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 Swim
Comments: The swim was uneventful, just slow and steady.   Transition 1
Comments: I stopped at the wetsuit strippers where they helped get my sleeve over my Garmin, then pulled it off my feet. Ran to my bike, dried my feet a bit with a small towel, and put on socks and shoes. I had to adjust my run belt because I washed it after the Color Run and forgot to adjust it back to fit my waist. I shoved my wetsuit and things into the bag and tied it off. Changed Garmin from swim to bike. Put on Aero helmet, then grabbed Roo to head out. What would you do differently?: Main thing that was unnecessary was having to adjust my run belt.  Bike
Comments: My lack of bike training really showed up here. The hills kicked my butt! I forgot to take my SportsLegs capsules before the race, but I had a second dose in my bento box and took those first thing along with a salt capsule. I had a water bottle with a double serving of Infinit that I promptly dropped the first time I tried to drink it (gaaah!). I was so caught off guard when it fell that I couldn't think quick enough what do about stopping to retrieve it vs. leaving it. I really wasn't in a safe place to stop, so I just left it knowing I had additional nutrition sources in my bento box. I had a Waffle Stinger, Lara Bar, and Sports Beans in my bag. I drank all the water in my aero bottle, and grabbed one at a water stop. I also grabbed a Gu gel somewhere along the way. I also made a pit stop at a porta potty which cut into my time. There was a slight headwind pretty much the entire way. The headwind along with the hills was disheartening, but I just plugged along and kept moving forward as best I could.  Transition 2
Comments: Once in T2, I went down the wrong row and had to circle back around to find my spot. I fumbled racking Roo because he is so small it's hard to lift him up to the rack. I dumped out my bag, then put my shoes and helmet inside and tied it off. I put on my shoes and fuel belt, turned my bib from back to front, and changed my Garmin from bike to run. My fuel belt had a serving on Infinit in one bottle and plain water in the other bottles. I'm used to running with it and like to be able to drink without having to wait for an aid station. I had another dose of Sportslegs and a salt take in my fuel belt, so I took those, then headed out.  Run
Comments: The run was a double out and back. The first out leg of the race had a lot of incline which was draining what little energy I had. I saw Pete coming back from the other direction. I also saw a few other teammates. David came up behind me on his second loop, and at some point I passed Steve who was walking. I called for him to come on and he ran for a bit before dropping back off. The first 3.5 miles seemed to take forever, but once i hit the turn around, the run back was a bit easier. It was a lot more downhill and seem cooler and breezier. We ran back into town and right up near the Finish Line where the second loop split off to do it again. How disheartening to hear the finish line announcer, but have to go back out again! There were plenty of volunteers and aid stations. I kept taking cups of ice and dumping it down my sports bra to keep cool. They also had cold wet sponges which were a blessing. I just plodded along slow and steady until at last I was heading back into town. There was a slight decline heading in to the finish, so I took advantage of it picking up speed. Finally DONE! Three of my teammates were there to catch me, which was SO NICE. I saw Pete outside the chute waiting for me, so I tried to head around, but there was a guantlet of finish line things to do. Medal, photo, water bottles, and the food line were all at the end of the chute. About that time, Sam came up behind me; he had just finished. The food line was quite a buffet! Salad, pizza, pasta, and the usual oranges, bananas, pretzels etc. I grabbed a few pieces of pizza, the headed out of the chute.  Post race
Warm down: Hung out with teammates eating pizza and rehydrating with water. I felt so hot, wet, and sticky that I couldn't wait to change clothes so Pete and I went to get our bags and gears bags and headed to the truck in the parking garage. Once there, we washed off with cold water from the melted ice in the cooler and put on clean dry clothes, then headed back to find our teammates. A bit more socializing, then we decided to head home.   What limited your ability to perform faster: Extra weight and lack of training. Profile Album Last updated: 2013-10-27 12:00 AM
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United States
World Triathlon Corporation
Sunny
Overall Rank = 1399/2007
Age Group = 45 - 49
Age Group Rank = 64/103
This was my 5th and slowest Half; fastest being Augusta in 5:30. I went into this race knowing I was under trained and at a higher weight than normal. I've become burned out from doing Fulls the last three years in a row and had no motivation train this year. Since January I only swam a total of 13,00 yards, biked biked 545 miles, and ran 360 miles. But since this race is so close to home, I really wanted to do it.
I took Friday off work and Pete and I drove to Raleigh for packet pickup. We got our packets then checked out the Expo and spent lots of money (of course!). After the Expo, we drove out to T1 which was 30 miles away! Wow, we are in for one long shuttle bus ride on race day! I thought we would be able to get in a practice swim, but no swimming was allowed until race day. So we took a few pics, then headed back home to pack.
Saturday we drove back up to Raleigh and dropped off our bike gear bags first. Then we headed to the convention center for the race meeting. After the meeting, we came out just in time for an Indian (Hindi) wedding procession! Wow, the beautiful, colorful saris on the women and the decked out men! The wedding couple were first being pulled in a carriage, then they got out and the man was lifted up and the crowd sang and chanted and danced around him. The they proceeded to the front of our hotel where music played and they continued to dance and chant around the wedding couple. I could not stop watching them! Meanwhile Pete went inside to check us in.
We finally walked away from the excitement and went to the truck to get our things. Once settled in the room, I took a hot bath to loosen up my muscles, then did some foam rolling. We watched a show on my laptop, then went to sleep for an early wake up.
We got up at 3:45 a.m., got dressed and had a half of a bagel with cream cheese and coffee. Then we checked out, took our things to the truck, and headed to T2 to drop off our run bags. Then it was time for the long shuttle ride to T1. Once there we pumped our bike tires, socialized, then the difficult task of putting on wetsuits!
Pete started nearly 30 min. before me, so I saw him off then lined up with the ladies for my wave start.
Racked and ready!
Putting on my wetsuit was warm up enough!