Duke Liver Center Half Ironman - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

This was probably one of the best open water race swims I've had. I swam pretty darn straight, and I felt comfortable the entire time... never felt like I was pushing hard. (Obviously I guess I could have gone faster if I had pushed... but the goal of this swim was to stay strong and steady and expend as little energy as possible.)

Not too much... the goggles, in spite of the drops, still got a tad foggy. I really need to figure out a different pair to use for IMFL. I don't want to have to fuss or have impaired vision (due to fogging) for FL at all.

I changed out of my bathing suit bottoms and put on dry bike shorts. I could have laid my transition out a little better... but I won't have that situation in IMFL since you'll pick up your bag from a volunteer, so that doesn't matter much. I had the longest T1 time out of my entire age group. That's okay because I was focused on practicing... but when I see that I could have beaten the girl who placed ahead of me just by matching my T1 time to hers... well, the competitive side of me says.... damn.

My number one worry for this leg of the race is that I would hammer. I get sucked into the race, and like targeting someone ahead of me to pass. I think I did okay. I didn't go easy, but I tried to keep the cadence high and comfortable and the big area I backed off on was the hills.... since IMFL doesn't have any big grinders, I didn't see any reason to blow my legs out trying to race up the hills. I lost my Aerobottle spongey thing at the second railroad crossing. Damn... but I wasn't the only one, that's for sure! I drank one full bottle of 150% Gatoraide Endurance (200 calories) and it seemed to sit fine in my belly. I only made it about 25% into the second bottle... I ate snack cookies (mini Nutter Butter and Oreo cookies) and a gel as well. I probably could have taken in more calories, and probably will for IMFL, but what I did eat today seemed to do me okay. I really liked racing with the Aerobottle. It made it much easier to constantly get water into the system. Overall, this was a pretty strong bike leg considering I was trying to keep things calm and restrained.

Be in better shape for hills; not lose my bottle sponge; eat more maybe.

Took my shirt off, changed socks, and almost forgot my race belt (this race doesn't make you put it on for the bike). I wasn't the very slowest for T2, but I was pretty darn slow (compared to my age group). Oh well.

I felt like I rushed this a tad too much... I don't know exactly why, but I remember feeling not so "in control" when I ran out of the transition area. So, in FL, I need to remember to take it a little slower, and stay in control.

This was a brutal run, but I seemed to do okay. I did stop at every aid station and walked, even if it was only to take a sip of water. Other than that, I did not walk at all. I tried Cytomax for the first two stations, and then had bad stomach problems.... had to find a port-o-john (took maybe 60-90 seconds)! I'm not sure if it was the Cytomax or the enduralytes (I took two at the first aid station because I was feeling super tight and was afraid of cramping in my quads). Hummm, I will try the eduralytes again, not the Cytomax, and if I have the same problem, I know what else to put on the "do not use" list. Only the last few miles of the run got bleh. And then the last oh, 3/4 to 1 mile of the run, I started to feel pre-cramps in my quads.... I wanted to race the last little bit into the finish shoot (and beat one of the girls who I had been hanging with) but I just didn't want to risk cramping up... so I just kept it steady.

Have whatever makes my tummy unhappy identified so that I can NOT consume it on the run. Also, I could have just been a better runner so I could go faster. Duh.

Walked around the finish zone... ate a few things, drank 1/2 a Coke, and fought a black out (ugh....) and then got my sh!+ in gear... packed up my transition area and headed out for an hour ride with Tommy. The ride was probably not on my list of top three things I wanted to do following the race (taking a nap would probably have been up there) but the ride did get me feeling BETTER and losened up my legs.


No taper, the fact that I was using this as a training day for IMFL (and therefore needed to make race decisions based upon how it would affect my training and if it was relevant race prep). Also, I could definitely work on my hill climbing on the bike, and my overall run endurance/speed.


Overall, this was a great race for me. I came into it without any super big expectations. Of course I wanted to PR, but people told me that this course was super hard, and that times were often much slower than those on other, less difficult courses. Also, I knew that I only had a "recovery week" as a psudo-taper, and that I needed to race this such that it would be beneficial to my IMFL preparations. In spite of that all, I still had a personal best today, and even got out for an hour bike, post-race! Today was a big mental breakthrough. Afterall, racing if all mental--you put the hard physical hours in long before race day... and on race day, you have to make your mind believe that you can do what your body is capable of. And sometimes you even need to bullshit your body! :) I'm excited to enter the next 8 weeks of training. I know that if I put some quality time in over the next few weeks, I will have a great taper, and hopefully, a very satisfying and successful race on November 4th!