White Lake Half II - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

Swimming is my weakest link but I felt I did ok for me on this. I swam a little further out from the buoys than I should of which I think kind of 'lengthened' my swim but I felt pretty solid the entire way. When I rounded the last buoys I got a calf cramp in my right calf which remained for the whole race and into the next day. At the time all I could think was 'why didn't I eat a banana for breakfast??'.

Nothing...just in general I need to work on my swimming to become a better a stronger swimmer. However, this was my best effort and that's all I could ask for!

I had a little trouble getting out of my wetsuit but that's to be expected. The transition area was huge but I was in a good spot so I was able to locate my bike easily!

Nothing

Flat bike course...but of course we did have to deal with headwind. I had a lot of problems with the comfort of my seat during the bike and was not able to get in the aeroposition. I wore tri shorts instead of bike shorts and I have been doing all of my biking in bike shorts so I think this made a difference. I had not riden this distance yet this year due to my Boston training so I wasn't sure what to expect.

Get more miles in on the bike prior to racing and practice in the shorts that I am going to race in!

Easy transition...I had everything ready to go so I just grabbed my shoes and hat and off I went!

Nothing

By the time I started the run it was up in the 90's!! It was hot! Scott was ahead of me and so I was trying to catch up with him. I felt pretty good coming off the bike and found a comfortable pace. About 3 miles into the run I decided that if I caught up to Scott, I would finish the run with him so we could finish a race crossing the finish line together. That's something we have never done and since he was sporting a pink mohawk and a skirt in this race for charity (b/c of me) I thought this would be fun. I caught Scott just before the turn around. My time on my watch said 50 mins. Scott was doing a walk/run combo and so I walked with him for 3 miles (6 to 9). The heat was taking a toll of him at this point and he was getting frustratd. I kept pushing him to rush and finally he told me to just run my own race. So at mile 9 I started running again and finished the race on my own.

Moving forward I will always run my own race. I thought it would be fun for Scott and I to run together but it ended up being frustrating for both of us. He felt like he was holding me back and I was frustrating b/c he didn't want to try to run more. I still managed a 2:12 (1/2 marathon with 3 miles of a walk/run) so I think I really could have finished this race in under 6hrs. However, I am glad I walked/ran those 3 miles with him. It made me realize that we both love racing but for different reasons.

Grabbed some water, wadded in the lake to cool down and then returned to the finish line to cheer Scott on with friends.


Heat, mental thinking and overall lack of triathlon specific training.


This was a great training day for me. It showed me my weaknesses and was a great race to guage what I need to work on this summer. Running is definately my strongest discipline and I am a 'middle of the packer' when it comes to swimming and biking. From this I have learned that this year I need to focus on my swim and bike. Great race though...I hope to do again next year and break 6 hours!