South Carolina Half - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

Had trouble citing the bouy's. Swam serpentine the whole race and that really caused some issues.

I have prescription dive mask and I will look into prescription goggles. Also, I have lost about 25lbs this season and frankly, I don't seem to float as well. My WORST 1500 before this year was 35 minutes and I ended the season with two 38's and a 54 minute 1.2. Not interested in gaining any more weight...but I will spend this offseason working on my stroke.

Burned about 500 calories getting out of my wetsuit!!

GLIDE!

This is the area I worked the hardest on in the offseason. Was averaging around 19.5mph until the headwind hit right at the end. I caught ever biker that I saw until the last five miles. I had figured I would do the bike in 3:15-3:30 and managed to come in at 3:09 (My garmin said faster).

Also, Garmin took FOREVER to synch! Next time I will just leave it on.

I really have no complaints about the bike but I did make a HUGE mistake with my gels and water that really cause problems during the run.

Saw the clock at 4:24 and figured if I ran the same time I have run during my long bricks I would finish in under 6:30!!

Okay...here is where the wheels fell off!! So during my bike my gels had hardened and I was trying to suck them through my straw in the bottle between my aerobars! (ROOKIE!). Well..as it turns out, you can't suck cold gel through a straw so I mixed my water with it!! Should be no problem right? I mean, I aways take a drink of water after a gel. Well, during mile one my stomach started grumbling and I had to stop at the bathroom. According to my Garmin (Yes..I hit the lap button during my stops...how sad is that?) I spent over 30 minutes in the portables. I also started to have some realy hydration issues. To combat dehydration I tanked up at the aid stations and ran with the cramp.

I lost 16 lbs during the race and needless to say, it was miserable! This was my "A" race and there was no way I was going to drive three hours home after DNF'ing!! When I could run, I averaged under 9:30 but the gastro issues kept me from making any real progress or coming close to my training numbers. The race quickly turned into "Just Finish". The encouragement at the turnaround on the run from the NAMSC group was great!

The run course was, quite literally, gut check....

Don't change ANYTHING no matter how small nutrition wise on any portion of the race.

I refuse to say this was a bad race for me. I made one critical mistake that if I had not done I think a sub 6:30 would have been in the works. I never even remotely felt like I was in any trouble endurance wise. My body (gastro aside) felt strong the whole race. Looking forward to racing a lot lighter next year. The goal of this season was to improve on the bike and this race was a real boost for me as far as the bike was concerned. I wish the season wasn't over...I would really like to see how I could have done with a good run.

Brett...you talked me into it, went home and registered for IMLKY!!