Woke up Saturday morning feeling tired due to lack of sleep - thanks to the University of South Carolina in the CWS and from a long run on Thursday. Expectations were low as I'm starting my build for the Ironman® World Championship 70.3 in September and have been focusing on distance/time in the saddle or on the road versus short course speed. The transition area was moved this year as was the swim start. Swim exit was the same but due to the change in transition location, you had a longer run – 300yds from what they said from swim finish to T1.
SWIM
Haven’t been feeling very strong on the swim and that is concerning as I’m a MOP swimmer. Decided to let everyone go ahead of me when the horn sounded and just swim easy. First buoy was at 175m and after this turn, the field was separated and made for a nice swim to the finish.
500M with 300yd run to T1 – 11:10 (10 out of 28 in age group)
T1
51” – Obviously wasn’t in a hurry here.
BIKE
Finally, a race where the participants followed the rules and stayed right unless they were passing. Not much to say here except there was a nice head wind once you turned right on Kelly Mill Rd and again when you re-entered Lake Carolina on Lake Carolina Dr. Used my new Louis Garneau Vorttice helmet and really enjoyed the visor and not having to crane my neck to see over my glasses. Will look into getting an amber visor to wear in longer races where the sun will be a factor. The helmet was very quiet and air flow was much better than my Giro Advantage 2. The helmet really made you conscience of keeping your head up as looking down and sticking the tail of the helmet in the wind made a loud noise, disturbing the airflow. With transition moving closer to the lake, this gave you a little more time to open things up on the flat to downhill stretch of Long Pointe Lane. Hit 38mph passing by the finishing chute and carried a good bit of speed down to the dismount line.
14.6 miles (14 miles advertised) – 37:25 – 23.4mph (fastest in age group and 11th overall)
T2
1:00 – Decided to run without socks this race and it cost me 20” in T2. My toe kept getting caught on one of the tongue bands when I tried putting on my shoes. After 3 attempts, I finally got one shoe on.
RUN 
Legs still felt dead after Thursday’s long run. Just didn’t have the quick turnover. Got passed by the 10th OA competitor just before the hill, and then passed again 0.25 miles from the finish by the 15th OA guy who ran a 17:17 5K.
5K – 21:10 (2nd in age group and 26th OA)
1:11.34 was good enough for 1st place in the 40-44 age group and 17th overall.
