White Lake Half - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

This was my longest OW swim to date and I was concerned about over-exertion. Only a few folks chose to forego the wet suit, but really glad I did. It was a disadvantage on the swim, but an advantage on the run. I did well at sighting off of other swimmers, but got off course sighting off one guy who followed the crooked out bound sighting bouys. This cost me about 75m (2min). I'm happy with my decision-making and got better at sighting than the last long swim.

My training made the best of the time I had, focus on smooth, unhurried swimming. I was very comfortable, but just need to get faster.

I swam without my tri-shirt and struggled putting it on in T1 (think I'll swim with it on next time). The gound was very sandy and I didn't get all of it off of my feet, but this didn't cause any issues on the bike. (286/642 OA in T1).

Swim with tri-shirt on (one less thing)

My goal on the bike was to keep a steady 90rpm cadence and shift aggressively to keep a good cadence. I did this well, but the wind was tough. At times, went to 100+ rpms into the tougher wind gusts. I resisted the urge to chase anyone and executed my race strategy to have energy left for the run.

Not ride this course. I also need to switch to a compact crank, I'm just not using the upper gears.

I had somehow strained the outside of my instep on both feet; left foot was worse. This hurt quite a bit, but I came this far, I thought I'd give the run a try. I unclipped and walked/jogged through T2 to re-rack, then hobbled out of T2.

Figure out what caused the pain; I may have not tighted my shoes on tight enough? Get stronger on the bike, not just endurance.

I employed a walk/run strategy throughout the run; stopping at the drink stations, walking some distance, then running to the next station. This strategy worked well, physically and mentally. I paced myself very well and was never in jeopardy of not finishing, once I got to mile 3 and stopped hobbling from the bike injury. Mental toughness was very good throughout the run.

figure out what caused the foot pain and get stronger on the bike.

Hydration, hydration, hydration.


Swim speed & bike strength (into the wind).


I won't do this again, until they resurface the roads; this was a punishing surface.