Each race is allocated a number of World Championship slots, as before. Winners of each age group automatically…
Race Report: 2025 Ironman 70.3 Coeur d’Alene
A cold snap in Coeur d’Alene ultimately gave way to an almost perfect day for racing.
Race Report: 2025 Grand Teton Half Marathon
My second half marathon in as many weeks—and a final tune-up before Ironman 70.3 Coeur d’Alene.
Ironman will not enforce the new World Triathlon hydration rules for age groups just yet
Jimmy Riccitello, Ironman’s head referee, confirmed this to Slowtwitch on the Slowtwitch Podcast. The new rules World Triathlon announced in April (and clarified again in May) in their rule interpretation document are in effect, but Ironman will currently only enforce them for professional athletes, and will provide “ample notice” of at least thirty days before they take effect for age groupers.…
I needed a way to track my Endless Pool workouts, so I built one
I mentioned this briefly in my race report about this year’s Ironman 70.3 St. George, but for the past few weeks I’ve been swimming in an Endless Pool, since the Teton County Rec Center’s lap pool remains, alas, closed for the foreseeable future. It’s been an effective training tool, but one of the annoying things about it is that it’s hard to track my workouts—there are no “laps,” so all I can do…
Race Report: 2025 Jackson Hole Half Marathon
Yee-haw! Another half marathon in the books.
What’s the water temperature at Lucky Peak Reservoir in July?
Ever since the return of Ironman 70.3 Boise was announced, I’ve been wondering what the water temperature would be like on race day. I know in the previous iterations of this race, when it was in early June, it was a very cold swim: In 2011 the water temperature was 11°C, and in 2012 it was so cold, people wore wetsuits on the bike, which was shortened to 24 km. So far I haven’t been able to find…
Race Report: 2025 Ironman 70.3 St. George
My last dance in St. George turned out to be the hardest race I’ve done so far.
Gates of Yellowstone Triathlon
I just found out about this new locally-organized race in Cody, Wyoming, just outside of Yellowstone National Park, basically in my backyard (okay, it’s a five-hour drive, but as Wyoming distances go, that still counts as “my backyard”). I immediately signed up for the Olympic-distance race; they also have a sprint-distance, and an Olympic relay. It’s on August 16th, which worries me a little…
World Triathlon updates hydration rules again
They’re further revising the rule changes they announced a couple months ago with a new set of updates, effective as of April 15th. The rule interpretation document includes a number of changes, but most notably, all front and rear hydration now must fit within a certain space on the bike. For front hydration: When measured from the lowest edge of the arm support (if none exists, the lowest edge…
Ironman comes to New Mexico
Ironman just announced a “festival weekend of racing” next year in Ruidoso, New Mexico, which includes an Ironman 70.3, a 5150 race (Ironman’s branding for an Olympic-distance race), and a sprint-distance race. A 70.3 in a scenic mountain town… at about 2,000 meters of elevation… on my birthday? Yes, please. The bike course is right up my alley too, an out-and-back where the last 45 km are uphill…
Runna acquired by Strava
Disappointing news. I like Runna—it’s the most TrainerRoad-like running app I’ve used, and Strava is, well… they forbid their customers from disagreeing with their “business decisions” in their community forum, which probably tells you how much they care about their customers’ opinions. In the announcement post on Reddit, Runna’s CEO says they’ll continue to operate independently both as a team…
Ironman adopts World Triathlon’s bike hydration rules
Well, that was fast. On Sunday I wondered if Ironman would adopt World Triathlon’s new rules limiting the amount of hydration that can be carried on the bike, and today I got my answer: Yep. In the 2025 Ironman competition rules, the section on bike equipment has been updated to be consistent with World Triathlon rules: (i) Front Mounted Water Bottles and Hydration Systems mounted to components…
New World Triathlon bike hydration rules—will Ironman follow?
Last month, World Triathlon announced updates to the competition rules, and there’s been some conversation online about some of these changes, including relaxing the water quality standards for the swim and banning watches during the swim. The former is interesting after the water quality in the Seine caused the men’s triathlon to be postponed at the Olympics last year; the latter only applies to…
RaceRanger used by age groupers for the first time at Challenge Wanaka
I’ve been hoping for RaceRanger to make its way down to us age groupers now that it’s proven successful at pro races, so TRI247’s account of how it was used at Challenge Wanaka this past weekend is very encouraging; sounds like it went as smoothly as it could possibly have. I’m looking forward to it, not just for draft enforcement, but also for the possibilities it opens for improved safety, like…
Automatic treadmill incline control may be coming soon to Zwift
According to Zwift Insider, it’s been in testing for a few months now for a small set of Zwift subscribers using the Wahoo Kickr Run treadmill, and now there’s a support article about it. Will they support other smart treadmills, like the Technogym MyRun? Who knows, but Zwift’s response, quoted in Zwift Insider’s article, makes me hopeful that they will. (If anyone at Zwift is reading this, I’d…
TrainerRoad Launches Zwift Integration: Here’s How It Works
Doing TrainerRoad workouts in Zwift just got a lot easier.
