Patriot's Half - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

James River - Had to swim WAY out into the river as the current was trying to drag us to the right, so had to swim left to compensate. WAY overcompensated and ended up too far left of the first buoy adding distance. Made right turn and swam diagonally back towards shore, but not all the way in. Make another right DIRECTLY into the current for about 400 meters before making a left into shore. Apparently this is a change from last year. I felt physically and mentally fine throughout the swim, but it felt like the swim that would never end! My sighting was okay, but I had difficultly judging and compensating for the current.

I've never swum in a river before. Everyone warned me that the current would pull, and I simply overdid it. I would have done much better had I not overcompensated for the current.

I forgot to take a bottle of water with me down to swim start while waiting for my wave. I was feeling dehydrated before swim start but had to wait until I got on the bike for water.

There was about a quarter mile run from the swim exit to T1. A teammate told me to remove my wetsuit upon exiting the water rather than running in it all the way up to transition, so this is what I did. A man told me to sit down and he would pull it off, then he asked me to pull his off. Not sure if this was faster than doing it myself, but it was nice of him to offer.

Ran through weeds and mud up to T1 and had to wipe mud from feet with a towel before putting on socks and shoes (yes, I decided to wear socks today).

This course was 58 miles rather than 56 due to a reroute of the course from last year. My Garmin actually picked up 58.22 mi.

Bike route seemed scary dangerous with bad pavement, unmarked potholes, water, sand, and debris on the road from Hurricane Irene, and heavy traffic (Esp big vehicles pulling boat trailers) in some places. And this route was NOT as flat as advertised; there were plenty of rollers.

I thought that if ever I were to get a flat tire during a race, today would be the day for sure. I did not feel comfortable at race pace during a few portions of this route because of the road conditions, esp where there was water and sand; I was afraid of spinning out.

Spin smaller gears. I used pretty big gears and while it helped with my pace, I think it killed my legs for the run.

Also, I removed my rear hydration cages figuring I would only need to grab one water bottle from the second water stop. This left me with Nuun water in my aero bottle and a double serving on Infinit in my cage. I regret not being more self-sufficient with hydration.

Since I was already thirsty from before swim start, I drank down my entire aero bottle within the first few miles and needed water from the first water stop, which I hadn't planned on. I ended up getting water from all three water stops because I felt overly thirsty the entire time. Bottom line is that I'll leave my own cages on from now on!

Uneventful transition. Got out of transition and decided to stop at porta-pot even though I did not have to go.

NOT stop at a porta-pot unless I truly need to. I think I would have made it through this race without stopping. The porta-potty stop is included in my run time since it was on the opposite side of the chip mat.

Oh, and in my haste I forgot to lock the door and a guy opened it mid-stream. Ooops!

I anticipated a good run today, but that was not to be. I died a slow death out there killing my time. I was not feeling the love from the very beginning. The harder I tried to hold/increase pace, the slower I got. It was a bad feeling because I'm used to perking up with a smile when it is time to run. This was more of a "just get through it" run. I had one serving of infinit in my fuel belt which I drank. Most of the water I got at the water stops went on my head and chest, rather then in my body. I should have drank more.

I'm not sure. I think I need to spin smaller gears on the bike, use sunscreen (got burned), and drink more water.

I was done with this race. Normally, I'm chipper and excited to get my cow bell to cheer others in. Not so today. I laid on the ground for a few moments before we went to the food and beer tents. After that, we left for the hotel and went to the hot tub and swimming pool, but I was too chilled to stay long in the pool.

We ordered a pizza and ate in (NOT normal for me as I don't typically eat pizza). I decided to take a nap and was out like a light. I think it was about 5:15 p.m. I could NOT wake up, I honestly felt as if I had been drugged; I felt like a rock. When I finally woke up 2 hours later, I was feverishly radiating heat off my body and dying of thirst. Seems I got WAY too much sun leaving me totally heat drained and dehydrated. Perhaps that is why I was so sluggish on the run. Anyway, completed the race injury and accident free.

The photos below are from the following day. We stopped in on the Sprint race for a bit before going across the street to the Jamestown Settlement. In 1607 (13 years before the Pilgrims landed in Massachusetts) three ships brought a group of 104 men/boys to begin a settlement on the banks of the James River.

We visited replicas of the three ships as well as a recreated Indian village and settlers fort, etc. There was also a museum with the history of Jamestown. It was just enough site-seeing to do before hitting the road home.


I think getting sun-burned and dehydration. Or maybe it was from spinning big gears. Or maybe I'm just under trained and need to work harder.