Patriot's Half - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

rank 222 of 382 men.
this was the worst swim for me in years. First and foremost, my navigation was horrible. This was the biggest problem. The rest of the issues made things worse. One of my main problems was a lack bouyes. On the way out the first bouy was about 400m out. When I looked up, I saw a bouy to ahead on my left, problem was that was a bouy on the back of the rectangle. I ended up having to swim against the current to get back on course. I was not the only one with this problem as there were many of us swimming back. On the back stretch, I also struggled to see bouyes. On the way back, there was again a lack of bouyes. People were swimming all over the place. As I exited the water, I saw Christine and she could easily tell I was both dissappointed and pissed. Coming out of the water, I knew my chances of breaking 5 hrs were in serious jeopardy, unless I had an incredible bike.


sight better.

was 84th of 382 males; 12th in AG. fastest time was 2:10
t1 was about a 1/4mi run from the swim exit to t1.
still pissed about the swim....

not much this went well

nutrition:
-about 48oz of water
-1 water bottle with 3 scoops carbo pro; 3 scoops gatorade endurance and 2 scoops of endurolyte. every 15mins took a sip and chased with water.
felt great coming off of the bike

not sure. I though it went well, even though pace is much slower than usual.

was 78th of 382 males; 10th in AG
ran past my rack and then had to run back in T2, even as I heard Christine yelling I ran too far.

go to the right spot in T2

was 78th of 382 males. this was my best HIM run by ~15mins
nutrition- I gel flask with 5 strawberry banana GUs filled with water. Grabbed a water at each aid station and sipped the Gel Flask. Liked having the flask on the run a lot and will def use this approach on the IM.
Before the race, I told Christine that if I knew 5 hours was not going to happen, I was going to back down the run. As I approached the first aid station, I went to the port-a-john and was in there for slightly over a minute peeing. Realized my pace was strong and it felt very easy. continued on at very relaxed pace.
As I rounded lap 1, I saw Christine and Mike cheering. I asked how Ross was doing. Christine started yelling I could go faster. I yelled back "I know I can" People thought it was funny hearing us go back an forth. For a few miles, I picked it up a little but generally kept it relaxed. Felt great at the end and had some fun coming down the finish shoot.

have a better swim.....

grabbed some post race bbq and cookies. watched Ross cross the line for his first HIM. went back to hotel, showered and drove home. wore compression socks for rest of the day.
after shower, stopped at Hooters with Christine for wings burgers and buffalo shrimp.


sighting on the swim


the good:
1) run course was a fantastic course with trails and well shaded
2) volunteers on run were very helpful and energetic.
3) bike course was fun. rolling hills kept it interesting

room for improvement:
1) swim course needed to be marked better
2) bike course volunteers need to take off the plastic seal on the water bottles
3) race day chip pick up...why not the same time as package pick up.