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 Swim
Comments: The sun wasn't fully up and it was still pretty foggy when we started. I was in the second wave and started at the far back because I wanted at least 3minutes of swimming before being ran over by the next wave. The swim went well enough even though it was probably the most violent swims I've done. There was a lot more people swimming over each other than my previous races. The turn around buoy which was almost a 180 turn was congested and had lots of legs flailing about. I don't understand why people have to frog kick around a buoy. I usually sprint the last few hundred yards or so but this time I was trying to pee before I got on the bike so ended up slowing a little. What would you do differently?: I probably could have pushed a little harder throughout the swim but I'm always paranoid that I'll go too hard and have a tough time recovering (which has happened). I could also sight buoys more and people less as they're not always going the right way either.  Transition 1
Comments: I came out of the water to find the garmin dead. The front cover broke off a while ago and I hadn't swam with it because I wasn't sure if it was still waterproof. Now I know. Ran up the small hill where they had wetsuit strippers. Went past them and had my arms out by the time I got to the bike. Got out of the wetsuit pretty quickly and toweled my feet a little. It was more to get the grass off than water. We had to stuff out wetsuit in plastic bags so I did that. Helmet on and grabbed the bike. Then I saw the towel laying there so leaned the bike on a pole and stuffed the towel in the stupid bag too. Grabbed the bike again and ran off. There was half a dozen people at the mount line so I ran past them and jumped on the bike. Got into my shoes pretty quickly and just settled in to the long ride. What would you do differently?: I didn't really need to wipe my feet and should've put the towel in the bag before grabbing the bike.  Bike
Comments: This is what I live for. I love riding my bike more than any other sport so this segment always puts me in a good mood. I've actually only been able to go about 18-19 in training but I figured with the new aero-helmet Shelly and my sister got me, the new wheels I just bought and just the adrenaline of it being a race, I was going to try to hold a 20-21mph pace. The first mile or two was terrible. Getting onto 17N was just an accident waiting to happen. They had a mat so we could get onto the highway easier (road construction left a good 3" bump) but most people didn't go single file. The next 10 mile was pretty good. The roads were smooth, there was no traffic and I settled into a nice pace. This part was still a little foggy though. Next was an out and back on 17N. It had much more traffic and the roads were going to be repaved soon but hadn't been yet. Just held my pace and tried not to ride through a crack. I was surprised by all the blatant drafting on this part. Groups of a dozen people riding single file coming the other way. Another group of nearly 20, riding 3 across. Just couldn't believe it. The police presence was pretty good. They stopped traffic for us as we turned around. I had a big grin on my face coming back. There was a great tailwind and I was rolling at 23mph. I had to pee again but didn't think I could hold it until we got off the highway so just went on the bike. Feeling even better afterward, I was going 24mph until we turned off. I liked the next part because it was down a winding road and it's just more fun taking corners in aero. The last part was down a really beat up road into a headwind with heavy traffic. Not much fun but knowing it was almost over, and knowing I averaged way faster then I expected kept me going. Turned into the neighborhood and started preparing for the run. 500cal on the bike What would you do differently?: I think I paced myself pretty good. I would go as hard as I could without feeling lactic acid build up. I did have to slow down a few times and recovered but held a pretty solid average the whole way. Transition 2
Comments: Racked the bike, put on my shoes, put on the fuel belt, grabbed the hat/glasses and ran out. What would you do differently?: I was really happy with this one. I could always shave a few seconds off but nothing significant.  Run
