Mooseman Triathlon Festival - Half Iron Distance - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

Yeah, same old story. I couldn't pull it together. It took me a ton of attempts to get my ten strokes together, and then I was fine. I think I was at buoy #2 before I got it. I really had no choice - there was no way I would have made the cut-off. The middle section was great, but I was a little disoriented and didn't sight well for the last 1/4 or so.

Thanks to being in the last wave and slow, I got my own personal kayak escort. Much appreciated. In an awesome move, one of the kayakers circled back and go the names of everyone straggling in the water and radioed them back to the announcer, which rocked. I checked the results and I think that one person didn't finish the swim - she was in my wave and this was her first tri. If this had been my first tri, I doubt I would have even made it into the water, so good for her.

I kind of thought my day was over for the first five minutes - I was really disoriented from the swim and didn't see how I could stay on the bike. I had to change because my tri shorts didn't arrive in time, so by the time I was ready to go, my head was straight.

I was right on pace here - 14 mph, steady for the two laps. The first elite came by right after Devil's Hill, which I was not expecting. He was cruising, said hi to me, and there was a good five minutes before anyone else came along.

Then came lap two. I had to navigate the run course for the first three miles, which was not fun. Then, my second attempt up devil's hill, I slowed to 3 mph when I was almost at the top, and had to get off before I tipped over. As I was walking the bike over the crest, I saw it.

The car. It followed me for the last 20+ miles. It didn't get too close, and there was no huge banner that said "last biker", but I knew. Otherwise, the last lap went the same as the first. Except I developed a splitting headache. Not pressure or dehydration. Caffeine withdrawal. So I was dying to make it to the run, where I knew that soda awaited.

Bring more salty stuff in my Bento Box - all the sweet stuff was making me nauseous. Maybe not drink an entire pot of coffee every day.

Once again, coming in I thought my day might be over. The combo of headache and nausea sucked. But I figured that it would either get better or worse, and I could make my decision later. Again, I had some time to rest as I needed to change.

The aid stations had pretzels and soda, which were exactly what I needed -salt and caffeine. I ran a lot, walked a little, etc. At the second turnaround (about 10 miles), I met a woman who wanted to finish together. It worked great - she definitely pushed me to go faster than I would have. My knee flared up pretty badly with about 2 miles to go, but I was just happy it didn't hurt the whole time.

Went to ice my knee. Too queasy to eat (I did a "sampler" at one of the last aid stations - oranges, chips, and jelly beans - that did not sit well). The volunteers offered my a sandwich, whcih luckily I took - on the ride home, I suddenly got so ravenous that I woudl have eaten cardboard.


Great aid stations, great volunteers, really awesome goodies (I kept thinking that I HAD to finish so I could wear my hat and shirt guilt-free), great snacks. A special shout-out to my personal kayak escort and the people on the beach that waited for the last of us to come in. my only complaint is not getting to see the Moose.