TryCharleston Half - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

I performed pretty much standard for me in the swim, I am normally 1:50-2:00/100 meter, however my time put me near the bottom of age group and overall. The whole race I focused on holding back to prevent burning out for the bike and the run ahead. I sighted better than any open water swim I had ever done. The only problem I had was my goggles fogged over 3 times and had to be cleared which cost <1 minute but was a major annoyance.

I would use a defogger on the goggles and try to get a bit more training in. I had only 3 swims in preparation for the event.

I had a stripper help pull my suit off and then got into transition. I tried to grab some nutrition and clean my feet which were disgusting due to the swamp that T-1 had become due to the heavy rains. I didn't want to have grime on them for 2 and a half hours. Then I put everything into my transition bag which would get shuttled to T-2 after we left.

Have my own towel or bucket to clean my feet in, handle all the nutrition once I get on the bike.

I came out too strong on the bike. The sprint and HIM groups left transition together and I lost track of my pace. By mile 15 I knew I was in trouble however there was a huge bike line that I was in the middle of so I stuck with it. Around mile 22 the marshal came by bike and was writing numbers down, I was pretty sure that I was getting a draft penalty but figured all 20 people in the group were also going to take the hit as well. Around mile 25 we hit the turn around on 17 and the bike line thinned out and I was by myself for pretty much the rest of the race. At mile 12 and 30 I got to see the wife and kids and their cheering really helped me out. I was really concerned about bonking and dehydrating on the bike so I drank 2 bottles of electrolytes and 3 bottles of water on the bike, this left me overhydrated and I learned to pee while riding on the bike (super gross). I was taking roctanes every 40 minutes to try and keep myslef going. I dropped my bink breaker early so I was a little disappointed about that. At mile 35 I developed lower back cramps and my quads were blowing up, so I slowed and stretched often to make it the rest of the way. I was so happy when I made mile 50 because I knew I was 6 miles away. At mile 52 I got passed by 3 guys drafting and I heard a motorcycle coming, I started to back off to not get a second drafting penalty but it was too late he got me again. I am still angry about being the only person in the race to get 2 drafting penalties 1st penalty 4:00 minutes, 2nd penalty 8:00 minutes for a total of 12:00 minutes. Overall this didn't significantly effect my overall standings. Final speed was 21.0 mph but I'm sure the last 15 miles were sub 20 mph, so I need to figure out better pacing.

Hydrate a bit less, not get caught up in a bike line, and slow the pace early on to prevent burnout.

I almost fell when I dismounted because my legs didn't work, my right foot was completely numb and I could not balance. It was hard to get my socks and shoes on without falling over.

I don't think there was anything I could do.

I came out with a solid effort but my right foot stayed numb for the 1st 6 miles, I stopped and retied my shoes 3 times to try to fix the problem. I was taking heed and coke at every aid station which ended up with me overhydrating again and spitting out a good portion of what I drank every few hundred feet. Also, had to us the portapotty 3 times during the run but that was better than bonking and having to walk. I was strong through mile 6 but the course was soaking wet and had huge puddles on it which caused you to soak you shoes as you ran through it. The 1st loop was about 55:00 minutes and I knew I was on pace for a sub 5:30 overall which was the goal. My second lap was much harder and was about a 1:02 and had me coming in at 5:28. At mile 9 I blew up but kept shuffling until I hit mile 12 and got my last gasp of wind. I knew as I turned onto the school boulevard I would make it. About 100 yards from the finish line I picked up the wife and kids and the kids helped me run across the finish line.

More training, longest run was 10 miles. Also, probably not run 22.3 miles in the Palmetto 200 the week before.

I crossed the finish line, got hugs from the family and fell onto the grass. After 15 minutes of stretching the medical staff came over to make sure I wasn't dying. Then i packed up transition and walked to the car. We got home I had a 20 minute hot shower, threw on some recovery socks, and took a 1.5 hour nap.


Longest training was 3:40. Longest bike was 2 hours on trainer and longest run wa 10 miles. Need to train with more distance.


Major issue with bike transport the morning off the race. Also, on the sprint version a bunch of guys got to the turnaround before anybody was at the turn and they rode way too far. Several corners were not well marked and did not have police support. Post race food was water and coke. The event in 2012 was very well put together with regular facebook updates but this year the weather was bad, the was very little communication, and at packet pickup you got useless visors or ugly hats, no shirts were provided.