Patriots Half - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

So the weird thing about the James river here is how shallow it is. We were in the last wave so we watched all the other waves, in which a large number of people walked out, almost to the first turn buoy! (about 200 yds maybe). K told me how her coach had her practice dolphin diving, but she was just going to walk anyway. But wading is so energy inefficient. So I started out swimming, but when I saw that waders were going as fast as me, I tried some dolphin dives. Eventually settled into swimming. There was a massive traffic jam at the turn buoy. Then I really got going. Sighting was not hard. The river was so flat. It was perfect conditions. There were some people that I seemingly couldn't get away from, so I tried drafting, but that didn't work very well, so then I tried getting away from them. At the second turn buoy, there was a big guy in front of me who was, I guess, standing on the anchor line to the buoy. Super annoying. Then started the long leg. I guess I did OK. If anything, I had to keep re-focusing on swimming my stroke, kicking, etc. I think I could have gone faster. I tried drafting off of one woman for a while, but when drafting, it made me faster and I ended up hitting her in the bum a few times. It was too annoying so I stopped. Couldn't find someone who was just a bit faster than me. So I gave up on drafting. As I neared the final turn buoy, which was attached to this wooden tower thing (osprey nest), I saw a lot of people swimming at right angle to my line and it confused me. Then I realized, maybe 50 yds out, that the current was sweeping people past it on the wrong side, and they were fighting to get back. So I made a drastic correction to the far far outside of it and thus managed to just get around it. Always confusing which way to go when finally heading for shore, but I caught site of the yellow wiggly man pretty quickly this time. Tried to swim harder. When I got closer to shore I saw people wading in from far out. As it turns out, my hands were hitting the bottom probably 100 yds from shore. So I stood up. But that was terribly inefficient, so I tried some dolphin dives, which were still tough because then I had to stand up again and again. The water was about knee-deep +/-. Just deep enough to make wading difficult, but shallow enough to make swimming hard. I eventually gave up and waded in the last 30 yds or so. That was annoying.

I guess if I had known, I could have practiced dolphin diving and settled on a strategy I was happy with. Mostly though, I need to focus better. I mean, it wasn't bad by any means, but I feel I can do better.

This was a long transition. I was hoping for more like 4 min. But it does include a 1/4 mile run to transition, so I guess that's OK. When I got to my rack, the woman next to me was happily sitting on her bucket right in front of my bike! Lame. But she moved. After all that wading in the water and running up the beach, I hadn't taken my goggles or cap off. Whoops. Wet cut grass was all over my feet and bike tires. So I just put my socks on over the grass. Went to drink my boost shake. The frozen one was still frozen, so I grabbed the other one. Put my cookies in one pocket, nutrigrain bar in the other pocket, and banana down the front of my shirt. Inhaler twice. Took the extra time to put on cycling gloves (don't wear them in shorter races). Got my bike and headed out.

Next time I could be faster. Don't freeze the shake. Move faster. But I was OK taking my time for this race.

When I started the bike I felt great. It was cool and I was wet, so it was chilly. I started strong, but I held back some. There were a number of people passing me, and it was really hard not to chase them. But I told myself I knew I would be back of pack in this race and to ignore them. Some of these I ended up passing later in the bike - they ran out of gas before the end, I guess. Had to remind myself to drink since it was cool. Concentrated on the gatorade/the right stuff mix so that I would finish both bottles before the run. I drank half my water bottle too then moved it to my empty rear cage before the first water bottle hand-off at 17 miles. I ate the banana, which proved a little difficult since my husband had gotten totally green bananas. I tossed the peel (I don't usually ever do that!) b/c I didn't have a big enough pocket. The hills seemed easier even then I remembered from the practice run. I played cat and mouse with a number of people, including one woman from Washington state! My speed was fast before the hills, but that was OK, because I was going lose time on the hills. At the second water bottle hand-off at 34 miles, I tossed my bottle from the first, even though I had only drunk half of it. Got a new, full bottle. Ate my pb cookies, which were a little crumbly. Was considering eating my nutrigrain bar - maybe I should have, but I was worried about GI cramps on the run. Took a gel each (taped to my cross bar) at 2 hrs and at 3 hrs. When I got to the end of the hills, I was still above 16 mph average. My plan said to shoot for 15.5 mph and save my legs for the run. Well, after getting through the hills, I felt compelled to stay above 16 mph. There were 20 miles to go, mostly flat, but some false flat. There was one woman in particular that we passed each other numerous times on the last 20 miles. There was a super scary 18-wheeler that I thought was going to hit her. There were a couple cars that cheered us on. There were a couple that honked. (There was one that yelled at other bikers, but that was behind me.) I was happy and comfortable almost the entire race. I was a little uncomfy in the saddle the last hour, and the last 10 miles were rough. But I think that was from the anticipation of being almost done. 58 miles is a long way! Overall, it was a perfect beautiful cool day and I enjoyed the views and the flowers and the shade. It was getting a little warm towards the end. Saw my hubby and boys (1 yr and 4 yr old) right at the end of the bike. D had a clapper and they cheered me on, except the baby, who stared.

