Outer Banks Half Triathlon - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

I was pretty calm considering that this was my first OWS with waves. My swimming has gone from abysmal to above-average (by tri standards) thanks to six months of hard work in the pool. All 60+ men were in the first wave, nominally starting at 7:00. My plan was to keep effort level very easy, almost warmup/base-level effort.

We were going clockwise around two bouys in an inverted triangle. The first leg the current was from ahead and to the right. Breathing my options were to breathe into the waves (right/northwest) or look directly at the sun (left/southeast). I had a pair of 'calm down' moments swimming into the waves where I paused to sight, recover my composure, and continue. Both times I was swimming within 10 seconds, so not much lost. The 'back stretch' was largely uneventful.

The final third with the current should have been easiest but wasn't. We were swimming back toward the sun, and the 'air-dude' blowup thing they put up to mark the exit wasn't visible because of the terrain behind it. I picked out what I hoped was the acquarium and tried to aim just right of that. Halfway through I paused a moment and couldn't see or hear anyone and became concerned that I was way, way off course. Started playing tricks - crap, how long have I been out here? Am I all by myself? Have I been out here an hour already? Am I going to miss the cutoff? Didn't really have any other option than to continue, though, and eventually could spot the finish.

When I got out of the water I noticed Brian waiting to get in, and it wasn't until then that I knew that I had a good swim.

Not much. Sighting not perfect, but considering my lack of experience I am very pleased with this.

Long run from water to T1. Wasn't that speedy, but I took the time to get my socks on, catch my breath, and apply bug spray. Wasn't worth risking it if Mashoes road was as bad as it looked the day before. Didn't really have any trouble getting wetsuit off.

I know I lost a minute here, but not sure how much I care at HIM distance, at least not until I'm competing for age group position.

Not much of note here. Kept it easy for first hour, and easy/moderate for remainder. Ate bonk breaker, 3x scoops infinit, and three total bottles of water.

Fairly quick. Nothing of note.

This was brutal. Hit 90 degrees and was a sufferfest for me and many others. I'd taken it easy the whole route and kept a moderate 9 m/m pace through first three miles. HR around 165 - high but sustainable.

On second quarter, started having difficulty breathing. Started walking aid stations. Later started getting dizzy and sometimes had to walk between stations. HR around 160 but pace slipped to 10:45.

On third quarter managed to maintain 11:15 pace with walks every half mile and avg HR around 157. Still dizzy and hard to breathe but making time. 5:30 no longer in play but 6:00 should be easy.

Last three miles were brutal. Had to walk most of way. Averaged 14:15 per mile but HR remained elevated at 149 avg. Had ridiculous pain in side that required me to stop and bend over for relief every 100-200 yards.

The last mile in open sun I totally gave up on 6:00 time. When I came around last bend and saw time was able to run last 100 yards or so to barely beat 6:00. Honestly can say I couldn't have gone much faster the last stretch. The pain was extremely high. Could occasionally jog up to .1 miles, but would frequently end with me holding knees bent over trying not to fall over or get sick.

Jonesy walked with me some of the last quarter mile. That was a big help.

Needed to do better job managing electrolytes in heat. I honestly don't think I over-did my fitness in this leg or others, I think my body was shutting down. Stopped sweating, etc. Bad stuff.

I wish I'd known they were serving HEED. I e-mailed the race directory asking if there'd be a sports drink on the run course and if so what but never got a response. If I'd known I'd have practiced with HEED, but since I didn't know I was afraid to drink it on the course. Nothing new on race day, and I'd heard/read not to mix it with gels. Oh, well.

A guy grabbed me when I finished because I wasn't sweating and poured banana / gatorade / electrolyte tablets into me. I hurt pretty bad. Sarah (wife) joined me and talked to me to make sure I kept in shade. I tried to stand and started to cramp. Tried to stretch my quads and my hamstrings seized up. It was pretty unpleasant.


Bad electrolyte/salt management given unexpected heat. Need to do better with this next time.


Thanks to everyone involved with FS Series. They did a good job setting it up and watching after me when I was done. I just wish they'd posted on the website they'd be serving HEED on the run course or responded to my e-mail when I asked. If I'd been comfortable enough to drink some maybe I'd've had fewer problems and not lost 30 minutes on the back end of the run.