White Lake Half II - Triathlon

Nice swim but I went waaaay off course at one point. For about 5 mins I couldn't sight at all- the sun was right into my eyes. So I picked up a guide bouy that ended out being one of the ones on the second part of the triangle, so a kayak yelled "go that way" and I had to swim about 50 yards back. My calves started to cramp too. Still, nice water temp and a nice swim, but it felt really long. No way my pace was this slow if I really swam that distance. Swim was 6 mins slower than last year (wetsuit vs no wetsuit) but my AG position moved from 8 to 6!

Sight better!

Swam without my tri shirt on so struggled a little to get that on. Otherwise an OK transition.

Move quicker. OK transition.

Windy. I took it easy on the bike trying to save myself for the run. But then 6 miles in my accelerade flew off after being jiggled by the bumpy road and I lost about 40Oz of it! I had to loop back to get the aerodrink and it was full of sand. I was so mad. I hurried to reconnect it but didnt do a good job so had to stop again. Then I got really worried because I really just had to make it from water station to water station and had waaaay less nutrition than I would normally take in. Talk about making a mess of a nice nutrition plan. I had packed one extra GU, just in case and at least that was better than nothing. It sucked. Fortunately I had put an extra GU on my bike so that was something! Other than that I just kinda took it easy and didn't get annoyed at the wind. I am really disappointed in my pace though. I have worked hard to get my long ride speed up and averaged 20.8 in my last 60mile training ride so this was worse than that, and worse than last year. Anyway, the rest of the ride was OK- butt got a little sore at times and my back was stiff but I just stood and stretched it out a little. I didn't push on this ride. The wind was pretty bad throughout the whole ride (except the first 10 miles or so). Last year it was good for 25 miles and back for 25; this year was bad for most of the time. Anyway, my bike average was slower than last year, which is disappointing because I have been much faster in training but I was not worried given that I was trying to make it through on less nutrition and saving something for the run. I was mentally not into it at this point either- had a real low at about mile 40, wondering why on earth I was doing such as long race because I was dreading the run in the heat. Last year I was so motivated for this race and really didnt know what was coming; this year I was miffed at the crap weather, was tired from 2 nights of very little sleep and was running low on nutrition. Just not a good place. Anyway, I started to sing random songs and that cheered me up! When the bike was over I was glad to be done with it though!
5 Mile splits: 14:12 (21.1 mph; 144 bpm)
13:32(22.2 mph; 141 bpm)
14:02 (21.4 mph; 136 bpm)
15:19 (19.6 mph; 133 bpm)
15:19 (19.6 mph; 132 bpm)
16:53 (17.8 mph; 135 bpm)
16:06 (18.6 mph; 138 bpm)
15:46 (19.0 mph; 132 bpm)
15:41 (19.1 mph; 135 bpm)
15:17 (19.6 mph; 134 bpm)
15:11 (19.7 mph; 133 bpm)
Time: 2:50:16; 19.7 mph average, 135bpm

Contingency plan- take 6 GUs just in case. Secure Aerodrink better so it doesnt fall off.

Actually missed my shoe with my foot! I tried to put it on and I just missed! I guess I was a little out of it :-) Anwyay, apparently I had a very quick T2 and got outa dodge quickly. Maybe I should have taken a nap though? :-)

Don't run in the wrong direction once I get my shoes on (thankfully the spectatos yelled "other way").

This was truly miserable, just like last year. Mentally very tough to get going. I really wanted to stop at mile 2. Just turn around and give it up. But I kept going and I am glad. I wasn't glad at the time but I am now! I just didn't see the point in pushing myself to the brink so backed off and worked on getting through it. I started out and my HR was over 160, which is high for me on a run, so I slowed the pace to get it into the 150s, which felt better. But after a few miles the heat was just so incredibly draining that it didn't matter. I was having some cramping issues so I made sure to drink a lot of HEED at every water stop. Losing those electrolytes on the bike hurt in that regard. I think the loss of the 500 or so calories on the bike made this all a little harder mentally- just didn't have energy or motivation. Anyway, saw Andrew at about mile 6, then Maria at about mile 9. She was looking great and it was so nice to see a big bright smiling face at that point. Lakshmi chatted with me for a few mins. She was doing a relay and was looking solid. Normally I run much quicker than she does but not today :-) I cannot believe I did a 1:35 open half 6 weeks ago, and scraped a 2:10 or so this time! Ouch! those last few miles were very hot again this year but I ran into the finish shoot with what I thought was a smile on my face. Not sure if I succeeded with that though! Nice spectator support at the finish- lots of cheers!
Mile splits:
8:25 (155 bpm)
8:57 (147 bpm)
9:10 (156 bpm)
10:26 (154 bpm)
9:38 (151 bpm)
10:26 (151 bpm)
12:10 (142 bpm)
10:10 (150 bpm)
10:43 (147 bpm)
11:37 (141 bpm)
10:43 (151bpm)
11:18 (145bpm)
Average HR: 149

Not do this race again! :-) Losing the accelerade hurt but I still think the run would have sucked. Overall fitness and motivation were probably lacking too. I felt well trained but not for these conditions.

Soaked in the lake and played with the boys. That was nice but I really also just wanted to lie down.


The heat and losing my nutrition so early on the bike!


Overall, 6th in AG in swim, 19th on bike and 15th on the run for a 12th/54. Last year I was 8th/64 I think but this is a comparable performance. I am pretty disappointed because I was hoping for a good race, rather than being slower in every event (OK, conditions were worse but it is still disappointing). And then killing my bike on the garage roof when I got home really made it into an unpleasant day.

Plan for the rest of the season is to just do sprints and maybe an OLY. I enjoy the training and racing, but didn't enjoy this race or being away from the family on many sunday mornings. I'll try do shorter, faster stuff for now and re-evaluate as I move forward. What to do about my bike though!!