South Carolina Half - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

Under 2 minutes per 100 yds? me? This has to be my best swim ever!

I started near the back of my wave and set out at a smooth easy pace. I ended up between the guys who swim fast and on top of each other and in front of the slow swimmers. For the first half of the race I was by myself. After that the fast swimmers from the next wave caught me and I got bumped around until the finish. Just after the half way point I tilted to take a breath and caught a punch to the nose. I was lucky I didn't get a bloody nose. The guy was really sorry about it, and it wasn't like he meant to. In the last 500 yds I got a killer calf cramp. It subsided enough, but it made me worry about the rest of the day. It lingered around for the first few miles of the bike, but after that it was fine. I had heard that we would swim into the sun, but it ended up being really minor. This is a great lake for a swim.

Swim more. When you swim as little as me and break 2 mins per 100 there is no complaining.

I had a little trouble pulling my foot out of the wetsuit because of the calf cramp. Outside of that I did fine.

Speed up a bit. I was slower and more methodical than normal.

I read a lot of race reports and knew I had to take it easy on the bike. I figured that 19 mph would be easy, but still fast enough. It ended up being perfect. My heart rate was up enough that I had some trouble with my stomach. I had inteded to drink three bottles of nutrition, but only got two down. It was really tough to ride that slow in the beginning because everyone was passing me, but I kept telling myself not to drink the koolaide and race my race. It was 15 miles in before I passed my first cyclist. At mile 30 the pelaton passed me. It was about 40 riders in tight formation. I let the pass and then I stayed about 3 bike lengths back and let them pull me for a few miles. I was barely pedalling and doing 20+ mph. After a few miles the race official showed up next to me and I decided to fall back. After about 35 miles my rear was getting angry with the rough roads and then theroads got worse. The really bad pavement is only for a few miles, but it felt like my bike was going to come a part. I promised my backside that if we survived this ride I would ditch the stock seat that came with the bike in favor of something more comfortable. The last few miles are with the cyclist sharing a lane with runners and I ended up going slow through there. I averaged 13 miles for the last two miles :(.

I need more bike fitness. I ride enough miles, but I don't do long enough rides. I had biked 56 miles once prior to this race and over 40 miles maybe 5 times. The good news is I stayed within my ability.

I did this transition really fast. My big mistake was I carried an 8 ounce bottle of water with nuun in it. I shouldn't say carried. More like I dropped an 8 ounce bottle of nuun. Not once. Not twice. Three times while jogging to the exit.

Put some pine tar on my hands.

First off, Thanks to all the people from the North Atlanta Multisport Club and the Atlanta Tri Club for the cheering and motivation. It really helps.

My stomach was a little sloshie and it ended up being my limiter. When ever I turned it up to 8:30 miles I was greeted with stomach cramping. I ended up trying to stay on the edge and that was just under 9 min miles. There are two climbs per loop and they are at each of the ends and the middle section is flatter, but in the sun. I was expecting more shade and less hills, but I just sucked it up and dumped water on my head. I liked the two loop course because I passed the time scouting for people I knew. My favorite was my my wife who was smiling and chatting with everyone like she was running a 5k fun run. I ran a bit with Kevin Tierney and that helped to pass the time. He was struggling through some serious back pain, but he still was in a great mood. On my second loop I saw a lot of folks really gutting it out. It gave me a boost knowing that what I felt wasn't that bad and I needed to suck it up. All my peeps looked great on the run and they gave it all they had.

Dunno. I felt like I raced on the edge of my nutrition and I doubt I could have pushed it more. I guess I just need more base fitness.

I noticed the clock wasn't working when I finished and wondered how I did. After finding a bottle of water I headed out to cheer for the folks still out there.


I was really happy with my time, so it's hard to find a negative. My goal when I started training for this was to come in under 6 hours and I blew past that. I need to get my nutrition nailed better and do some 100 mile bike rides.


Great race. It's one of the best organized races I've ever been to. Very well supported. The only knock is the roads are a bit rough, but they aren't unbearable. I think this is the perfect race for someone's first HIM. You just have to do the race. The race director has the details taken care of.