Half way there...

I did it! I finished a Half-Ironman with no major problems! I finished the Washington (NC) Half-Ironman on Oct. 30th. The goal was just to finish and enjoy the process. My friend, Nate, was willing to wait for me and do the whole thing together which was HUGE for morale.
Quick recap:
It was cold! Like 30 something outside, so stripping down and getting in a wetsuit to jump in the water seemed really dumb! But of course, we did! I highly recommend (if anyone ever reads this) to do this Half-Ironman. This part of NC is incredibly beautiful and historic. The course was perfect--flat roads with turns and curves, little to no traffic, spectators and volunteers were great! Plus, this is a small event, so it had a much more personal feel to it and people were really nice.
Swim: Blue crap pinched several of our feet at the start. Swim was beautiful. Somehow, after under training something fierce, I had this calm sensation during the swim and enjoyed it. There were some cold spots that took your breath but overall the course was well-marked and there was no current. No sharks either! 46 mins, 49 seconds on the mat.
Bike: We took our time, goal was to avg. 18 mph @ a keep talking pace. Even after stopping for nature breaks twice, we hit our goal. The course was great because, unlike White Lake, the roads were not long straights with the wind in your face the whole time. The roads had curves and changed direction enough to keep things interesting. There were lots of corn fields and people hunting from their cars on the course but that is how peaceful (if that makes sense) the course was. For example, during both nature breaks, we did not see a car nor a fellow triathlete.
Total bike: 3 hours, 8 mins
Run: AHHH the run. Yeaa...did I mention I came in really under trained for this distance. I did a walk-run combo for most of the race. After mile 10, the legs were cramping bad. I did not plan well for run nutrition. So I ran a 2:28:37 half-marathon and was thrilled to finish!
Overall: 6 hours, 31 mins, 19 seconds.

Two reflections on this journey:
1) No one told me about how much the wetsuit + salt-water would chafe my neck! Damn that hurt and the post-race shower was the most painful shower I have ever taken! I need to find a solution to reduce the neck chaffing. I tried the "glide"! Any suggestions?
2) This was a "process" over "product" event. And after having a bad race at White Lake, I needed to enjoy a race and get some confidence back. Mission accomplished! Appreciate it Nate! "It's Oriental"

Lesson for Quest: Sometimes Process over Product is best. May I recognize what situations in life call for Process over Product.