White Lake Half II - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

I did a decent job of staying the course when bumped, unlike the race two weeks ago. My sighting, however, was just OK. Couldn't seem to hold a straight line very long.
When I came around the first buoy and sighted, I was suprised to see people coming toward me! Yeah, I'd cut the turn too sharp and ended up heading back to shore prematurely. Also came too wide on the last leg and had to swim around the dock to the finish "side". I was ready to be DONE by then.

Think through the course better beforehand to see the best line to take in and out.

Thought I had this worked out in my head after making some mistakes in Charleston two weeks ago. The good: suit came off easily while I put on my HR strap. Having my tri top on under the wetsuit was a good call. No struggling with that like last time. The bad: dunked one foot, dried it, pulled on sock, then repeated with the other foot. Oops! Now my first socked foot was covered in dirt from the grass. Second foot gets shoe while clean. First foot has to be brushed off before putting on shoe. Grrrrr! Glasses on, grab helmet, helmet straps all tangled. Grrrr! Simple stuff I should have been able to avoid.

Check EVERYTHING beforehand! One foot at a time with socks AND shoes!

My avg HR in the TryCharleston Half had been 140 and I was thinking about pushing that a bit to see what I was capable of. Ended up pushing a 153 average or so and it worked out just fine.
Road quality varied from good to bad, so I just tried not to think about it. There was a headwind down the middle leg and I was surprised to find it still there as we turned down the final stretch on 53! How could it come from two directions? (I said as much to the next person I passed.)
At the info meeting the night before, the race director used a rope to show the legal non-drafting distance between bikes. It looked longer than expected, so I made a mental note to keep a good 3+ bike lengths between the next bike.
About 15 miles into it I got passed by a couple gals pushing a good pace, so I decided to stick with them. My HR dropped a bit, though, so I grabbed onto another guy who passed us and hung with him for awhile. At some point I heard a gal's voice from behind and glanced down at my Garmin. I'd really dropped off, letting my HR fall to 149. Suddenly the two earlier gals passed me, then what seemed like half a dozen others passed me. It was a small pack! I watched as they began leap-frogging each other with a lot of drafting going on in the two side-by-side columns that had formed. It didn't look like anyone was trying to fall back at all.
I hung back watching for a minute or so, gauging what to do. Finally, I just picked it up and passed everyone, following one guy in the pack that seemed to have had enough. When we got ahead of the pack, I passed him, really pushing the HR (160 or so). As I passed, I said "What's with that pack?" His response was the equivalent of "Yeah, right?" and off I went trying to permanently distance myself from the pack. My breathing was getting crazy by then and I started wondering if I was ruining my race with this move.
I finally got to a point where I couldn't easily see them behind me, though I knew they were there, so I calmed my pace a bit and caught my breath. Never knew it would be so hard to find a nice space for myself! By the time we turned onto the home stretch I felt comfortably ahead and concentrated on keeping my pace to the end. The turnaround gave me one last chance to see my lead over them, as they still seemed to be bunched together somewhat. WTF!
It was also at this point that I spotted two different people dealing with bike/tire issues. I felt horrible for them, hoping that I'd have better fortune. I started calculating how far I had left in case I had to jog it with my bike! Luckily I didn't have to.
When we hit the lake and were within a mile of transition, I geared down and started my end-of-bike spinning routine to loosen things up. Stretched the legs a bit as well. I remember thinking I was GLAD to be done with the bike!

Not let my HR soar for so long by getting caught up by that pack.

Unstrapped shoes successfully, then stepped off bike choosing to leave shoes on feet for the run. Didn't want to go through dirty socks debacle again and risk any pain points for 13 miles. All was well until I got to the rack and tried to rack my bike from the front. No can do! from the back of the seat? Nope. Finally re-racked it the way I had it at the start, from the nose of the seat. Mental error! No problems with shoes. Grabbed hat/belt/sunscreen/Garmin and headed for the exit.

Rack my bike right the first time!

Pretty uneventful, but not much fun. I think the higher HR on the bike was affecting me! It took all I had to just keep moving at a decent pace. I tried to maintain HR in low 150's and this seemed to work well. It did take a mile or so to get my legs in a groove. Cold towel and sponge at every aid station, along with one water and one Heed. By the time I'd reach the next station, I was very hot and thirsty. Thank goodness they were at every mile.
I had three GUs with me, but only ended up eating one. It didn't seem to be a problem. (I think the Heed made up for some of this, since I'm not used to having E-drinks on my runs.)
With 3 miles to go I tried to pick up the pace. My calves started to cramp, so I didn't push it. Several times I could feel them starting to go so I'd do my best to stretch them out with my stride. Basically my legs and knees had had as much as they would take, so my pace stayed about the same right to the end.
Another 45-49 guy passed me around mile 11, but he had a great pace that I couldn't hope to match.

Not much. I think my biggest limiter was having just done a HIM two weeks before.

Walked, walked, walked. Kept walking around the food area, grabbing an orange quarter, downing it, and then grabbing another. Ate about one-and-a-half oranges before stopping. That and some water seemed to do the trick. Finished this awesome post-race nutrition off with a bag of pretzels and a stop at the porta-john.
Spent some time in transition before heading out to the race finish with the video camera to catch my wife coming in.


Doing my first HIM two weeks prior? Ya think?


Really enjoyed the race. Only complaint is the lack of parking close to the start.