South Carolina Half - Triathlon1/2 Ironman


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Greenwood, South Carolina
United States
set-up.inc
80F / 27C
Sunny
Total Time = 5h 56m 13s
Overall Rank = /
Age Group = 30-34 F
Age Group Rank = 11/20
Pre-race routine:

Woke up at 4:30 for some breakfast; fig newtons and oatmeal. Gathered stuff from hotel and checked out. Drove over to the race site and picked up race number and headed to transition. Set up transition and headed towards race start location. I had a lot of trouble getting on the wetsuit I rented and nearly left it on the grass near the start. I finally got the suit on and then found some friends before heading to the lineup for the women's wave start.
Event warmup:

No time for any warm-up. I arrived at the site a bit later than anticipated. I didn't feel rushed or panicky until I had to put on the wetsuit, but there was no time for any warm-up. I was silently laughing when I heard some athletes in transition saying they were going out for a warm-up run.... I was there to cover 70.3 miles and 13.1 of them running, I wasn't going to be doing any extra running!
Swim
  • 41m 40s
  • 1931 meters
  • 02m 10s / 100 meters
Comments:

I was having some trouble with swimming straight and found myself swimming to far from the bouys and had to keep re-adjusting my swim. I was a bit nervous about a 1.2 mile swim and the rest of the race so I was swimming a bit conservatively, but I still came out of the water disappointed with my swim.

I have been trying to improve my swim since July and have been working with some coaches at a Masters swim team. I have learned a lot with the swim team but so far it hasn't had any good effects on my swim times.
What would you do differently?:

Get better at navigating and swimming straight. Gain confidence with my swim and work on adding speed to the better swim form I'm developing.
Transition 1
  • 01m 56s
Comments:

I had figured for a 2 minute transition and came in right at that. I was very happy the wetsuit came off so easily. I took extra care when removing the leg on the side where the chip was so I wasted a few seconds being so careful. I spent a little extra time in transition making sure I had enough food for the ride and lost a bit more time there.
What would you do differently?:

Next HIM, I won't be so worried about the rest of the race and will likely be able to speed up this transition.
Bike
  • 3h 12m 13s
  • 56 miles
  • 17.48 mile/hr
Comments:

The roads were definitely rougher than my typical training roads. I had been warned about them and didn't really feel it was horrible but you could feel the uneveniness along the way and it added a bit to my saddle soreness. It was amazing when I hit some fresh, smooth pavement and with no extra effort sped up over 1 mph. The ride was mostly through countryside and was quiet and relaxing, except when the huge motor homes came whizzing by. I had some problems with gear changes and ended up dropping my chain at mile 33. I had no problems getting the chain back on and took an extra minute to refill my aerobottle. The stop was actually a good breather for me to get off the seat and re-group before finishing out the rest of the course. I lost my favorite water bottle late in the race, while trying to get it back in the behind-the-seat water cage. I love having the extra water on my bike, but I still need to get used to the cage. I had plenty of fluids and food on the bike and stuck to my nutrition plan. I won't bring along cut up Power Bars again though. I struggled getting them out of the bag they were in and had to slow down every time I reached for some. I was ice cold at the beginning of the bike but by the end the sun was shining and the clouds were gone so I knew the run was going to be a bit warm. I had to slow down quite a bit coming into the final section before the transition area because one side of the road was all runners, and the part that should have been for the cyclists was being taken up by a truck. The race crew was frantically trying to get the truck to move and ended moving some cones on the run course so I could get through. It didn't impact my overall time much, but it was a bit of a mood breaker.
What would you do differently?:

Push on the bike a little bit more. I finished the bike course just under my predicted time of 3:15:00 so I am happy with my performance but I now know I can push a bit more and still have a decent run. I would also scrap the Power Bars and maybe even the Clif Bloks and go to gels because I spent time slowing down each time I was trying to grab a piece of bar or a blok out of the bags they were in.
Transition 2
  • 01m 8s
Comments:

