Patriot Half Triathlon - Triathlon

Even pace, consistent with OWS practices in the last month and a half. Garmin read 1.35 for distance and has been accurate. Assume that slow time was due to poor navigation or keeping too far outside of the crowd (did attempt to remain on the right to avoid crowd).
Overall very happy to swim continuously without panic in my first half IM swim.

Start out front (needed to avoid a kick in the face at the beginning), and keep a tighter line with the buoys.

A little disoriented coming out of the water. Took off suit, put on helmet and shoes (no socks), Swig of water and jogged out of T1.

One mistake - forgot to bring tissues. Allergies kicked up on the bike and caused issues in the aero position. S-Rockets would not have helpedwith my nose leaking like an open faucet.

Not much (except tissues) - needed a porta potty but none inside T1. Porta potties in Bike leg shortly after bike mount.

Stopped for porta potty 25 yrds after bike mount. Fell off bike after stopping and somehow dropped the chain (duh!). Long p stop followed by a few minutes putting the chain back on the small ring. Got a little flustered and hands very greasy.
The rest of the bike was pretty smooth. The course was pretty flat. Cadence was kept pretty even. Actual time in line with projected time.

Not drop the chain going to a porta potty.

Took a little extra time to get bearings. After I got off the bike I immediately felt quads stiffening up. Needed to get composure before the run.

One big mistake - forgot to take S-Caps from bento box. These would have helped on the run.

Make sure to take S-Caps and put in jersey back pocket.

This is where the lack of experience and training (being my first Half) really showed. Quads cramped painfully within the first half mile. Weather was beginning to get hot. S-Caps would have helped. Took a Powerbar Gel and it really worked to basically eliminate the cramps. Kept a slow sub-10:00 pace for quite a while. Walked every water stop and took Heed. Although very slow (blisters began to form in my left foot), kept going without walking other than stops. Caught up to a friend with 4-5 miles to go and ran in together. Made the run much more bearable, and the race experience even better. Took another gel with 3 to go and hung on to finish!.

More salt - hot day. More training, experience off a long bike.

Not sure what some are talking about - the food was great - lagsana, ham, beans, salad, chicken salad sandwiches, soda, ice tea, dessert - all you can eat on one plate. I am not expecting 5 stars after six and a half hours of triathlon. The meal hit the spot. Ate with training partners and swapped race stories - could not have been happier.


First 70.3 - more training time - Bike, run and swim in that order. Achieved number one goal of finishing. Would have loved to be closer to 6, but really, no complaints.


Sun Multisports put on a great event - very well organized and supported. Everyone said great things about this race, and it did not disappoint. I would definitely do this race again.