White Lake Half II - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

Ok, so you do this race for the swim. It is a crystal clear lake and a great first OWS. None of that helped me! The wave start went fine. I was nervous after reading of people being kicked or climbed over. I had no issues. The water was so clear you could see everyone around you like you were in a pool and I think that helped. But with no warm-up and not much OWS swim practice after about 100 meters I got that "I can't breath" feeling and had to alternate between freestyle and side stroke until the first turn (600 meters) and that cost me a lot of time. Funny thing was I was still in the middle of my wave of caps. Lost a lot of time though! I finally pulled myself together after the first turn and had an average swim the last 2/3's. Just not the way you want to start your race. I got to the end of the pier (ladder finish) at 38 minutes on my watch. So I was 5-6 minutes slower then I had hoped and I am sure that was all in the first 600 meters. I had to wait for 2 other people to go up the ladder before me and then ran down the dock to cross the swim timing mat.

Get more OWS practice in (it has been to cold here until the last week or so) and get a warm-up in. One way or another I have to get over that "panic feeling" on the start.

I was very happy with my T1. There was a long run (about 200 meters) from the swim finish to the transition area and that is probably 40 seconds of the time. I was able to get the wetsuit top off with cap and goggles safely in the sleeve and the bottom down to my waist (two piece wetsuit) so when I got to my rack I dropped the top and pulled the bottom of with no problems. Glasses and helmet on then socks and cycling shoes. I have not tried going without socks on this long of a run and it seems easier to get them on here then after the bike with tired legs. I also have not attempted the "flying mount" yet so the socks don't hinder me here. I had them all ready and powdered up so no issues getting them on wet. Grabbed the bike and took off.

I don't think much. Flying mount or running harder to transition might cut a little but not much.

Bike started off great. No issues getting up to speed, and settled into a nice pace. My goal was 19-20 mph for the race. And a 10,20 and 30 miles I was doing better then that and felt good. The biggest issue was the road surface. Country roads that had a lot of bumps. Not many big potholes or anything like that but expansions joints so you went cu-thunk, cu-thunk, cu-thunk, down the road. OK at first but it beat up your arms legs and butt as time went on. One stretch from about mile 16-36 was nice and smooth and that was the best part of the race even with a small headwind (about 6-8 mph). But when you turned back onto the rough road at about mile 36 my butt said oh-no! Anyway struggled to keep the pace up and get back to transition. My legs felt ok but my butt hurt! There had been talk on BT about wearing a pair of bike shorts over your tri shorts and know I know why. Anyway I was almost done and the run is my strongest event so I pushed on. I had almost finished my 3 hour bottle of perpetuem and felt good with my nutrition and water on the bike. Finished the bike in the time frame I had hoped but was slower on the last 15 miles then the rest.

More time in the saddle! This is the one area I tended to cut short during the training plan and I paid the price for it! I have only been riding since January and have come a long way on my bike fitness but have a ways to go still!

Again I was happy with my transition. Got to my rack and racked the bike with no issues. Helmet and glasses off. I did take time to spray sunscreen on because it was hot and sunny out buy now! Running shoes on and grab the hat and race number belt and run!

Take a hammer gel or some other nutrition would have slowed the T2 but helped me a lot later!

Ok, finally to my strength! I was looking forward to the run and making up a lot of ground on people here. Two weeks before the race my last long run workout I ran 13 miles in 1 hour 28 minutes so I felt confident in my running. I was looking to keep the miles between 7:45 and 8:00 for the first half and then see how I felt. Everything started as planned. Mile 1 was 7:41, mile 2 was 7:50 and mile 3 was 8:10 with a stop at the aid station for water. But this is where the wheels started coming off! In my pre-race plan I was going to take a gel and water at each 3 mile point. And then extra water as needed. I do the 10-13 mile runs at home with nothing so I felt this would be fine. But for some reason I didn't tke anything but water. I wasn't think right already at this point. The times fell way off around 10:30-10:50 for the next few miles. I just could not make my legs move. It wasn't a hurting thing it was just no energy or drive. At about the 5 1/2 mile point I passed the hotel we were staying at and our car was in the parking lot but nobody was outside. We had not planned for anyone to be there but for some reason it was a blow to my mental state. I stopped and walked for almost 1/2 mile to the next aid station. I was a little lite headed and finally realized that I had not taken any nutrition in. So at the aid station I took a gel and some water. I ran/walked to the turn around point and then back to the aid station. This time I took to e-caps and some heed. Then I ran/walked to the 8 mile aid station and ate another gel and water. At this point I started feeling a little better but was so far behind the power curve that I spent the last 5 miles running for about 3 minutes and walking for 1. It was a horrible experience because I never walk on runs but I just couldn't keep myself going. I did end up running the last mile with another runner who was having cramp problems and we worked together to get to the finish

Stick to my nutrition plan and maybe even up it a bit! Also I think better bike fitness would leave more in me for the run

Water bottle, talk to my family and jump in the lake. Talk for a little while then get out of there because a Thunderstorm was coming!


I really think that bike fitness and not enough nutrition were my big factors. Overall I am happy to have finished and with this only being my second Triathlon (sprint in March) and only 5 months on a bike I have a long way to go. I will be back!


Delayed for fog at start, but Setup events does a nice job!