Yesterday I started, but did not finish, the White Lake Half Ironman. Since this is the first time I have ever been a DNF in a triathlon, I think it's worth a little post-mortem reflection.

First, I have to note that just six days earlier, I competed in the Duathlon National Championship race on a very hot day in Richmond, Va. My splits in that race were about what I expected, but the race took a lot out of me. So much so, that earlier this week I was saying that I probably would not do the WL race, even though I was registered for it. But later in the week I changed my mind and decided to go for it.

The race started out well for me. Swim conditions were great -- calm water and wet suit legal. I felt very good during the swim and finished it in about 45 minutes, which may be a new swim PR for me. (I'll have to look up my past race results to be sure.)

The first part of the bike ride felt great. It felt like I was absolutely flying, without much effort, and passing lots of people. But very soon into the bike ride I encountered strong head winds and cross winds that stayed with me for most of the rest of the ride. The winds definitely played a role in wearing me down a bit on the bike.

Nonethless, I had a decent bike split and felt strong starting the run. I ran the first mile in a little less than 8 minutes, got to mile 2 in just over 16 minutes, and got to mile 3 in less than 25 minutes. But by mile 4 my legs were really starting to feel dead. I started walking at the water stops. Then I started walking in between water stops.

I got to the run turnaround after about 62 minutes after starting the run. At that point I realized that I wouldn't even be able to match my run PR on the much tougher Duke Half course, which was about 1:58:00. I went through the turnaround and started back the other way, but then I thought, "I've got at least another hour of pain and suffering before I'll be done with this race. And it's just not worth it to me."

Because of where the turnaound was, I was able to walk back to the start via a much shorter route than retracing the run route, so that's what I did.

What lessons have I learned from this? First, don't schedule two hard races so close together. Second, if you know your motivation to do a particular race is low (as mine was for this race), it's OK to skip the race, even if you have already paid a lot of money to register for it.

In fact, that's the wiser course of action.

Live and learn.