White Lake Half - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

One of my key goals for the day was to get a feel for where I'm at with my swim. I'm doing much better in the pool and I wanted to see how that would translate to the open water. I haven't been in the open water since IMAZ over a year ago. Things didn't go so well today. I wasn't as comfortable mentally as I hoped I would be. I didn't have any actual panic attacks but I did find myself wondering if the whole triathalon thing is important enough to me to put myself through these open water swims. I was able to push those thoughts out of my mind and be happy that I have come so far from where I began with the swim.
Technically my stroke in the pool has gotten much better in the past couple of months. However, I couldn't get it going today. I could feel myself doing everything wrong: no balance, dropping elbows, dropping shoulders, wiggling at the hips, bicycle kicking, it was aweful but I just couldn't get into a rhythm.
I did draft for most of the long leg of the triangle. It was nice but I also think it added to my inability to get my stroke going.
Once we made the last turn, I lost the feet I had been on and the current kept pushing me off course. This section was very hard for me. Happy to be out of the water.

Get in more open water swimming.

Most people have problems getting INTO their wetsuits. I cannot get OUT of mine. I can't get the arms or the legs off. I used a lot of body glide today and it still didn't help. Need to try something different. Wasn't really hurrying here because I was in more of a just 'trainging' day mindset rather than a 'racing' mindset so it could have been a bit quicker but the majority of this time was the wetsuit. I give up enough time in the water without giving up this much more in T1.

Gotta learn to get that suit off.

This was a good ride for me. I've only ridden my Kueen K three times prior to today and I was anxious to see what she would do out on a flat course. We're still dialing in the fit but I think we are close. Stayed in aero all day with no issues. The only real problem I had with the bike was that I dropped the chain just before mile 10 and had some difficulty getting it back on, then when I got it and started riding again my back break was rubbing, had to stop again to fix that. I easily lost 5 minutes here. I have also dropped the chain on her during an earlier ride so I need to have the derailer checked (could just be me getting used to the SRAM RED). About 3/4 of the way through the ride I passed one of the girls who works at the bike store where I bought the bike. As I went by I told her "I love my bike", and I do. She was everything I hoped she would be. Now if we just keep working on her engine we'll be good.
Everyone else I talked to afterwards complained about the wind out there. I certainly felt it. Lots of headwind, gusts, cross winds, but it wasn't enough for me to fuss about, and this is coming from a girl who normally struggles big in the wind.

Very nice ride for me. I had a smile on my face and truelly enjoyed it.

Need to adjust the nutrition. The first part of the ride the road surface was bumpy. I'm using a duel cell front load and it sloshed about half of my infinit out of the bottle. I decided I'd give it one more try at a concentrated bottle of Infinit. The stuff works good for me but have problems with it if I mix it over the normal strength. It didn't work again today, between losing a lot of it (which made my bike sticky which I wasn't happy about) and having to force myself to drink it and then it not settling well in my stomach it wasn't good. I need to stick with the normal mix but then need to figure out how to carry/refill since the bottle is only good for an hour. Had lots of pretzels with me so that was good.

Came into T2 very happy. Seen Jeanette and was anxious to find out if Alex made it through the swim. Was great to hear that he did but I got a bit chatty with Jeanette and kind of lost focus. As soon as I took my bike shoes off I noticed that my socks were completely soaked. When I put my running shoes on I could feel a big blister on the back of my left heel and I knew I was in for a painful run. For shorter races I go without socks but haven't done that in a while and the blister was already there. Opted to stick with the wet socks.

Just move quicker. Have a second pair of socks in T2 just in case.

I have always run well off the bike and I knew as soon as I left transition and got going that the blister would be painful but I was going to have a solid run. With a smile on my face I took off. It would take a solid run to get myself in under six hours but that would be nice if I continued to feel good. I promised myself at the beginning of the day that I would not be a watch watcher today. Contemplated not wearing a watch at all and finally decided to wear my old watch that has such small numbers that my old eyes cannot read them without my glasses. I did try to read it a couple of times but was never sure of what it said and I was quite proud of myself for not really caring. I was having fun.
A 26yo girl passed me at about mile 11, she was the only person that passed me on the run.
Took in two gels during the run and started to feel like the wheels were coming off at about 10 miles. Started contemplating trying the flat coke but the Infinit on the bike had left my stomach right on the edge and I wasn't sure if it was worth risking the stomach. By mile 11, the coke was worth the GI risk. A couple sips of the coke was all it took to get me through the last two miles.
I ran every step of this (except the porta potty stop at mile 1). There were not many other people out there today doing that. I would call out for water and an ice towel as I was coming into each aid station. I have to say that the volunteers at the stations today were rather unattentive. Several times I had to get my own water from the table, back track after realizing they gave me Heed (thankfully I never drank any), or had to reach into the bucket and get my own towel. Most people were stopping at the stations so it wasn't a problem for them but I didn't want to stop my legs (I never know when they might decide not to start again).

Use the coke a little sooner.

Stood in the lake for a while to rinse off and cool the legs. The legs did hurt when I got done. I think mostly because I never run on a hard surface and I haven't been putting in a lot of run miles anyway so it pounded them pretty good.
Got some snacks and a diet coke, enjoyed the company of my friends and the other athletes, waited for the rest of our group to come in, and was shocked to hear my name called out during the awards!!!


Lack of training for the past two weeks but it may have also allowed me to come into today fresher then I would have.


This was a great day. I'm very happy to have completed my first HIM.