TryCharleston Half - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

I was in wave 4, purple caps, and there were the elites, red, over 49, silver and AG men, white, in front of me. We got in the water and I was in the middle of the group not really sure what my time/speed would be like. I was looking at the two in front of me and realized they weren't sure how to tread water. I didn't want to get stuck behind them or have to push my way in fron if they were weak swimmers. So I dove as soon as the horn sounded and resurfaced in front of them. The swim went really well, I honestly couldn't be happier. By the first bouy I was passing white capped people and by the second lap I was passing silver!

When I passed the bouy to start my second lap I glanced at the 910, 16:16 AWESOME!! I was also feeling very good as well and decided to keep pushing, I'm only doing the relay and I don't need arms the rest of the day right? Kept up the pace and sighting was getting a bit rougher as my goggles were fogging up. I had one EPIC FAIL moment when I thought I was sprinting for the finish but was sprinting towards a random bit of the pond...

Out of the water strong and started running up the hill to the transition area. And I found the wetsuit strippers, I attribute my not so horrible T-1 time to them.

Anti-fog on the goggles or new ones, I think these are about 6 years old. Start in the front of the pack, I think my swimming ability is there.

With it being a double transition site I had to pack up all of my stuff before I could leave. Not a huge deal but packing that wetsuit into a small plastic bag took some time. Other than that it was good

Not much, I had the socks pre-rolled and set and everything laid out in an orderly fashion. Maybe have shoes on pedals?

Pretty decent bike, had hoped to hit some where around 2:45. Got on the bike and my HR was HIGH from the swim. Had planned on a GU right off the bat but wanted to settle down first. About 10 minutes in I found a decent groove and was keeping a decent speed. I had the 910 set to give me a lap at every 5.6 miles so I could plan accordingly. I had hoped to maintain a 19ish avg the first 7 or so laps and bust it out at the end. I ended up going faster in the middle due to some fortunate wind that I decided to take advantage of and it might have hurt my ability to finish strong.

The course was great, plenty of cops helping to direct traffic and as I was in the middle of the pack there were always other cyclists around so I didn't feel threatened by vehicles at all. And some great views of the marshlands in the second half which is always a nice sight. That being said it did let me see all the great drafters at the event... Seriously it's no skin off of my nose but c'mon why? You aren't podiuming if you are riding near me and even if you do you did it by cheating yourself.

At one point I dropped my water bottle and had to circle around for it and was picking it up as the ref vehicle passed, glad I made that choice. Water stations were well stocked but I really didn't want the Hammer sports drink at mile 30, never had it and had my own nutrition, but it was all they had and tasted horrible. I ended up having 3 gus, 1 at mile 10 another around 25 and the last at about 40. I think it was good but I might have added one more as I was feeling fairly well spent by the end and my stomach had started grumbling. I also hadn't had anything to eat since my breakfast smoothie at 0430.

Finished as strong as possible and handed off the chip to my relay partner for her run. Tried not to puke and then enjoyed cheering on the runners.

Maybe another GU but for the most part was very happy with my time.

Switched off the strap and away she went.

I think Carrie busted it out and did great, much thanks to her for doing the race with me. Although having to circle around the finish line was a little bit a kick in the teeth she said... I just reminded her there was beer at the finish.

The post race music was a little rough, keep a DJ on it's more fun for people IMHO. I realize seafood is a big deal but the shrimp creole looked fairly disgusting as a post race food, I went ahead and shelled out the csh for chic-fil-a.

Overall a great race with a great atmosphere I will be doing it again, next time the whole thing on my own.