South Carolina Half - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

I felt sluggish in the water at the start, but I knew it was only my body warming up. This race was wetsuit legal. But I opted not to use one because 1) I don't own a wetsuit 2) The water wasn't cold enough in my book to fuss with a rental. I tried to relax and stay calm. This swim was a lot more physical due to the large number of participants, but it thinned out after the first 200 meters.

Stick to three stroke breathing. I switched to 2 and 2 each side for a bit and all that did was help me swallow more lake water.

I took the time to pull on toe socks in T1. I found out in my training that my right foot hurts terribly after 8 miles in regular socks. So I figured seconds here would pay off big time for the race.

Nothing

My coach told me to race the bike. So I did just that. Since I hadn't run in three weeks due to a hip injury, I decided the bike leg would be MY race. I started out passing lots of females, then I started passing Clydesdales and older men and finally younger men. I passed and passed and passed. I stayed aero for the most part staying low and out of the wind. I had a timer on my watch set to beep at me every thirty minutes. That's when I would set up, eat, and stretch. I tried to drink every 15 minutes, but it seemed to be taking a long time to empty my aerobottle. But the ride felt good. I was thankful to be on a carbon bike as the pavement was bumpy. I had Justin Timberlake's "Lovestoned" while I was riding. "She's bad and she knows. I think that she knows..." Oh yeah. I had a total blast on this ride. I was firing on all cylinders. I could see my shadow during one portion of the ride and I knew my form was dead on. Oh to stay on the bike and not have to run!

Nothing.

I had to sit down to get my running shoes on. I didn't want to risk messing up my up before the half mary by trying to balance on one leg.

Not ahve a hip injury.

I knew I had a good race going. But this run was a complete unknown. Would my hip hold up? Was my endurance still there after 3 weeks off of running? I started to run and felt very awkward and stiff. I told myself it was just natural brick legs and that in a quarter mile, things would feel smooth. I wouldn't say my legs felt smooth after that, but it was manageable. I did the first loop with a smile on my face and just enjoyed the fact that I was out on course doing my first half ironman. My second loop started off fine, but at mile 9 I started feeling fatigue creep over me. At the next aid station the volunteers were yelling "Water! Gatorade! Salt tabs!" I said"Give me some of everything!" I took 4 endurolytes with the water and walked and drank the Gatorade. I told myself I would only walk until the trash can, but I kept on walking past that. By now, My hip was hurting. Bad. My arch rival had come around me at mile 8 and I gave myself a mental "atta girl" for keeping her at bay for that long. More folks were running past me now as I was limping along. They would call out "Are you ok?" and I would say "No." This was the lowest part of my race. I felt like everything I had worked so hard for since July was all just slipping away. But I kept walking. My coach road up to me on her bike. I told her I was bonking but that I was going to finish even if I had to crawl. She gave me some pointers and while she was talking, my determintation returned (and maybe the salt tabs and gatorade kicked in). I said I was going to finish running. I started a shuffly-jog and kept my eye out for the next aid station. I walked again at the station and met up with a 19 year old guy who was moaning with each step. I said,"I feel the same way." He said, "I have never hurt this bad in my entire life". I looked him in the eye and said,"We're not gonna talk about that now. We can talk about that after we cross the finish line". He perked up and said,"Right on!" We shuffled together into the state park, through the parking lot and around the lake for the final time. He said, "Let's do this" and we bumped knuckles. He picked up his feet and charged up the hill with a grceful and strong finishing kick. I tried to follow, but my body would not go. I felt like I was wearing cement shoes. But I crossed the finish line!

Not injure myself and be able to train consistently in the run all the way up to the event.

Stood in the shower tent for almost 10 minutes guzzling gator aid and water and watched some of my friends finish.


Injured hip flexor and not being able to run for three weeks prior to the event.


This was my first half ironman and I am incredibly pleased with my performance especially given the fact that I was injured. Today, I could hardly get out of bed. That just re-affirms that I gave everything I had yesterday and did indeed leave it all out on the course. A big thanks to TigerD who not only supported his wife, Suzanne, but helped me too by carrying my stuff and wheeling my bike and fetching us with the truck so we wouldn't have to walk as far.