Comments: I had no way of telling what my pace was but just headed out for what I thought was around 10m/m and hoped for the best. I had to stop at a portajohn at 2miles in but ran the rest of the way. Just tried to keep it steady and comfortable. No real problems on the run. I wouldn't want to run any further on concrete sidewalks and certainly not multiple out and backs but it was OK for this distance. The aid stations were well stocked and the ice cold towels felt great. Music would've helped some (though I saw at least half a dozen racers with ipods). It was the first time I got to see Joey and Rene all weekend. Unfortunatley, Joey's first words were telling me he had two flats. Poor guy. I was wondering why he was 30min behind me when we swim & bike about the same. When I hit 11 miles, I tried to push the pace a bit. Nothing was hurting so I thought it was safe to do. 300cal on the run What would you do differently?: I guess I don't give myself enough credit on the run because I was expecting to finish around 2:30. I thought I did extraordinarily well and don't think there's much I could've done differently. Post race
Warm down: Pretty sore but the last 2 HIMs and the full marathon hurt much worse. It's a good thing too because I don't have a lot of time to recover. Grabbed some cookies and a coke while I waited for Joey to finish. Stretched very little. Left calf was cramping up. Met with Rene and Joey and talked with them for a while. Grabbed some shrimp creole and headed to the parking lot with them. Got a couple pictures and then drove home so I could have dinner with Shelly and grandmommie. What limited your ability to perform faster: Nothing major. Trying to get ready for Ironman Texas certainly has me well trained for a half. The distance came pretty easy; it was just a matter of figuring out how hard to push myself and how much to eat/drink. Event comments: It was a small race with <300 but I think it was really well run. Everything seemed pretty organized. The aid stations were plentiful and stocked. They had enough finishers medals for everybody. Not much to do post-race and the band was unimpressive but I didn't stay long anyway. I would do it again next year. Profile Album Last updated: 2012-04-15 12:00 AM
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Overall Rank = 99/208
Age Group = 30-34
Age Group Rank = 17/27
I'm going to call the first chapter of this race report: "Escape from Blackbeard's Cove." I arrived in Mt. Pleasant on Friday night. Even though it was dark, I still wanted to drive the course. Except for getting on and off of 17N, it looked to be a pretty smooth course. I get back to the campgrounds and am not really sure what to do. It's too dark to see anything and I was just going to sleep in my car anyway so I decided to just park in the lot across the street. There were a dozen cars and a few people outside talking. I just picked the furthest spot and thought I would be fine for the night. I woke up around 4am because I had to pee. I peeked out the window to see if anyone was still up. Nobody was there. In fact, not a single car was still in the parking lot. And then I saw something that I refused to believe for several seconds. I just stared and stared while my heart sank and sank. It was a locked gate! What the hell do I do now? Does this place open in the morning? How am I going to get to the other transition area? Is it closed until Monday? How am I going to get back home? What is this place anyway?
I drive slowly around the lot looking for a way to get out. There is none. I did see the building was "Blackbeard's Cove." It's like a mini amusement park but I was not amused. I parked back in the same spot looking at the road I couldn't get to because my tiny car couldn't go over the concrete parking blocks. I looked up and down at the blocks hoping there was one that was missing, broken, turned, anything that would allow me out. Then, I had hope! There was one that was cracked on one side. I went over and tried to slide it. Didn't work. There was rebar through the concrete and rebar sticking up from the ground. Luckily it was loose enough that I could lift it over the rebar and slide it to the side.
Now I just had to drive my car between the two rebar poles sticking up about 4" and the tree directly in front of them. It took a few tries but I managed to get out. Replaced the concrete and drove to the road.
There was a bit of a drop-off and I knew my bumper would scrape but I made it this far so just went for it. Bo Duke would've been proud.
There was no way I could've slept after that so I just waited around for another hour and then started to get the transitions set up.
I ate one slice of a bagel with PB and honey, a quarter of a sandwich, a few mini-muffins, half a high protein bar, half a gatorade and a shot of mountain dew. I wasn't hungry at all but wish I had more time to eat a little more.
For some reason I thought the race started at 7:30 so was just killing time in the parking lot until I didn't see anybody anymore. I walked over to T2 and there might have been 4 people. Well, I made use of the portajohns since there was no lines and then hustled to the buses.
I got on the bus around 6:30 and by the time I got everything situated, they called for everybody to get out of the lake. I lined up, fixed the zipper of the guy in front of me (that doesn't sound right, does it?), and waited for the air horn.