Race Result

Racer:	Shawn Clark
Race:	Patriot's Half
Date:	Saturday, September 8, 2007
Location:	Jamestown Beach Campground - Williamsburg, VA
Race Type:	Triathlon - Half Ironman
Age Group:	Male 30 - 34
Time:	5:56:57
Comment:	horrible day in the sun

Race Report:

I will keep this short. This was NOT a great race for me. I treated my taper like an excuse to laze about and binge on cheese and cheese related products to include but not limited to doritos, nachos, beer (they go well together), and pizza. Bad idea!

Pre-race: I arrived late the night before to our hotel that ended up just being me as my sister-in-law came to town for my birthday and her flight got in pretty late. So I slept well albeit alone and I didn't drink the night before (there's a first).

I woke at 6:30 and headed to the race site and visited with Jon Anderson who I was sure was going to be my main competition for the day. (Oh how wrong was I)

The Swim: 37 and change

The temps dipped down in the night a bit bringing the water temp to within wet-suit legal temps. Thank god I learned my lesson at Luray and brought my wetsuit with. I started out and felt pretty good considering I hadn't swum in two weeks (please see above lazing). The longest section of the swim was with the current and made for some fast swimming. I turned the last turn and headed for shore but was having trouble spotting the next marker. I don't know if it was just me or the sun on the water or what but I couldnt' find it. I think I may have actually been 'Lost' on a swim...lol..I finally found my way to the pack and realized I had been a good 100 meters away from the pack. Oh well. I got out of the water and began a LONG run to T1.

The Bike: 2:43

First let me say that this was NOT 56 miles and new stickers are being made that read 71.5. Ok so that's not true there are no stickers but the course was a little long which is no big deal but it does make the time look funny. It was flat and fast with almost no climbing to be done. There were some Hot sections but all in all it was a great ride and although I feel I could have gone faster I was trying to 'save' something for the run. That's funny.

the run: 2:27 yup 2:27

I got off my bike and felt decent as I headed out of T2. I knew I wouldn't reach my goal of sub 5 due to a slow and long bike but I figured I'd be able to still salvage a 5:15. Oh my God.. I officially hate the sun. I hate it. I couldn't stay cool or hydrated and frequently felt light headed which resulted in much walking. I will say that for the first time ever I started to cramp up but thank goodness they have some salt pills for me at the aid station and I held the cramping to a mild nuissance as opposed to the horribly crippling problem it could have been.

What I learend:

This was my second HIM and I thought I was going to smoke it and because of that I underestimated the race. I won't do that again. Each race is difficult in it's own rite.

I need to taper properly as I mentioned and work hard on my pre-race nutrition; not the day before but the weeks leading up to the race. My pre race food led me to stop at the Port-o 2 times this race and pealing off the one piece RATS suit is not fun in the middle of a race.

I feel I'm pretty burnt after an aggressive season and maybe I've bit off more than I can chew. I really am looking forward to being at Deep Creek but MAN do I wish I was volunteering and not racing. Oh well it's for a good cause and the scenery will be prettier walking. ;-)

Thank You to all who stopped by after Reston to watch the game, recap race stories from an amazing RATS showing at Reston this year, and celebrate my B-Day. Congrats to all who raced; I'm gonna do everything in my power to do this race next year bad roads and narrow paths be damned.