Kinetic Half - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

Let me start by saying that prior to this race I had not done any OWS for the season, except for the trial of the wetsuit the Monday prior to the race, and the water then was horrible and unsafe. Started out ok till I started to swallow alot of the water with all the chop. I had to flip over on my back to try and compose myself. Flipped again, same problem, flipped to the back. This seemed to be the best option for me so I just stayed on my back for alot of the swim. Sighting for this race was much better than my last HIM. Once I got past the second turn bouy and headed for the beach I could finally swim free style and picked up the pace a bit. There is alot of speculation that the swim was short due to the wind pushing the bouys in. I probably tend to agree with that because the time on my watch said 35 min+. I have never swam that fast, for that distance, in the pool so it's questionable for sure.

Do more OWS!!!

Doing this rr prior to the results is hard but I think that I took a bit of time getting to the bike shoes. I did take time to put on some sunscreen because I knew that the bike would be a long on and the weather was starting to get nice. Glad I did but need to remember the legs!! Forgot to pick up my PB sandwich so had to go back. Since I got my new bike I didn't want to run with it, esp in the gravel and my clutzyness!!

Not much other than rem my food! Be faster!!

OMG!!!! Is just about all I can say. First loop was windy and knew that I had to save my legs for the second loop and then the run. Coming out of the state park was one of the only times that we had a NICE tailwind. There are alot or rolling hills on this course, and with the wind was hard to say the least. Felt really good on the first loop. Managed to get the half of PB sandwich down at mile 15, and I actually had a guy tell me he was jealous of it. MAde me laugh because I was having a hard time chewing but knew that I would need it. Passed a few girls and was passed by alot of guys! I didn't care, I was racing my own race not them!! The wind REALLY picked up on the second loop gusts had to be close to 30 mph!! At times it was all I could do to hold on to the bike!! The traffic also picked up considerably on the second loop and was a bit worried at times because I had to try and pass cars who were slowing down for riders on the hills. MAkes you feel good that you pass cars going up hill :) ABout 45 miles into the ride the wind was BAD, so bad that a pretty big tree had fallen across the road. I was coming down a hill and saw that cars were stopped?? Worried that someone had crashed, got down to the cars and saw the tree. CRAZY!!!! HAd to dismount the bike, carry it down in a ditch around the tree to continue the race. The only good thing is that it blocked the cars we had to worry about. At about 50 miles I was really hurting. Almosted thought about stopping after I got off the bike. Legs were tired,I was hungry,and never wanted off that bike so bad!! Started to doubt that I would have anything left for the run.

Not to sure if I could do anything different. Wind was a killer and who can do anything about that!! Glad that I did have my tri bike. I think that actually saved the legs a bit??

Again doing this RR before knowing the time but I was ecstatic to be off that dang bike!!! Took the time to reapply more sunscrean because at this point the sun was out and it was getting HOT!

Work at getting things together faster. My transitions are always slow.

I knew after getting off the bike that this was going to be a big struggle. Legs were toast!! Started to walk right out the the transiton because there was a nice hill. Started off just trying to walk the water stops but as the race progressed I had alot of walking. Kevin, the girls and Mom were at an area that I would see them alot which really helped push me through. The last downhill coming to the finish area was really shaded and a nice break. The only bad part was knowing that I would have to do it 2 more times. Second loop was more struggling to get through. The last loop I started to walk with a guy named Brent. This was his first Him and only his second race. We chatted for along time, we stayed together for the last loop. He had said that he was starting to just see white and pain and that I was helping him get to the finish. Little did he know that I was just as happy to have someone to take my mind off the agony as well. I had noticed that my time was getting close to the last HIM. I knew that if I pushed it a bit more that I could beat it. We started to pick up the run/walk. On the last up hill coming up to the family, Ashley said that if I would run that I could beat my time from last race. I so wanted to run but just couldn't make the legs go any faster. Once we got to the shaded downhill I started to run and didn't stop till the finish line!!

Do more bike/run bricks of longer distances. Run more.

My family greated me at the finish and when I noticed I had beat the Patriot HIM time by 2 min I was elated!! Got the medal took my shoes off and headed back into the lake to cool the legs down. Feet were really cramping and was hard to walk. Went to find the food. One of the bad things about being so slow is that the food left doesn't give the greatest choices. We sat at a table and another couple joined us. Little did I know that it was Stu(juneapple) and his wife. What a great chance meeting.


The most thing that limited me for this race was the wind and the lack of training. My longest bike was 40 miles and the longest run was 10. I was much more prepared last year. That being said I am very proud of this accomplishment!! I now have done 2 HIM and the times are getting better(slowly). I also used this race as a big motivator to keep me moving through the winter. It did the job so I can't be to unhappy.