South Carolina Half - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

I guess my swim is my biggest disappointment in the whole race. I wasn't really nervous much and was just anxious to get in and get going. Our wave finally got in the water, and I moved towards the front of the wave. I started off strong and eventually began to feel like I was kinda alone. I would catch a person on my inside so I didn't even thin I was off course. Well wrong. I guess it was about 2/3 of the way to the first buoy, a kayak guy said "you need to be way over there". CRAP! So I figured out where I needed to go, and headed off again. I realize now after talking to a few others and thinking about it, that I was sighting off a yellow buoy that was round, but not a triangle 'corner' buoy. I don't have prescription goggles and don't really need them and the sun was very bright so that's the only reason I can think that I got so far off. I was kinda bummed since I've never done that before. So, moving back on track...I head to the first turn and continue parallel-ish to the shoreline. Everyone was still pretty spread out, but I'm still pretty close to others. I did something similar again, only not as bad and I figured it out on my own. So I headed back towards the main 'channel' and round the 2nd buoy and head towards shore. Everything was on track from here. At this point I had no idea if I was ahead of my wave, or behind. I saw several other color caps, but I don't know if they were people that started before or after me. I guess the swim is kinda bugging me because I felt really good the whole time. Wetsuit was comfy and my stroke felt strong. I wonder what would have happened if I didn't get so off course?

Sight better. I realized that when you start at the front at a longer distance race, everyone get spread out easier. It's VERY easy to get off course. It would have been nice if they would have had more of the small orange buoys between each of the turns.

I estimated my transitions to be about 2:30 for this race. I feel like my times for a sprint and olympic is good, but I didn't want to forget anything in a longer race. Wetsuit came off well, but I did bodyglide my feet and poked around a little.

I'm not sure, I think this time will go down after doing more races of this distance. I'm ok with my time...for now.

I think the bike went really well for me. I felt good most of the ride- maybe until the last 20 miles or so. I started out just trying to get into a good rhythm and trying to eat and drink when I should be. The course was fun with lots of rollers, similar to the course I trained on all summer, but easier! Around mile 10-ish Mila and Greg passed me. I tried to keep up with Mila, but she kept creeping farther away...so I stuck to my own plan. I did get passed by a good number of people-guys and girls, but I kept reminding myself that I wasn't doing a sprint and to follow my game plan. I was really happy to see that by the halfway mark my pace was at 17.8! My goal for the race was 17.25, but I would be happy with a 17.0 pace. So I was pumped at this point! I guess around mile 35 or so, an annoying headwind picked up and I was starting to get tired. This is also around the time that the pavement got kinda rough. I also started having some slight hamstring cramps...nothing too bad. I just tried to stand up and stretch a little every 10:00. My pace started falling but I kept pushing to keep above my goal pace. Luckily I'd been faster than I expected in the first have of the bike...so I ended up pretty close to my goal. Overall, I thought this was a nice course. Nutrition worked pretty well too:
~2 Accelerade bottles (300 cal)
10 Shot Bloks
1/2 Clif Bar
1 Uncrustable


Not much. I still want to get stronger on the bike. That's something that will come with time. I also need to stretch more..that could have helped the hamstrings.

Racked bike, body glided feet and changed socks. Put on race number and fuel belt. I also dug through by bag for some Aleve but only found Excedrin...took one. This was a pretty slow T2 time for me, but I wasn't really too worried. I hope this will improve with time and experience at the HIM distance.

Lay a few more things out...like Aleve. I just didn't know I'd want any.

I'm actually VERY happy with this run- even though it's slow by most peoples standards. This was the only part of the race I was pretty worried about. Just over a year ago, I injured my back from running b/c my form sucks. So I've really only been running again for about 6 months. Before that, my longest was a 6 mile run. So, this race was actually my first half marathon...my first will be in November. I was worried that this would turn into a mental struggle and I'd end up walking A LOT.

So, I started out having to pee, BAD! Stopped at the first p.potty around mile 1- whew, that was a relief. I was actually glad to have to pee- maybe that was a sign that I'd drank enough on the bike. So, continue on..my plan was to run as long as I can, but walk the water stops. I guess I ran most of the first loop(minus water stops) and I felt REALLY good. It was awesome seeing the other club members on the course. I started to look for the next person to take my mind off things. Saw Kraig- and almost got teary eyed. I couldn't believe we were doing this! Kept chugging along trying to drink often and Gu every 3 miles or so. Made it to the halfway and saw everyone from the club. I think I had a hug smile- it was awesome to hear everyone yelling and cowbelling!! At this point, I knew I had the race in the bag- not winning(DUH!!) but that I'd actually finish. I hadn't looked at my run time until the halfway- and when I did, I had 1:30 to finish and make my goal time!!! SWEET! So I kept chugging along, I ran a lot, but walked for a few minutes when I felt like it- mostly on the short up hills. Time flew by, I kept looking for club people finishing their second lap. I'm not sure if this was a total miracle, but I never really got really tired or mentally down during the run. I usually get bored tend to get negative on long runs- not today! It was crazy! So I made it back to the park with less than 2 miles to go and got really excited to see club people again. Saw Amy with less than .5 to go- dammit she caught up! I was actually walking then and started running again, she was just a little faster though...got to the last hill and kept running into the finish chute. DONE! My goal was 2:30, but I was even thinking that I'd be closer to 3:00...so I'm very happy!

I just want to keep improving my running. I feel like it's come a long way, but I'm far from done. It seems like it's where I loose a lot of ground in all distance races. I'm not going to complain though, I didn't even know if I'd make it through the run!

Got my medal and stood under the water tent- very nice. Kraig came over and we talked about how great we felt. Wandered over to the club tent to look for Heather to finish. Hung out a while and packed up and left.


I guess getting off course on the swim and the headwind on the bike were the worst parts of the race. I figure each race is a time to learn and correct mistakes. So I'll work on sighting better on long courses. The headwind is out of my control!


This was a great race! Great volunteers and well stocked aid stations. The race did start a little late and the post race events were kinda boring. But I don't choose races based on that. So I'd do this race again without much thought. The long sleeve shirts were also cool!