Thursday
We made the 4:20 drive to White Lake, NC after my morning swim. I swam with Grace (who is very speedy) and modified her main set so that it would work for a pre-race swim workout for me. The drive was uneventful and we arrived to our lodging around 5:30pm. We stayed at a cottage at the Shoreliner, just a block from the lake. I booked by calling The Grand Regal Resort because no availability was shown online when I was wanting to make a reservation. I had no trouble booking a place on the phone a few months out from the race. Our cottage was like a tiny home and it was super cute. We had a friend (Chris -husband of an athlete we coach) stay with us and he slept upstairs in the loft area. The cottage had a set of bunk beds and a master bedroom, one bathroom, washer/dryer and kitchen. The weather was perfect when we arrived and after unloading, we walked on the beach by the lake. Although I had never been to White Lake, I had heard great things about the race. Also, Grace, who won the pro race twice, was our guest speaker during our recent Zoom chat and helped me give a course recon presentation and she got us all really excited about the event and venue. Even though this race course does not suit my strengths (it's very flat!) I am all about trying new things and it's very rare for me to race a flat half distance triathlon.
Friday
One day out from the half, Yannick, Chris and I went for a bike ride on the race course. On Thurs, as we were driving to White Lake, I got word that the bike distance was reduced from 56 miles (2 loops) to 28 miles. We had been watching the weather all week and Saturday was showing 100% rain with no changes. While I was a bit bummed about the shortened bike as my swim-bike combo is my strength and the longer the better for me, I was looking forward to a different race format. I saw this as an opportunity to do something for the first time. A 1.2 mile swim, 28 mile bike, 13.1 mile run!
We left for our ride shortly after 9am and rode the 28 mile course. The route was a little busy with cars/trucks on Hwy 701 (~10 miles) but I never felt unsafe. There were some cracks in the road which was annoying but overall, it was great pavement and very, very fast. After moving from Jacksonville, FL to Greenville, SC in 2014, I forgot how fast flat roads can be (and a little boring compared to climbing/descending in the mountains). The road became more scenic in the last 15 miles and it was a very easy route to navigate - no u-turns or tight corners, just 4 sweeping turns. I averaged a little over 21 mph which was good to understand the terrain and route to help with pacing/execution, clothing and nutrition for Saturday. I started off with a light jacket but I got really warm in it so I needed to rethink my clothing options for a cool and rainy race day. While I was riding, Karel went to the Brown Creek MTB park - which he really enjoyed.
After the ride I went for a quick brick run (11 min). I ran 5 min out and back and felt decent. I was undecided on which shoes to wear (Nike Zoom Fly 6 or New Balance Elite) so I warmed up in my new Nike's but ended up wearing the New Balance for the race.
I spent a little time in the afternoon deciding what to wear for race day and took a very short 30 min nap. Around 4pm I went for a quick dip in the lake to get comfortable in my wetsuit again (it's been a while!) and to feel out the water temp (which was around 69 degrees). The air was in the 70's, so the water felt perfect. After I swam, I picked up my packet (photo ID required) at the transition area (2 blocks from our cottage) and then did a quick change before we met with our athletes for a group photo. While I was swimming, Karel went for a short run and Ruthanne watched Sunny in her cottage (which was next to ours).
I stuck with my typical carb-loading routine of bagel, bread, lots of rice, soup, juice and pop tarts, along with some yogurt, PB, eggs and milk. I didn't feel nervous but rather, excited for a new opportunity. I was a little worried about what the weather would bring but I had to remind myself that the weather was out of my control. I went to bed around 9pm and due to a delayed start (which we knew about from Friday), I didn't have to wake up until 5:45am for the 8am race.
Saturday - Half Distance Race
After I woke up, I had coffee, drank some water and did a little foam rolling. I ate my bagel w/ PB, banana and jam and around 7am I went for a jog in the light rain. Although it poured overnight, the rain was light in the morning and on and off. It was in the mid 50's so I had a few clothing options for the bike. My main decision maker was how I felt after the swim. If I was warm, I wouldn't put on any extra clothing in T1 but if I was cold, I had a vest, gloves and arm warmers, as well as a light Trimarni long sleeve jersey. I did put rain cover booties on my cycling shoes in advance.
I picked up my chip around 7:20am, set up my transition area (which was more about laying bags on the ground with my stuff inside so my gear didn't get soaked) and then went to a covered area to put on my wetsuit.
For nutrition, I had 1 bottle of 90g INFINIT Fructose on the bike. For the run, I had 1 x 20 ounce flask with 70g Never Second C30 (berry).
The pros started at 8 and 8:01am and I started with the advanced wave at 8:02am. The water felt great but I did not feel so great to start the swim. I had all the typical negative thoughts like "why do I do this" "I am not having fun" but like usual, they go away after a few minutes. It took me a while to settle into a good rhythm and for my body to "wake up" -which was the theme of the entire race. I passed several pro ladies throughout the swim and came out of the water as 2nd advanced female.
On to the bike, I felt ok. A flat bike course is something I am not used to and seeing that I have only ridden my tri bike a few times last week (since IM Chattanooga in Sept) it took me several miles to get into my rhythm. I found myself behind Leslie (pro female) on the bike and I was having to work really hard to stay draft legal behind her. I wasn't able to pass her so I kept my distance and focused on her back wheel and keeping myself draft legal behind her. Around 20 miles in, my legs started to wake up and I made a strong surge and passed Leslie (and another pro female who had passed me a few miles earlier). I had fun "only" riding for 28 miles but I don't feel I rode any harder just because it was 28 miles as I still had a half marathon to run off the bike. It never rained a lot on the bike and there were times when the rain stopped, which was nice. My fingers felt a little cold but overall my body temp stayed up and I was comfortable due to my effort.
