Raleigh half? (Page 19)

Originally posted by herkimer81



I don't think it was a current as much as the wind picked up. When we crossed the bridge over the lake at the start of the bike I noticed how choppy the water looked compared to how smooth it was pretty race.

Originally posted by louiskie

Wait, so people thought the run was hard? Thats just crazy talk!

I have nothing more to add really other than to echo the frustration with the wetsuit issue, even though it is ultimately our responsibility. I DO NOT think the RD should grumble publically about having to haul wetsuits back and then state a water temp of 79 and warming up, only to announce it is wetsuit legal the next day, without updating the facebook page. Easy fix. But still ultimately our issue as competitors. And I thought the swim was a little long. Or I suck at open water swimming. But my time was slow for me by a good 3 or 4 mins.

Bike- glad we had a tailwind for some of that! I took it relatively easy on the bike and enjoyed the amount of support on the bike.

Run- saved myself for this one and started slowly...and managed to hold it together for most of the run, until about mile 10 or 11 when I lost the will to live. But had a really nice guy come up to me just before the turn to the finish (I was walking a little) and say "lets run this in together" and once I got going he said "now take those long legs and take off". Nice guy. And then another nice guy came up right at the finish chute, patted me on the back and said hey. It was fgump who, class-act that he is, said "go on ahead, you cross first". Met a lot of good folk during the race.

Only other minor complaint was the line into the food section. Setup does a much better job of that- the buffet is just easy to get to an "open" so you can grab 15 cokes if you want! But thats a minor issue. I really enjoyed the race and may actually do it again (I had swore before I wouldn't!). Was fun fussing on here with you guys and reading all your comments.

And a public shout-out to our own qrkid who finished second in the 40-44 age group, 29th overall and qualified for Vegas. And I think he had the fastest run split of non-professionals. Amazing performance. Actually, keyone is just as impressive doing it with her broken shoulder! Crazy tough.

Originally posted by cashonly



I'm not sure where you guys got your info on the wetsuits, but I went to one of the athlete's meeting and the guy there (who is the race announcer I think) said that the water temp was 77 that morning. And with Saturday's high temps, it's unlikely that it would be wetsuit legal. he did say that it was possible and anything could happen and it could be wetsuit legal. He also said that if HE was going to do it, he'd definitely take his wetsuit just in case as swimming is his weak area. Worse case is that you just have to leave it in your blue bag. So, that's the advice I went on and was pleasantly surprised when I got off the shuttle and was told it was wetsuit legal. OK, maybe pleasantly surprised isn't the right term... more like F'ing ecstatic!
I found the 2nd leg of the swim to be rolly, and got knocked around a good bit by the 2 waves of swimmers that followed us. But I was amazed when I stepped on the boat ramp and saw the clock showing the time.... it was, in my my mind, the best time I could have realistically hoped for! So, for me, the swim was great, just wish I could say that about the rest of the race (but I did finish in less time than the 73yo woman who did it).

Originally posted by louiskie

Wait, so people thought the run was hard? Thats just crazy talk!

I have nothing more to add really other than to echo the frustration with the wetsuit issue, even though it is ultimately our responsibility. I DO NOT think the RD should grumble publically about having to haul wetsuits back and then state a water temp of 79 and warming up, only to announce it is wetsuit legal the next day, without updating the facebook page. Easy fix. But still ultimately our issue as competitors. And I thought the swim was a little long. Or I suck at open water swimming. But my time was slow for me by a good 3 or 4 mins.

Bike- glad we had a tailwind for some of that! I took it relatively easy on the bike and enjoyed the amount of support on the bike.

Run- saved myself for this one and started slowly...and managed to hold it together for most of the run, until about mile 10 or 11 when I lost the will to live. But had a really nice guy come up to me just before the turn to the finish (I was walking a little) and say "lets run this in together" and once I got going he said "now take those long legs and take off". Nice guy. And then another nice guy came up right at the finish chute, patted me on the back and said hey. It was fgump who, class-act that he is, said "go on ahead, you cross first". Met a lot of good folk during the race.

Only other minor complaint was the line into the food section. Setup does a much better job of that- the buffet is just easy to get to an "open" so you can grab 15 cokes if you want! But thats a minor issue. I really enjoyed the race and may actually do it again (I had swore before I wouldn't!). Was fun fussing on here with you guys and reading all your comments.

And a public shout-out to our own qrkid who finished second in the 40-44 age group, 29th overall and qualified for Vegas. And I think he had the fastest run split of non-professionals. Amazing performance. Actually, keyone is just as impressive doing it with her broken shoulder! Crazy tough.

Originally posted by fgump

. Just thought it would look a little weird if we crossed together

Originally posted by fatmouse

Congrats to everyone on their finishes. Good to meet some of you as well.

I beat my expected time, but not my target time. Oddly enough, it is important to train for these things, and I'll be better prepared next time. Not going to let that stupid work thing get in my way if I'm going to sign up for something like this again.

I know I've seen or heard it before, but when I was feeling lethargic, I would remember the sign I saw early on the bike: "Pain is temporary. Iron is forever."

And great energy at all the bike stations, especially the group dressed as pirates. I always had a burst of energy after those spots.

I refuse to ride on 64 when it isn't a race, so I had never ridden that stretch before. Man, that was awesome cruising at 40+ down the hill on smooth pavement. Almost brought a tear to my eye.

Originally posted by ChuckHappy

Oh, and what an incredible race. I'm proud of Raleigh for all the support they showed on the course ... fantastic boost to me to see all those people out cheering.

Originally posted by fatmouse
I refuse to ride on 64 when it isn't a race, so I had never ridden that stretch before. Man, that was awesome cruising at 40+ down the hill on smooth pavement. Almost brought a tear to my eye.

Originally posted by lagdawg

Yes I think that is a quirk of the way that ironman posts their results. They show your standing after the swim/run/bike not how your swim/bike/run split compares to the other bike splits like you see most other results posted. It is kind of annoying as it makes it hard to see how you stacked up in each portion of the event.