Duke Liver Center Half - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

This swim was a lot of fun! I was in the 5th wave...all women together. I started out at the front of my wave. This other "girl" and I swam stroke for stroke the entire way. We even breathed together, so every 6th stroke we were eye to eye...very cool. I lost a little time when a guy from a wave before us didn't round one of the buoys at a turn..instead he went straight and swam right into my head as I was rounding the buoy. My goggles came off and all. I took a few seconds to regroup and started up again. Caught up to my swimming friend and we brought it home for the women. I called her "girl" earlier because as we came out of the water I noticed she was 24 years old.....I could have been her mother. I was out of the water first, but I stopped to mess with my wetsuit and she crossed the timing mat first. That's ok, the swim was fun!!! And it was my first swim in my wetsuit.

I really don't like the wave starts...we (my swimmer friend and I) caught up with alot of the guys from the earlier three waves, and they were tough to swim around. I actually stopped one time to ask a guy if he was ok (I was concerned about him. Flagged a lifeguard too keep an eye on him).

This swim felt good. I was just wanted to keep it long and strong, not push it. And that is what I did. Maybe next time I won't mess with my wetsuit until after I cross the timing mat :)

This transition was 5 sec slower than last year, but I had the wetsuit this year where I didn't last year. Had a little trouble getting it off but not as bad as I expected. Of course everything was wet when I got to T1...and I had covered it. Also, got worried I would forget my helmet, so I put that on before anything...so had to take it off to get my shirt on.
I wanted to stay calm and go about my business, and I feel I did that well. Could it have been faster, yes...but I am happy with this.

Don't put the helmet on first...I'm sure I wouldn't forget my helmet (no way I would forget my helmet, right Tracy?)

Have had a lot of shoulder/back pain lately so I wasn't sure what to expect. First few miles felt ok. Still a little rain so it could end up being a long ride. At mile 12 I noticed my bento box was hanging upside down. Guess I didn't fasten it on very well. Oops, that would have stunk...expecially since one focus of today is working on my nutrition.

The ride was ok. I sang my way up the hills, thanked every volunteer I passed - it was not a fun day to be standing out in the rain volunteering -and tried to keep my cadence right. At 10 miles to go I had to pee. I still can not pee on the bike (honestly don't know if that is something I want to master) and there was not one port-o-let on the entire bike course. I got the shoulder/back pain with 7 1/2 miles to go. Those, of course, seemed to be very long miles (shoulder/back pain and bursting bladder are uncomfortable). My time wasn't stellar, but it was better than last year. Nutrition seemed to be on.

Get better at biking :)

Decided to change socks since the socks I biked in were soaked. My other pair were also wet, just not "as" wet.

Just really went about things calmly, and it turned out faster than last year...and no mistakes I am aware of.

First thing I did on this run was head to the first port-o-let. I spent just under 2 1/2 minutes in there...no worries about being dehydrated. I felt decent on the run, so I just wanted to keep a steady pace and stay comfortable. I walked 3 hills because I was starting to feel tightness in my calves, and didn't want that. Picked right back up into my run from the walk. Felt pretty good the whole run.

I had no idea what my swim, T1, & T2 times were (pretty much knew the bike). However, at about the 6 mile mark on the run I saw my watch and figured out I could be under 6 hrs if I kept my run strong. Didn't want to push the run (I have no recovery time) but a sub 6 today would be nice!

Walked around and got something to drink and eat. Was thrilled to see Doug from SWBKRUN MG, gave him a big sweaty hug. Talked to Doug for a bit then headed home to see my kids & hubby.


I am happy.

I signed up for this race months ago, planned to race and had a goal of sub 6. That changed due to change of plans for my "A" race (in less than 6 weeks). But ended up sub 6 anyway, so I am happy.




This is a good race. Set Up does a good job. The course is really tough, both the bike and run (HILLS)... it is a good challenge. The race was moved back two weeks later this year to try and avoid the heat. We only got heat on the run...but the rain in the early part was interesting.

The volunteers at the aid stations during the run were awesome...they had a system worked out and I think everyone got what they wanted very quickly.

I like this race. It's close to home, so I will probably do it again.