Challenge New Albany Half Triathlon - Triathlon

Yup ... nice and slow on the swim. I definitely should have been more training time in the pool on this one. This was actually faster than I thought I'd swim, so I'll take it. With about 200m to go, I got sick in my mouth slightly, which isn't something that usually happens. But that would turn out to be the theme of the day ...

Actually do any kind of swim training, would probably be better than nothing.

T1 spot was really close to bike out, which is always good for me.

Spent a lot of time fighting with my wetsuit, trying to fit it into the tiny bag

Shortly into the ride, maybe a mile or so in, I got sick again in my mouth just like on the swim. I figured I was having some GI issues and backed off my pace a little hoping to steady myself early on. And then I got sick again, somewhere around mile 4, then again at 7, 9, 13, 14, ... and so all throughout the course -- there were more miles that I did get sick than did not. More than a few times, I couldn't hold it in and out came a bunch of liquid (sorry so graphic). My legs felt fine, especially since I had backed down from my planned pace and was mostly spinning along. I tried eating solids, liquids, gels ... nothing seemed to help. Since I kept getting sick, I knew dehydration would be a real concern so I kept taking in gatorade and water on schedule. At the aid stations I would grab gatorade and water, fill up my aero bottle with gatorade and keep the water in my cage. The system seemed to work as I was still continuing on at a good pace without suffering.

The highlight would have to be my climbing. The hills weren't huge by any stretch, but I loved crushing everybody both up and down hill. One guy even looked over while we were climbing and asked me what my secret was :)

The low light, besides getting sick the whole time, was the 5 mile-ish stretch back to New Albany right into the wind (miles 45-50, roughly). It felt much longer than it actually was, but my average speed through that section dropped from 22.3mph down to 20.1. It wasn't a pretty sight.

Honestly, I probably should have bagged the event after the first few times getting sick. What ever GI issues I was battling caused me to not be able to eat much of anything -- I had 1 powergel, a few bits from a wafer thing, and 2 -16oz bottles of liquid.

Under a minute, good stuff.

I paused to stuff a bunch of nutrition in my back. I knew I would need it after blanking on the bike.

This was a horrible run for me. My second slowest HM in a race, the first time I've ever stopped to walk (and there ended up being a lot of walking), and just an unpleasant experience given the circumstances. Right out of T2 I was in trouble, cramping everywhere from my hip flexors to my back, both sides, and even my hands. I saw my family as I left transition so I pushed on a little bit so they wouldn't think anything was wrong. Not quite a mile in, I got sick again, freaked out a group of spectators that I was passing at the time. I stopped to walk at the mile marker, took about a minute to try to settle myself down before picking back up. I decided to go nice and easy (usually means ~8min/mile) until I was settled and then go back to work. That never happened. I ended up getting sick 3 more times between miles 2 and 4, had cramps and stitches throughout and was walking more and more frequently.

I stopped at the aid station around mile 4, drank some gatorade and water, ate a shot bloks pack and my honey waffle (which did the trick last year for settling my stomach). No luck this year. About 200m into my latest attempt to jog and I was back to cramping in my hip flexors. I kept pushing where I could, walking when I needed to, getting sick 1 more time on the first loop just before the turn around.

Just past mile 7 I stopped and asked a spectator if they could help me open a pack of cliff shot bloks because my hands were cramping so badly that I couldn't grip the packing. Ate those on the move, got sick a few minutes later. Not good. Walked a bit more the second loop, got sick a few more times. Continued to take in fluids at every aid station to try to stay hydrated as best I could.

At mile marker 11 I mustered up some runner's ( or fool's) pride and told myself that there would be no more walking ... starting right after the walk break that I just started. A minute later, I was back on the move and refused to yield to anything but the finish line. I was able to get into a rhythm, pass a few people and round to the finish. Passing one more person as I round the final corner, and that's the race.

Very disappointed in the run, but impressed that I was able to have a huge melt down and still post a top 50 time. More run training ahead...

Walked around with my family, found a spot in the grass to eat and stretch.


Getting sick repeatedly definitely made this race a nightmare. Thankfully that stopped soon after I finished and I have been able to eat/drink normally.


Fun race and venue. The bike course was iffy, and the post race activities seemed a little adhoc, but still good stuff.