Maybe stick to the plan and not go so hard, especially at the end. Maybe eat that nutrigrain bar too. I'll have to calculate my calories so I can compare next time.

Why is the bike dismount to transition always downhill? Fun for the quads! When I went to put on my left running shoe, the Yankz was tight and I had to push to try and get it on my heel. My left quad and calf immediately started to cramp up. I backed off right away, and stretched it oh-so-gingerly. Threw on sunscreen on my face and arms. I can't really reach my whole back, but I forgot about my back anyway. More inhaler, got everything on and headed for the run.

Make sure Yankz are loose before the race!
Sunscreen only on face? (Sunburn on my back is not bothering me.)

I started out the run feeling great. My hubby and kids followed me out of transition. I heard my son yell "Go faster!" and thought he was yelling at me, but actually he was yelling at my husband, who was attempting to run after me carrying both kids. He put D down, who caught up with me and ran alongside me on the grass. I asked if he would run the whole way with me. At one point he veered into the course, just as someone was coming the other way full speed. Hubby and I yelled together "get out of the road!!!!" He then petered out and I started the long long run alone.

I felt OK, I told myself I was in great shape for the run. Nothing hurt, hydration was good. First mile, I went straight for the port-o-potty and peed a whole lot. Spent maybe a minute in there, so that means my first mile was 11:30-ish. That was too fast. Scaled back a bit. Second mile was about 12:30 and that felt reasonable. I had time to finish in 7:30. Then K caught up with me and we chatted for awhile. We were loving the shady gravel trail. K said, "I could do this all day!" I was starting to feel a bit gassy and stopped at the next port-o-potty. Turned out it was just gas. I had no GI problems the whole rest of the run, which was great. I had been really worried about cramping. Kept going. Some time out in the sun and it was hot. After the third aid station (about every mile) I realized, oh I need to eat something. So I got a gel at the one after that. It was OK, although it was hot. I did water and ice at each aid station. I put the ice down the front and back of my shirt. The back was actually too cold, so I stuck to the front. Eating the ice was heavenly, but that kept me walking. I was starting to slow, but I calculated that even with 14 min miles I'd still be close to 7:30. I had some trouble with a blister on my left little toe. Tried adjusting my stride, but it hurt no matter what. Then after a while my feet just hurt all over so the blister didn't bother me anymore. I also started to get chafing under my right arm. I'm not sure why, but it was annoying.

At some point it was getting harder to keep going. I set my watch to do a 1 min walk - 5 min run. I sortof followed that, but then I was walking the aid stations so I skipped the 1 min close to the aid stations. I didn't do another gel, but started taking chex mix. It was the only thing that sounded good. So chex mix and water and ice every mile. Actually, the ice I put down my running bra stayed for quite some time. So I'd run my 5 min and then on the 1 min I get out few ice cubes and chew them. It was getting harder and harder to keep running. I remember when I hit 10 miles and thought, just a 5k! I can do this! But my chest felt tight - like I was having trouble breathing, which was disturbing. And then I realized that if I walked the whole mile, it was only 30 seconds slower than if I jogged/walked. So I switched to walk 5 min, jog 1 min. And I walked fast .The whole last 5k was just brutal. Hot, hurting, especially my feet and ankles. Starting to feel a little weird in the head. (Although it wasn't dehydration or heat exhaustion, I don't think.) It was just a long long race. Saw K a couple more times; she was doing awesome. Dragged myself to the finish line. (I'm surprised the last mile + 0.1 was over 18 min. I actually ran the last quarter mile, and otherwise it wasn't slower than the previous few...)

Run less than 13 miles? A 10k would be perfect.
Seriously though... Bodyglide around armholes of top.
Maybe needed more calories. Maybe did bike too hard. Maybe need to do more running earlier in training season.

I sat my tired butt down on a chair after the finish and didn't move for a looong time. D came to me. The volunteers seemed to be over helping at the finish. Someone took my chip but I had to beg for cold water, and D went to the box and got me a medal. Then he wanted to play with it. I tried standing up and felt light headed, so I sat right back down. Then after a while I dragged myself to get my stuff. Made hubby carry the baby and my heavy bag. D "helped" me with the bike. Actually, I kept yelling at him to stop touching it. Met up with K on the way out. We exchanged a few war stories. Then I headed to the food tent. Most everyone was gone. Got some oranges (baby ate them) and some potato chips. Sent hubby to get pizza and water. There was only one other guy in the tent with us. He found more drinks and got some ice, so I could have a coke. Except the baby loves coke; I forgot I shouldn't drink it in front of him. He had a lot of coke, on a day he didn't get a real nap. Oh well. I went to the port o potty. First 4 in the row had vomit or diarrhea. Nice. Finally dragged ourselves to the car, hubby carrying two bags and the baby; me hobbling behind with bike and distracted 4 yr old.


I hate to say training, because I trained more for this race than ever in my life! But I could have done more volume early on: March April May and maybe that would have helped me more on the run. My only other guess is not enough calories on the run, but I'm not sure.


A good choice for a first HIM. Even though the cutoff is at 8 hrs, they let people finish after that. Bike is beautiful and not too hard, run is very flat and lots of shade.