Black Bear Triathlon - Half Iron Course - Triathlon

I have no idea what cause this but I experienced severe vertigo after about 20 minutes in the water. It was so bad I had to stop twice as I thought I would get sick. Everything was rolling, and there were definitely no waves.
I believe it was cold related, but it made for a miserable experience.

I need to determine what caused this problem. Hopefully it was just the cold. Ive done quite a few OWS and never experienced anything like this.

Took my time to regain equilibrium. Once I was stable it was slow but I started to feel better.

I had a relatively decent bike and although I have done better it's what I expected at this point into my IM training cycle. Spent up until mid-April on a swim/run focus while getting ready for the Boston Marathon, and crammed a couple weeks of hill work into the training prior to the race.

After the swim it felt so good to be on the bike. I needed to work on my nutrition plan for LP and that went extremely well, except for dropping the bottle of Infinit and having to go back and pick it up, Even managed a couple bottle exchanges.

Train more. Go up and ride the course prior to the race.

T2 went well. Everything was drenched and there's nothing like putting socks on wet muddy feet. People's race equipment was everywhere.

Pick a dry day? You gets what you gets!

I pulled a hamstring at Boston and was considering dropping out of this race. My coach suggested to do it as a long training day, and I knew it was going to be a hard run. I'm totally focused on being healthy to toe the line at Lake Placid, so I did what I was told and ran/walked the course.

At mile 2 I was ready to quit, but I walked a little, jogged a little, and just kept going. The people who I talked to during the run were just amazing. The men and women who do these races are some of the most supportive, funniest, and determined people you will ever meet. Around mile 10 I knew I was going to finish so I just kept a steady shuffle going and ran it in.

Nothing. Honestly given the amount of pain I experienced during the run and pushing through was a major confidence builder. I don't care about the time, it was a revelation to know how deep I could dig and finish the run. I crossed the finish line bent over with back spasms from overcompensating for the hamstring and still managed to smile for the camera.

Taking a lot of cr*p from my friends since I was the last of the group to finish. Wouldn't trade any of them for the world.


Getting disoriented during the swim and the hamstring injury.


Well, my first HIM is in the books. Not exactly how I planned, but there will be another race to do. Probably the friendliest group of people I've ever raced with, maybe because it's was a very hard course on a miserable day. Volunteers were great, all families and people doing their best to make this a good experience.

klassman wrote in the Ironman LP training thread" "Being at the finish line in Boston has given me fresh perspective to " not sweat the little stuff". Be happy."

Good advice.