Little Smokies Half Ironman - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

I have come to the realization that i'm always going to have somewhat of a panic attack during OWS's. About half way through the first lap, I popped up and relieved the pressure from my wetsuit on my neck and started to dry-heave. I rolled over on my back for about 2 seconds and then I was ready to continue. I had no other issues during the swim and felt confident after my freak-out. I had no contact with anyone on the course and felt my sighting was good. I'm very pleased with my time.

Nodda

I was in no hurry. This was a training day for me. As soon as I cleared T1, I handed my bike off to a volunteer so I could hit the porta-john to take a leak.

Nodda

They stated that the course had 4 category 1 climbs. I had no idea what a cat 1 climb was, but as soon as I hit the first hill, I considered myself an educated man. It winded up the side of the mountain and I never thought it would end. It was about 10 minutes (by my memory)in the granny gear. The course was as advertised, hilly and very technical. There was a 150 degree turn in the middle of a descent and twists and turns during other descents. It was tough to let loose and fly down a hill not knowing what was around the corner.

All that being said, I was prepared for this course and went in with the right attitude. I totally expected it to suck and it did. However, riding hills prior to this race helped out tremendously. I was getting wore out a little by the end of lap 2.

Nodda

Still not in a hurry. I took my time and made sure I wasn't forgetting anything.

Nodda

Wow, this run was so tough! It was on a hilly gravel road with lots of steep hills. I usually run this distance in under 2 hours. I made the mistake of running the entire 1st out-and-back. I should have walked the steep up hills to save my legs. It was also very hot (mid 80's and full sun). By the 2nd lap, I was so hot and smoked. I finally started walking the up hills sections of the course. I was glad to get to the finish line.

This was my first race of the year and I am proud ot have this one under my belt. Again, I felt good until the 2nd half of the run. My nutrition was spot on. Glad to be done and look forward to a quick recovery period and then it's back to the grind.

Nodda

I ate some pasta and a sandwich then rode my back back to David and Alice's RV, where I took a brief nap in the hammock.


Hills and heat.


HFP rocks! This has to be such a hard race to organize, specifically stocking the aid stations, which are not really easy to access by vehicle during the race. They did a great job and I had a good experience at the race.