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Pre-Race
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This past Saturday was the big race--the half Ironman. My goal for the race was just to finish, but I figured I would probably do between a 6:15 and 6:30. I didn't really mention to anyone, except Dave, how nervous I was about this race. The week before I had broken out in hives and had many sleepless nights. The nervousness showed as I started the race.
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Looking forward to the swim.
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The swim was daunting just looking at the course. From the starting line you could not see all the buoys on the course. The swim went off in 8 different waves and I was in wave #5. It was a no-wetsuit swim, but I swam in mine anyway since I really had no realistic chance of placing. As my wave got started, I freaked out and couldn't get my heart rate down. I was floundering and treading water by the first buoy. The people on the boat yelled to check if I was alright. I said yes and really I was but my pride was destroyed. I said to myself, "my parents would be disappointed if I dropped out this early." I yelled back to the boat, "um, I don't think I really want to do this." They yelled back that they would send a canoe. A man on a surfboard swam up to me and he said I could hold on for as long as I needed until I was ready to continue. I held on until I saw a friend swim by and heard the next wave go off. I had already wasted five minutes but I reminded myself that I just wanted to finish. I started to swim and didn't stop again. My swim time including the run up the hill to the transition was 48:15. My watch coming out of the water said 46:00. Too bad I wasted 5 minutes or else I would have had a really great swim.
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After the swim running to the transition.
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Heading out of the transition to the bike ride.
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I knew the bike would be long and lonely, but to tell the truth, I kind of enjoyed the ride. The bike was flat and it rained the whole time. I think these were two conditions that really helped me. I enjoyed riding in the rain as it kept things cool and leveled the playing field. I finished the bike in 3:10:30 which is about 20 minutes faster than I expected to go.
It stopped raining just in time for the run which was pretty hot and steamy. I had done a smart thing in the transition and had placed my running shoes and socks in a plastic back so I started my run with dry feet. I began pretty quickly doing in the 8:00s but slowed down as I began walking through the waterstops. I caught up with Grace around the 3 mile mark and ran with her until 5 miles. She took a long stop there and I kept going. Run time = 2:04:40.
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At the end of the run and still smiling.
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More running.
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Overall, I had a good time. I smiled a lot, waved to people, thanked volunteers, and just remembered I was there to finish. I did better than expected which has kind of left me feeling empty and wondering if I could have done better if I tried a little harder. I'm done with triathlons for the summer, but I will keep up with the swimming and biking because it has helped my running and because maybe I'll do it again next year.
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Finished!
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5 comments:
Congrats on a great race! I'm very new to the world of triathlons and I have tremendous respect for the athletes. I can't imagine an open water swim...good for you for composing yourself and keeping with it :-)
Yay! Thanks for posting about this. Do you think you felt empty because you'd spent so much time preparing for this and now it's over? I can't imagine how much time you've put into getting ready! Congrats on sticking w/ it all and finishing. You rock!
Would that be postsportem depression, Val?
Dave, I was thinking more along the lines of how much work weddings are and how fast they go. But you're absolutely right- all that training is very similar to childbearing ;) Watching what you eat, weight gain, trying to exercise... heck, she's going to put us all to shame when you guys have kids! =P Love you both =)
wow, inspiring race report, even if you felt like you didn't push yourself. the more of these i read, the more i want to get out and give one a shot.
good job and great photos, too!
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