White Lake Half II - Triathlon1/2 Ironman


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White Lake, North Carolina
United States
Set-Up, Inc.
90F / 32C
Sunny
Total Time = 5h 26m 54s
Overall Rank = 73/363
Age Group = 40-44
Age Group Rank = 11/55
Pre-race routine:

Since I slept at the race venue, this was easy -- wake up and eat.
Event warmup:

Short easy bike with a couple of accelerations, and then a short easy run. I swam a tiny bit in the lake prior to my wave going off.
Swim
  • 39m 40s
  • 2112 yards
  • 01m 53s / 100 yards
Comments:

After the swimming debacle of the previous race, my only goal here was to make this swim something other than an awful experience, and I met that goal. I went out real easy, probably 2:00/100 or so, and felt very comfortable. Sighting went well, and I swam in reasonably straight lines, with the possible exception of parts of the last leg, where I was beginning to accelerate to the finish. I managed to draft a little bit, until the guy I was drafting off of went off course. After that, I was mostly passing people -- either seriously slow people from the wave before mine, or people from my wave who went out hard and pooped out.
What would you do differently?:

I still need to work on swimming straight, but other than that, I need to start thinking about pushing the pace a bit in my swims.
Transition 1
  • 02m 54s
Comments:

Long run into T1. I had the top of the wetsuit off no problem. I ran into a bit of trouble getting the bottom off. I took in a bit of nutrition and sort of took my time.
What would you do differently?:

I probably could have pushed it a bit.
Bike
  • 2h 36m 2s
  • 56 miles
  • 21.53 mile/hr
Comments:

Well, I've been wondering when I was going to get around to pushing it too hard on the bike, and this was it! I think I was OK for portions of the ride -- I felt very comfortable. But there were moments where testosterone got the better of me. For some reason I was on a mission to pass everybody in sight. Mission accomplished, but at great cost...
What would you do differently?:

Part of my problem is dealing with the people who pass me then slow down. I get fed up with them and just blow them away so that I don't have to deal with them. That works -- I never see them again -- but I need to figure out a better way of handling that situation.
Transition 2
  • 01m 51s
Comments:

This went fine.
What would you do differently?:

I could probably push the pace a little.
Run
  • 2h 06m 31s
  • 13.1 miles
  • 09m 40s  min/mile
Comments:

Ugh. I was fine for the first 4 miles, running around 7:45/mile and feeling OK. Then the heat and the overcooked bike ride conspired to absolutely kill me. Between miles 4 and 5 things went steadily down hill. Not so bad as a guy I passed during that time -- he was puking on the side of the road. But not good. I run/walked the last 8 miles. It was ugly. The turnaround was right back at the transition area, and thoughts of DNF definitely went through my mind. Actually, at around mile 10 I started feeling marginally better, and was able to run for about a quarter mile at a time before walking again. I did make sure to run the last part even though it was slightly uphill. Walking over the finish line would have been just too depressing.

I tried everything to keep cool -- ice in the hat, regular self-dousing, etc., but nothing worked. There was nowhere to hide from the blazing sun.
What would you do differently?:

Starting slower might have helped, but I think that after that bike ride, and with my relative lack of training, and the fact that I was tired going into this race, the blow-up on the run was inevitable.
Post race
Warm down:

Sat in the lake.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Too tired and under-trained going in. That, plus the heat and the stupidity were limiters...

Event comments:

This is a great race. I'll probably do it next year.




Last updated: 2009-03-04 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:39:40 | 2112 yards | 01m 53s / 100yards
Age Group: 35/55
Overall: 187/363
Performance: Good
Suit: Wetsuit
Course: Counter-clockwise. Well-marked.
Start type: Wade Plus: Waves
Water temp: 77F / 25C Current: Low
200M Perf. Average Remainder: Average
Breathing: Good Drafting: Average
Waves: Navigation: Average
Rounding: Average
T1
Time: 02:54
Performance: Average
Cap removal: Below average Helmet on/
Suit off:
Wetsuit stuck? Run with bike:
Jump on bike:
Getting up to speed:
Biking
02:36:02 | 56 miles | 21.53 mile/hr
Age Group: 6/55
Overall: 49/363
Performance: Below average
Wind: Little
Course: Mostly flat. Good roads, apart from an out and back section that was pretty ugly.
Road: Smooth  Cadence:
Turns: Cornering:
Gear changes: Hills:
Race pace: Drinks:
T2
Time: 01:51
Overall: Average
Riding w/ feet on shoes Good
Jumping off bike Good
Running with bike Good
Racking bike Good
Shoe and helmet removal Good
Running
02:06:31 | 13.1 miles | 09m 40s  min/mile
Age Group: 14/55
Overall: 96/363
Performance: Bad
Course:
Keeping cool Average Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall:
Mental exertion [1-5]
Physical exertion [1-5]
Good race?
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Good
Race evaluation [1-5] 5