I had a decent transition. I was efficient and didn't waste too much time.
What would you do differently?:

I think I could have saved a few seconds not bothering to reach for the extra gels that were still in my bike bag but I went into the run knowing I had plenty of gels in my shirt in case the run lasted longer than expected.
Run
  • 1h 59m 19s
  • 13.1 miles
  • 09m 07s  min/mile
Comments:

The run was definitely warm, but I felt like I had a good run. It wasn't even close to my half marathon PR but I was consistent and felt good. I was shocked at the number of athletes walking. I'm not sure if it was the warm weather on the course, the triathletes aren't running enough in training, or if that is just typical at a HIM, but it definitely surprised me. I didn't walk at all on the course and when I was watching my watch it appeared I was running even 9 minute miles so I was a bit sad when I saw the results and was over the 9 minute mile pace. I am thrilled I felt as good as I did on the run and I didn't walk at all, but looking at it now, I know I could have picked up the pace a little bit more... I am a runner after all. The spectators I had at the race were all telling me I looked great on the run so I thought my run time would have been slightly better.
What would you do differently?:

Pick up the pace. I think I held back because I was so worried about the overall distance of the race, even though I was on the last segment. I was also impacted by seeing so many other runners looking so beat and I was worried that I was going to hit a wall at some point.
Post race
Warm down:

Stood in the water tent for a few minutes and then grabbed a water and gatorade and went down to meet up with my cheering section.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Not knowing the distance, and being unsure if my training was sufficient. I was very conservative on the race course, fearing that I wouldn't have enough to finish. Now that I've done one HIM, I know what the race distance is and can work on getting my times down.

Event comments:

I thought the race was well put together. I didn't stick around the finish area long enough to see what was even going on there, but I never saw any food laid out for the athletes. I might have just missed it though. I believe there was some people giving massages but I didn't see them right away and never sought them out, but it would have been a nice thing to do. I enjoyed the race and would do it again. I don't have knowledge of other HIM courses, but I would rank this one as pretty easy if you have some training miles in.




Last updated: 2006-09-25 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:41:40 | 1931 meters | 02m 10s / 100meters
Age Group: 14/20
Overall: 0/
Performance: Average
Suit: Rented Sleeveless XTerra
Course: Counter clockwise three parts of a square. The water was very calm and the swim course layout was great.
Start type: Deep Water Plus: Waves
Water temp: 76F / 24C Current: Low
200M Perf. Average Remainder: Average
Breathing: Good Drafting: Bad
Waves: Navigation: Below average
Rounding: Average
T1
Time: 01:56
Performance: Average
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
No
Wetsuit stuck? No Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: No
Getting up to speed: Average
Biking
03:12:13 | 56 miles | 17.48 mile/hr
Age Group: 13/20
Overall: 0/
Performance: Good
Wind: Some
Course: Rolling hills through the countryside of South Carolina. The course was easy to follow. They had police or race crew at every turn, and had markings on the road if you crossed a road to let you know to continue straight. Road was marked every 5 miles with the overall distance.
Road: Rough Dry Cadence:
Turns: Average Cornering: Average
Gear changes: Below average Hills: Average
Race pace: Comfortable Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 01:08
Overall: Good
Riding w/ feet on shoes Bad
Jumping off bike Bad
Running with bike Good
Racking bike Good
Shoe and helmet removal Good
Running
01:59:19 | 13.1 miles | 09m 07s  min/mile
Age Group: 10/20
Overall: 0/
Performance: Good
Course: Two loop course. A few itty bitty hills but nothing bad, although the hill at the finish line was steep and a bit mean. The terrain was a bit tough when going through the one recreation area. The parts of the run at either end of the loop were shady (in the two park areas) but the middle was all sun and warm.
Keeping cool Average Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 5
Physical exertion [1-5] 3
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Average
Race evaluation [1-5] 4