White Lake Half - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

White Lake is a beautiful lake to swim in. You can see the bottom of the lake at all times so at least you know you are going forward. It was in inwater start and I seeded myself on the outer edge of the group. As usual in races I could not find my breath and ended up breathing every other stroke for the whole swim. This is where I wish I could find my four strokes/breath that I have in the pool. Since the water was so clear it was easy to find feet and of the three 1/2's I have done this one was my 2nd fastest. I'll take it.


Breathe better

Spent time putting on my bike gloves.

Not put on bike gloves.

All the counseling I got prior to this race told me to go out easy. I didn't go out easy. I was feeling pumped and soon found myself spinning away at 21 MPH. I knew this was too fast for me, or was it? I was feeling good and my heart rate was way low, so I decided to stay where I was. Overall pace was 19.8, which is higher than any race ever. There were 3 scheduled water stops on the course. When I got to the first one, it was one guy, and he was at the truck. The second one was a ghost town, so I chucked my empty bottle at the "bottles here" sign. Finally, the last water stop was well populated and I grabbed a bottle. The water shortage did not really bother me as I had all my nutrition with me. Lastly, it seemed as though there was a headwind the entire time. I know that sounds crazy, but I know what a tailwind feels like and we never had one of those. Oh well.

nothing.

No complaints.

My stomach felt a little funny when I jumped off the bike. My nutrition was exactly as I planned it and I am not sure why it felt like this. I went out too fast on the run, my first mile was under 8. Just as I passed the first aid station I felt real bad. My stomach was jumping all over the place, and I was worried I was going to decorate somebody's lawn with my breakfast. I ended up walking for a while. The aid stations had ice cold towels as well as a ton of other stuff. I didn't take any food, but I did take water and the towel. The towel was magic. Magic towel. So my run turned into "carry the magic towel to the next aid station and get another one". Worked so well that as I ran past the last station I threw the towel in the bucket and kept on trucking. This was my fastest 13.1 in a half and only 18 minutes off my PB.

nothing.

Jumped in the lake, which was just past the finish line. It felt great. Hopped out and went to chow down.


The bumpy road and the dirty headwind.


This is a great race, I will be ready to pull the trigger next year when registration opens.