White Lake Half (Page 8)

I hope you all have a blast!  I'm still bummed about not being able to do the Triple-T there this year...hopefully 2011 will be WLH and Triple-T year!

Stay cool gang...it'll be hot there tomorrow.  Love the magic towels!

Race smart and strong.

Actually I am bib 280, not 317

See you all there!

Bib# 370

damn, I just had a bunch of shirts printed up saying "Go 317!"

It was windy and hot and a tough day out there. I hope you guys doing next weekend have better conditions!

Here's a tip: don't wear blue tinted goggles. They make the buoys look brown and I could hardly see them! That, and lack of swim training, contributed to a sucky swim time. Otherwise, I did pretty good! ~ 5:55, 4th or 5th place.

I like Duke half much better. Hills are easier for me somehow (I think they use different muscle groups and you get to rest on the downs.)

The heat was F*&(in' BRUTAL on the run!   I have never been so hot on a run in my life.  Running on the sun would could not be hotter!   That said, I am proud of my first HIM finish @ 5:22:33! 

I got to talk to RunnerGirl and her husband and actually ran into JohnKay at the beach after the race!  I believe I saw HalfPint going the other way on the run but I dying at that point so I didn't stop to say hi ;-)

All in all, great race but the heat on the run was overwhelming.  My half time was 20+ minutes slower than my stand alone half time!  I ended up having to walk every water station after 8 miles.  I looked like the iron sheik running with the towel on my head for like 6 miles.

I have to laugh at my time though.  Before the race I went back and looked at last years time and found that the cutoff for top 1/3 for my AG was 5:22 and I really wanted to quailify for the half max championship (even though I can't do it this year due to Chicago Marathon).  Before the race I told my wife of the 5:22 goal and hope to qualify.  My race time: 5:22!  Either I am notrodamus or I really know my body!  Anyways, I did make top 1/3 in the 35-39 AG so I did qualify and for a first HIM, that makes me even more proud than finishing!

Hope everyone else had a great day and hope it is cooler for all ya'll next week!!!

4th or 5th place...pretty good?!?!  LOL! 

A bit WOOT for you!  You be flying!

It was great meeting new faces and seeing everyone out there on the course.

The run was brutal.  That's all I can say about it.  I kept my towel the entire run and had in on my head.  I seriously felt like a nomad traveling through the middle of the desert.  I haven't felt heat like that for a race since I did Gulf Coast HIM back in 2006- that also had zero shade.  The biggest mental challenge for me was the white never ending vinyl fence.  I started to run on the sidewalk next to the fence to change it up a bit and it felt 10 degrees hotter- all the sun was reflecting off that darn white fence that went on for miles- ugh.  

Congrats to everyone who finished- it's a tough race.  I was glad the bike course wasn't as windy as I thought it would be.  I was honestly expecting it to be worse case so I was actually relieved with the wind conditions.

The swim was great- I had zero body contact with my fellow AG'ers.  That was the calmest swim I've ever done in a race!

p.s.  Carolyn's Court was great- our whole entire room was decorated in pink, including the walls. And the automatic air freshener kept me waking me up during the night- "psssshhhh....." And then I would get a really strong smell  I can't complain- it was very small but clean and for needed a place to crash it served its purpose.

 

Great race everyone!  The only comforting part of that run was that everyone was suffering like I was!  I already wrote out my race report because I didn't want to forget anything.  I think I have had a break though on the bike because I felt really great!  the run, not so much but I shuffled through and now have one hellacious sunburn on my shoulder blades, note to self, buy newer sunscreen and reapply!

Mine: WHITELAKEFAIL

Congratulation everyone!

I stood at the bike mount most of the day with my massive cow bell.  I observed quite a few botched attempts at flying mounts.  Shoes were popping off all over the place and one guy actually broke a cleat.  He had to have a new cleat put on before he could finish the race.  Another guy started with a flat tire right off the mount and had to stop and change it.  A few people popped chains right at the mount line where there was a little bump up from the driveway to the road.

Carol - I heard your name called at the Finish Line!  But I was still over by the bike dismount and didn't see you.  Great job!  I have to agree with you on the hills.  I think I do better on hills than I do on flats with wind.  But we'll find out next week!

Scottie - On FB you said your number was #195! ... or so I thought.  So not sure if I saw you or not, since I was looking for the wrong number.. lol.

Also... does anyone know what happened to #256?  They called for her family to go to the podium for a report (which sounded like bad news).  On the race results, she finished the swim in 1:40, made it through transition, then disappeared on the bike route.  I saw an ambulance at one point and wondered what happened.

I'm looking forward to reading your race reports to help me mentally prepare for my first Half next Saturday!

My training partner is totally stressed out over worrying that the lake will warm up too much for wetsuits.. lol.  I'm more concerned about the temp for the run than the temp for the swim.

From what I see on Weather Underground:  "Partly cloudy in the morning...then becoming mostly cloudy. A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs around 80. Chance of rain 40 percent."