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Race Report: Carrera San Silvestre 2024
After all, why not? Why shouldn’t I do one more race this year?
One last race this year
I’m spending Christmas and New Year’s in Mexico City, so what better way to close out the year than a chill 12 km race around Chapultepec? It’s just what I need after a couple of months of exclusively indoor training. I only regret not arriving there in time for this Sonic the Hedgehog 10K on Sunday—I need that medal.
Best Bike Split now integrates directly with Zwift
I don’t think it was widely announced except on the Zwift forum, but cool nonetheless, since you can now send Best Bike Split race plans to Zwift as a workout so you can practice your pacing plan there. I’m still waiting for TrainerRoad to ship their own Zwift integration, but I think this fun St. George race simulation will keep me entertained in the meantime.
Next year’s edition of Ironman 70.3 St. George will be the final one
St. George is by far my favorite race I’ve done since I started triathlons, so I’m sad to hear that the 2025 edition will be the last one for the foreseeable future. I’m signed up for it, but I was hoping to race there for many years to come.
Well, I had to skip the Hole Half
I look forward to this race every year—a chill fall half marathon at the base of the Tetons is usually a great way to close out my season before winter sets in, but at this moment the AQI in Jackson Hole is 235, firmly in the “very unhealthy” range. Instead, I’m reading a study on the impact of air pollution on running performance to reassure myself I made the right decision.
Race Report: 2024 Ironman 70.3 Washington Tri-Cities
I ended my triathlon season on a high note.
Ironman 70.3 is coming back to Boise
Ironman just announced the return of Ironman 70.3 Boise, which ran from 2008 through 2015. This would be the closest race to me, and Boise is such a nice town, I’m very tempted to sign up for next year’s race—running along the Greenbelt is so pleasant. I’ve been reading some race reports from back then, such as this one from DC Rainmaker in 2011, and it sounded like a tough race, starting with a…
Race Report: 2024 Ironman Canada
“You are almost an Ironman!”
An update on my ankle
It’s been a little over a week since my ankle injury at the Wild 15K and I just came back from my ortho appointment. Everything looks better than I feared last week, X-rays look clean and my examination went well. It’s still a little swollen with some pain, so I’ve been told to schedule some PT, wear compression socks to help with the swelling, and maybe tape my ankle for additional stability…
Race Report: Teton Mountain Runs Wild 15K
My first and last trail running race ended in disaster.
CORE introduces a new heat adaptation score
I’ve had a CORE sensor for a while but my biggest complaint has been that it’s hard to understand and act on the data it shows, so for the most part it’s been sitting in a drawer. That said, I do like this new heat adaptation score the app now shows front and center. It’s nice to have all this data condensed down to an easily digestible metric, and, unlike the heat adaptation metric in Garmin…
This year’s Ironman Canada will be the last in Penticton
Not entirely surprising; I thought the writing was on the wall when they unveiled another Ironman Canada in Ottawa, but they just made it official today. This is a huge bummer for me personally; I don’t think there are any other full-distance races that are within a reasonable driving distance, and I don’t want the hassle of flying with my bike and gear. This puts a lot more pressure on me to…
Race Report: 2024 Ironman 70.3 Coeur d’Alene
After a shortened swim, a nerve-wracking bike, and an awesome run, I finally finished a race in Coeur d’Alene.
Race Report: 2024 Grand Teton Half Marathon
I ran my fastest half marathon to date at this year’s edition of this race.
New Bike Day: Trek Speed Concept SLR 7
New Bike Day! I’m now the proud owner of a brand new Trek Speed Concept SLR 7, which I’m calling “Shadowfax.”
Race Report: 2024 Ironman 70.3 St. George
Alas, my second time racing in St. George did not go as smoothly as the first time.
Race Report: 2023 Hole Half Marathon
My race season didn’t go the way I hoped at all, but at least I’m ending it on a high note.
Understanding My Sweat & Sodium Loss Rates
After my disastrous race at Ironman Coeur d’Alene, I explored various methods to measure my sweat and sodium loss rates.
Welcome to Given to Tri
Hello, and welcome to my new website.
Race Report: 2023 Ironman Coeur d’Alene
Well, I gave it my best shot, but things didn’t work out this year.