White Lake Half - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

The swim was about what I expected. I swam to plan at around 40 minutes or a little longer. I wanted to swim comfortably since this was my first half iron. Sighting was about average. The sun was really bright and I had to be careful not to look into the glare. There was a little chop but it was manageable. Came out of the swim with a low heart-rate and felt comfortable.

I am a pretty slow swimmer. I need to work on speeding up. I have gotten a little faster over the past year but not much.

I took a little time in t1 because I put on extra sunscreen. I also put on a white long sleeve jersey. I wanted to keep the sun off as much as possible to prevent sunburn in the bright conditions and to remain cool.

I need to practice getting the wetsuit off quicker. I need to practice the transitions a little the day before the race. This could get the transition smoother.

The white long sleeve jersey paid big dividends later on when it got really hot because the white reflected heat better than the black tri-suits a lot of people were wearing. The heat was over 90 by the time my bike ended.
I could have pushed the pace a little more.Since this was my first half I raced conservatively however. I carried 50 ounces of liquids and had enough fluids to finish the race despite the heat. This was good because the waterstops ran out of water a certain points of the race. I really could have pushed a faster pace though.

For this race I stuck to my plan and executed the ride the way I should have. Conservative racing is what I wanted to do given the heat.

I got to t2 in good shape. I took off the long sleeve and sprayed on a lot more sunscreen. I drank a couple of gulps of water from my spare bottle and at some more endurolytes. This all took time. I needed to get covered up with sunscreen though because I just can't afford to get sunburned and it would have been easy to get burned really badly on this day.

None, other than practice the t2 a little before the race.

This part of the race is where my plan broke down. I had sworn to myself I would stay away from the energy drinks I wasn't used to and stick to water and gels. I was running along fairly comfortably in the first mile and stopped at the mile 1 water-stop. I got a cup of Heed that had been mixed stronger than I was used to and in a flavor I had not tried. I chased with 2 cups of water. I immediately got a stomach ache and nausea. I tried drinking water at mile two but the stomach was still upset. I skipped two or three more stops to let the stuff work out of my system but I really felt pretty miserable. I trotted along and gutted it out until around mile nine where I just had to start walking. At this point I was also a little light headed. I finally remembered that I had three gels in my pocket and ate one followed by some water. I started to feel a little better but still walked until I fell in with some guys who were running intervals to get to the finish. I was able to run a couple of hundred yards and then walk a couple until about half a mile from the finish. I ran in from there.

Stick to my nutrition and hydration plan. Not following my plan added at least 30 minutes to my overall time. If I had stayed with the plan and ate my gels with water I believe I would have been able to run the entire course.

I walked around the pavilion at the finish line and got some water and a little to eat. After checking the finish time I had I basically packed it up and rode back to the motel. Later on I swam in the lake and got cooled off.


I should have avoided the heed on the run. It was a mistake on my part to drink an unfamiliar energy drink. That was a no no. Next time I will stick to my plan.


I think this is a great race overall. I just had a little screw-up with the nutrition but you live and learn. The organization was great. The race venue and courses were spectacular. I have never been to this part of the state before so this was a real treat. Finally, if you haven't swam in White Lake it is a great experience. The water is very clear and a large part of the race actually takes place in fairly shallow water. I am thinking seriously about doing the International this fall.