Duke Liver Center Half - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

First 400 yards of this swim were some what calm. Got into a good rhythm early with the plan being just to finish. The middle part of this swim was rough. The lake was exposed to the wind in this section so the waves were much larger. Fought through this part pretty well. Was not worried about time so concentrated on being efficient. Made a decent turn around the buoy. Overshot it a little but no big deal. Started back and rode the waves as much as possible. Noticed that the waves were pushing everybody to shore instead of the dock area. Had to consistently correct to the left. Last 400 yards smoothed out considerable so started to think about transition. Beat push goal by 5 minutes!!!

Nothing, swim went just as planned. Glad to be able to wear a wetsuit otherwise it would of been uglier than it was.

Plan was to walk the whole way from swim exit to transition. Did this without a problem. Funny thing is nobody passed me so others had to be doing it as well.

With a little more experience at this distance may try to run from swim exit to transition and have shoes already on bike. No point in that for this race.

Left transition and got clipped in pretty easily. About mile 5 my feet were completely frozen. Never felt my toes till the run. Saw Bill (fgump) at Olive Baptist Church (mile 8?). Appreciate the shout out. Headwind/crosswind was tough on this ride. Was difficult to judge effort level since the wind was really working against you. Made it up the two hills of consequence on the first part of the ride without a problem. Heart rate was consistently in the high 130's to low 140's so that part was pretty good. Saw Ed (ellasdad) at about mile 30. Got to the big hill on Hwy 42. I hate that hill!!!! Got to the top and there he was again. Bill (fgump) was the man!! After this hill I knew the rest of this ride was in the bag. Got to the last 10 miles and as expected started to catch and pass people. Several people were getting off their bikes to solve cramping issues. Was consistent but not hard over the last 10 miles. Coming up Pea Ridge road was a strong head wind. Could of done without that but made it through ok. If a 56 mile bike ride could be uneventful this was it. No mechanicals, no rain, nice and cool. Missed push goal by 2 minutes.

Nothing. Need to work on bike fitness in general so that it does not take away from my run.

Slow and easy transition. Changed socks before putting on running shoes.

With experience at this distance transitions will get faster

First lap went real well. Pace was what I expected 1:02 for 6.5 miles. Made it up the big hill for the second time without walking. woohoo!!! At about mile 8 I got the hiccups. Have you ever tried to run with the hiccups? :) it hurts. lol Needless to say this was the start of a problem. Stomach started to cramp. Ended up walking the aid station at mile 9. Only thing I knew at this point is that there was no way I was quiting. Nothing I did got rid of the hiccups. Dick (spot) came by at about 9.5 and picked me up for the next couple of miles. Had to stop and walk about 11.5 and wished him luck. Finally made it to the top of the last big hill. Somebody had removed the 12 mile marker. Really wanted to see that one!!! Ran down the last big hill. Started picking up spectators with some much needed encouragement. Shuffled to the finish.

Need to figure out the nutrition on the bike to make this run go smoother. No doubt in my mind that this was the problem.

Got some water and potato chips. For whatever reason, nothing else tasted good.


Lack of experience. I will do much better next time


Had a lot of fun doing this race. Learned a lot of things to apply to the next HIM. There is no substitute for experience and I got my on this race!!!! Will definitely do this race again. And better next time.