This looks like good news to me.  Not too hot with cloud cover.... so long as it doesn't rain!  But we shall see how much it changes over the next week.

Ok, Harold and Louie... we're up next!!!  And my partner's name is Pete.  He's on BT but does not use the forums.  I also have several folks from my Tri Club coming... so we'll have a nice little showing from Fayetteville.

On on!!!

the heat was brutal...I am still happy I came in under my set goal of 6 hours for my first half iron.
But that run was something else...I couldn't shove enough into my trisuit

I was there with #256 at mile 10 of the bike. I had a flat and was getting ready to put my wheel back on when she pulled up next to me and a sheriff with chest pain. Looked horrible. Heart rate very high. I stayed with her for about 20-25 min til an ambulance got there for her. She was so upset about not finishing. Hope she is OK.

i think a runner went down on the hwy stretch of the course too...I was swiftly passed by cops and emt's and came up upon a scene of a person being "serviced" on the course. I didn't stick around to find out anything, as I had a LONG way to walk and neck was baking.

Batter up!  Ok, getting my game face on this week and will shott for Sub 6 which I have not done on a 1/2 so far, so TBD.  wondering how I will feel after a 7.5 hour drive from Macon ariving at 12 PM up at 5 and racing at 7....hummmm, add rain, heat, sounds like fun.

Harold- please do a sub 6 in honor of me.  I was so close- but ended up being 6:00:07.  I'm counting on you! 

HTFU there buttercup

Good luck. I will be watching for the sub 6 race report and don't even think about putting it in the GA forum.

Agreed.

If i can drive down morning of and compete (if that's what you want to call it), you can arrive the day before. Get to bed early sunshine!

I think rain would be a blessing on this course--unless of course the sun come out after the rain...

Anyone else sunburnt? 

I am burnt all over and I even put on Ultra sweatproof (my arse) SPF 30 on.  I can't imagine what I would be like if I didn't put any on.  THe top of my head is burnt to a crisp...thank god I had a towel on my head for the last half of the run!

I got sunburned and actually applied a layer of bullfrog on the night before and then reapplied on top of it in the morning.  My face didn't get burned though- but I think that's because I wore the towel over my head for most of the run and it provided me with my own little "hat tent" with shade.

Did the aid stations have sunscreen?  I probably needed a fresh layer of sunscreen applied on the run course. 

i didn't see any sunscreen or vaseline available. But there was, as Jon said, a buffet of food).

I once again have "tri-tan".  The 1st tan of the season was fro mthe bike practice run we had out there...and now, once again, it got me.

Yes, I got burned on my legs where I missed applying some spots, and on my shoulders. I put spf 30 cream on at night and in the am. Then I used some of the aerosol spray on kind in T2. I should of used it at T1 also.

Yep I have a nice red racerback burn-ouch!  I put sweatproof waterproof 30 on before we left, didn't think to reapply..but I picked up two aerosols at Target today to throw in my bag so I can reapply during transitions from now on. Lesson learned and I am sure I will be sporting these tan lines for the next year!  It would have bene nice to have some sunscreen at a few aid stations.

Wow, that was brutal.

First, congrats to my fellow Clyde, Wayne Weaver, for his 3rd place finish.  Really nice guy.

The swim was indeed nice, almost no contact with other swimmers, good sighting, well marked course.

The bike wasn't as windy as I thought it would be, but still not a cake walk.  My only gripe on the bike was the third water station: supposed to be at mile 45 but I think it was closer to 50-52.  A little disappointing.

The run was a disaster.  I knew it would be tough when I was heading out and noticed a ton the leaders walking in.  I did just fine until after the turnaround.  When I hit the Mile 6 aid station on the way back, I guess that makes it about 6.5 miles in, they were out of water.  I hate HEED.  This was a bit of a mental thing for me, concerned that the next aid station might be out of water too...
Anyway, I made it to the 7mile aid station, hydrated a bit, another wet towel on my head, and took off.  Only made it about another half mile before I had to start run/walking.  Got to the Mile 3/10 station and the volunteers were buying ice from the gas station because they were not being resupplied.  Really disappointing, I expect much more from Setup Events.

I was having a really tough time after that, not because of the water situation, but because I was completely wiped.  I couldn't finish my run training before the race because I rolled my ankle two weeks out and didn't put any more miles on it after that.  Thankfully, no ankle pain on the run, I was just unprepared. 

I caught up with another runner and we ran/walked from mile 10 or so, great to have a bit of company and really kept me moving forward.

Overall a good race and with my ankle and lack of training, my only goal was to finish. 

Side note, there was a guy that did the race on a hand bike, I'm assuming he was in a wheelchair to start.  Totally blew me away, this guy had more heart than any of the other racers.  I had already finished, showered, packed up, and was walking to the car when he came in from his bike ride.  Unreal.  I stopped to cheer him on and got a bit choked up.  Don't know his name, but he's a true athlete.