I came off the bike as 3rd female (behind two pros). I was shocked when I heard the announcer as I had no idea where I was (placement) after the swim. My fingers were not working so well after the bike so I had a hard time putting on my shoes and taking off my helmet.
I grabbed a baggie with my run stuff, put on my Naked Running belt and hydration flask and went off for the run. It took me a few miles to settle into my run rhythm which is very typical for me. The run was flat which is not something I enjoy but it was a great opportunity for me to just focus on myself and my form. I wasn't sure what type of effort I could hold or where my run fitness was at so I broke the 2 loop/out and back course into segments and focused on one segment at a time. The first 6 miles went by rather quickly and then I was feeling really good. My energy felt really stable until around mile 10 which I felt a little low but snapped out of it. I was surprised how good I felt as the run went on and even though I was passed by several pro and advanced females, I was really proud of my effort. I couldn't believe it when I saw my splits after the race that I negative split the run!
It was so fun to see our athletes on the course and to hear cheers from people on the sidelines. This felt like a hometown race as we had 8 athletes racing and knew a lot of the participants from Greenville.
I finished 4th advanced but ended up with the fastest bike split (by one second...but that earned me $100!). I felt like I put together a good race and I was looking forward to racing again the next day.
1.2 mile swim: I didn't wear a watch (results showed 32:37 which makes me wonder if the course was long)
28 mile Bike: 1:11.35 (per my Garmin), 23.3 mph
13.1 mile Run: 1:38.19 (per my Garmin), 7:30 min/mile average
Splits:
7:49
7:36
7:35
7:36
7:25
7:28
7:34
7:30
7:25
7:27
7:23
7:21
7:12
Saturday Post Race
After the race, my focus was recovery. Karel gave me my change of clothes and I quickly changed in The Venue (where awards and food was located after the race). It was nice to be in warm clothes as I was getting cold after the race. I had two slices of pizza and a few sips of coke. We walked back to our place and returned to awards at 12:30 and 2pm to get my bike split award but they said there was an issue with timing so they would email the results. I had a recovery drink and tart cherry juice and sat in the normatec boots. I went for a 45 min spin on my bike inside on our trainer and ate as much as I could tolerate. I wasn't eating my typical pre-race foods as my appetite wasn't great so I just ate what sounded good. My dinner was pizza and chips and then a pop tart. Around 5:30pm I walked to the race area to get my packet for Sunday and got all my gear ready. I needed to do laundry to clean and dry my used clothing.
I went to sleep around 9:30pm and surprisingly, slept ok. My legs were tired but all the walking and other activities/nutrition seemed to help. The mind is a powerful weapon as my body knew I was going to race again.
Sunday - International Race
I woke up at 5:30am for a 7:30am race start (I was in the first wave). Although we had no rain on Sunday morning, temps were in the mid 40s. Water temp had dropped to 65. I set up my transition area and I opted for toe covers (again) and cloves, as well as a Mylar sheet for under my kit. I did a quick jog to see how my legs felt before putting on my wetsuit.
We had a fairly big wave to start the race as advanced was combined with a few other age groups. I found myself 3rd after the two loop swim. Similar to the half, the two loops went by fast but this 1500 meter swim went by very fast! It was hard getting out of the water and running on the sand and the water got very cold to exit and start each loop. It was a bit choppy as it was windy.
I took a little more time in transition to put on my gloves but as soon as I started the bike, I felt like I dressed appropriately. While I wasn't riding as fast as Saturday, my legs felt ok. I was sore but not too tired. Because of the wind, my power was almost 10 watts higher Sunday than on Saturday for the same distance. I ended up biking 2 min slower on Sun compared to Saturday.
Off the bike, I was not feeling very confident in my run legs but surprisingly, I felt ok. I was not expecting a fast run but I was pleased with my steady pace. I was able to hold a similar pace to Saturday and the run felt like the final 6-8 miles in an IM (which is a familiar feeling for me). I just focused on my form and rhythm. My race bib number pulled off my belt as I was putting it on so the flopping was annoying me the entire run and I kept fumbling with it to try to get it to stay under my belt.
I finished 1st overall female in the Olympic distance and had so much fun doing something for the first time. It was a big weekend of racing!
1500 meter swim: 21: 11
28 mile bike (per my garmin): 1:13.44, 22.6 mph
6.1 mile run (per my garmin): 47:24
Run splits
8:077:44
7:38
7:34
7:31
7:27
Two races. One weekend.
In total I covered 3600 yards of open water swimming, 56 miles of cycling (shortened due to Saturday’s rain), and 19 miles of running across both days. Plus an additional 1 mile of running and 28 miles of cycling on Friday.
I raced through rain, cold, and wind. While the conditions were not ideal, I felt ready for it all. Years of racing experience (and a few extreme triathlons) helped me feel confident, prepared and happy to be out there.
What made it even better was sharing the weekend with our athletes. The energy in White Lake was something special. There was great communication from the organizers, smooth execution, and such a supportive, welcoming race environment.
While this wasn’t my first back-to-back race weekend (Karel and I took on the 3-day Florida Extreme Triathlon back in 2020), this one still brought plenty of firsts.
In triathlon, it’s easy to repeat the same races and distances but if you’re feeling stuck or burned out, I encourage you to try something different. A new distance, a new venue, even a small grassroots race can bring fresh motivation.
I wrapped up the weekend as 1st overall female today and my legs are definitely feeling it. Tired and sore but accomplished in the best way.