Patriot's Half 2007 - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

The start was a wade in and then sort of a stand up and drive the first 200 meters or so because it was so shallow. Once I rounded the first bouy, I felt good and kept a good pace. Never felt like I was pushing it. Parallel to the shore, we swam with the current so it felt like no time before we rounded the second buoy. On the way back to shore, it seemed like everyone swung waaay far out to the left. I think the current swept everyone too far out. I looked up and realized the buoys were out in the distance to my right. More like a triangle than a rectangle, but whatever! The sunrise was bright, and I really enjoyed myself during the swim. I passed a lot of yellow caps, then green caps, and eventually spotted some blue. It was good to beat all the waves before me! Getting out and clockin my time at 36 minutes was an amazing rush!

Try to stick closer to the buoys.

Well, this sucked. I crossed over the mat and immediately took off my wetsuit. Went great. Unfortunately, the run back up to transition was about 1/2 mile. We ran through rocks, pine cones and tree rubish. I jogged, but then walked because I couldn't imagine the thought of twisting an ankle or cutting my foot and ruining my race. I decided to take it easy and enjoy myself. I crossed into t1 at 4:00 minutes on my watch. Ended up washing my feet with a water bottle, and put on my tri top, which got rolled up and stuck on me. ha! It's all good though. I knew I had a long ride ahead...

Nada. For the conditions, I handled it with ease.

Well, the bike course is beautiful. I had done this a couple times before, so I was familiar with the hills and more importantly...the downhills. I paced myself the entire time and didn't push hard. All I kept thinking to myself was..."I have to run a half marathon after this...", so I kept my cool.

First 30 miles was a breeze. I got passed a lot, but I know it was because of my kickass swim time! Ha! Going over the steel bridge was fine, and they had officials at each railroad track crossing, which made me feel pretty safe. We had an entire lane closed off on the parkway which was amazing! I felt so much more comfortable traveling on the road...and I passed a lot of people because I could make it up the hills faster. :) Mile 40 was just a struggle after that. The wind was RIGHT in your face, and I could barely get over 17 MPH. BUMMER. Kinda plays games with your head, but I wasn't too worried about it. I kept my cadence the same and told myself to relax. I ended up rolling over the 56 mile mark at about 3:10. This whole course was 58 MILES...which they should have put on the shirt...otherwise, great ride! I'm happy with how my paced myself, and my nutrition was almost ON POINT! HOLLA. If I woulda gone any harder, might not be singing the same tune. It was definitely more than I could have asked for.

Nutrition: Water in T1, Gatorade Endurace at the 15 minute mark and kept sipping throughout. Drank about 20 oz GE and ate about 1/2 my cliff bar w/ 12-15 oz water by 1:15, and decided to start on the blocks cause I wanted to get in more calories without feeling it in my stomach. Alternated with 1 blok and 2 bloks about every 15-20 minutes. Wasn't hungry, but kept sayin...eat them! I felt lightheaded a few times...and right after eating the bloks, I felt much better. Sat up a few times as well to let the stomach digest.

Total calories: 1/2 cliff z-bar, 9 margarita shot bloks, 44 oz GE and about 35 oz water. Calories: 350 food, 270 GE = 620

*Grabbed 24 oz water bottle @ 1st hand-off (mile 20) & dumped into my now empty aerobottle.

Probably drink a little more. Going into the run, I had stiches the first mile so I drank about 20 oz within the first 5 minutes. Might want to get more calories in next time so I can push it more on the run.

Went smoothly. Slow time because I took off my socks, band-aided my pinky toe (big blister from Rock n' Roll) and put new socks on, my ankle brace, and finally slipped on my shoes. Yeah, it took awhile, but better a minute here than slowing down considerably because of pain. I knew what I had ahead of me...

Nada.

Right as I started the run, I could tell it was going to be HOT. I took my handheld amphipod with me with GE and finished half within the first few minutes because I had side stiches from not enough fluid. The sun was really beatin down for the first 5-6 miles, but then we veared off the parkway into some neighborhoods and it was farely cool. I met my parents around mile 7 and they handed me fresh GE and lots of love! Definitely was a good mental boost. I ate 3 more bloks periodically when I could feel myself needing something, and forced myself to finish the GE even though it was warm. BLEEH. Overall I felt strong till about mile 12. The last mile, the dehydration, heat, and 6 hours of racing set it. I tried to speed up but couldn't quite get there, so I just kept steady.

I grabbed water from all 12 water stations and drank a few swigs of cold water at each and used the rest to poured ice on my neck. Now THAT was a life saver. Crossing the finish line was awesome... It felt good to finally BE A TRIATHLETE (Yes, this was the my first triathlon...that I finished!!) :)

Nutrition: 34 oz GE and 3 bloks = 310. Total throughout race was 930 calories

Try to drink more before. I don't digest well in the heat so it was hard to get fluids down comfortably. I kept steady the whole time however, and I never once felt like I needed to stop or I couldn't make it. I'm really proud of my performance.

Hugged my fam and drank water. My system was off so I stuck with water for the first hour. Unfortunately, there wasn't much cold water left so all the water and gatorade was kinda warm.

I ate some chex mix and pretzels at the after party and we packed up and left within the hour.


My ankle injury sidelined my running training. I would like to try to get my speed back up for the next one.


Great race and quite a beautiful course. The volunteers were great and the police directing traffic did an awesome job. I would love to see a better transition into t1 and the bike course be 56 miles next year instead of 58. Regardless, I'll definitely be doing this one again.