Race Report

Charles put together a race report from his recent White Lake Half experience, check it out below:

The White Lake Half is a great early season race in North Carolina that is extremely popular and tends to be very hot. The forecast was calling for mid 80 temps and at race start the humidity was 100%. Considering that two weeks earlier I was doing a race rehearsal in 30-40 degree weather I knew it was going to be a good test of proper fueling and hydration.

The lake itself very clear, calm and scenic. It was an in water start and the open/elite wave contained about 30 or so competitors. I decided that I would go out conservatively and begin to pick people off after about 200 meters. Of course I expected that there would be a couple of guys up front killing the pace and no way I could hang with them. The swim had a great feel for me thanks to the really clear water, yet course also felt a bit long. The line buoys were not in line with the turn buoys or the dock, so the whole swim required a lot of sighting to distance points. Perhaps this added to the time, but when I exited the water my time of 31:26 was about 2 minuted slower than I expected.

The only portion of the race that was spot on for me was the bike with a 2:24:29 split (23.3 avg.) I felt really good about this until after the race I learned that I had been penalized for drafting. I don't really know when this happened or what was seen, but I honestly feel like the marshall must have written down the wrong bib #. The only scenario where I might have been penalized was when I was passed and the guy slowed down and kept speeding up when I would go to pass making it take possibly more than the allotted time to pass. Nevertheless I feel like effort was all mine and I earned my bike split time.
My nutrition on the bike was spot on as well with a good bit of GU and plenty of salt pills. The only issue I had ended up not being able to get enough water, even though I consumed as much as possible at over 100 ounces. About 40 miles into the bike there was an out and back section and I was able to see that the leaders (including Justin Park who was 3rd Pro at Lake Stevens 70.3 last year) were 10 minutes on me. I also saw that I was in 10th place at this time and gaining some ground on a few guys. Unfortunately I really struggled with the last 30 minutes in the saddle with staying comfortable and I lost some power because of this.
Off the bike I felt pretty solid but it was definitely in the 80's and no clouds in the sky. My goal was to ease into the run and eventually hit 6:30-6:40 pace. About 3 miles in I was averaging 6:40s and felt like the second half of the run would be much faster if I could survive the heat. I passed a couple more athletes who looked to be hurting and was passed slowly by someone I felt I could pace well with. Unfortunately the heat really started to get to me about mile 5. It was an out and back course with literally no shade. When I hit the turn around I saw I was in 8th place and with no one close behind me I knew it was just going to be me versus the heat. There were aid stations every mile, but they were not very long and they were serving runners coming in both directions making it difficult to grab anything at times . The last half of the run my pace gradually slowed to the point where I was running above 7 minute pace and really just stumbling along. The last 3 miles were a good test of mental strength and at this point my only focus was to come in sub 4:30. Thanks to a lot of supportive athletes and spectators as I was able to stay strong and cross the line at 4:29:44. My run split was 1:31:29 about 3-5 minutes slower than expected but still solid considering the heat.

Despite the draft penalty pushing my time to 4:33:44 I feel like this was a solid early season effort in adverse conditions. The White Lake Half ended up having its most competitive race ever with a course record set and a great competitive field. I would highly recommend this race to anyone looking for a good early season half on the East coast, that is, if you can sign up before it sells out!