Tri season 2007 came to a close on Saturday, September 22nd when I completed my first Half Ironman Triathlon (1.2 mile Swim, 57 mile bike, 13.1 mile run) in 5:57:58 (hrs, not days ;-) I met my goal of completing the distance in under 6 hrs. At age 30, having no athletic background prior to the age of 25, I never imagined as recent as 4 years ago I would complete a triathlon, let alone a Half IM distance. I am thinking back to junior high were I was last picked in gym class (not a cliché, this was my reality) and my high school days when it would take me 10.5 minutes to run just one mile. The end result - doubled over in the locker room in a fainty/vomity state. Being a heavy smoker from the age of 16 to 25 also was not conducive with endurance athletics (imagine that).Sometimes I beat up on myself for not placing in my age group but then my husband, coach, friends remind me I do have a life outside of tris (full time job, husband, friends, having a few too many drinks more then on occasion etc.) After all, I did cover 70.3 miles in 6 hours. Most Americans do not even cover this distance over the course of a month.
A HUGE thank you is long overdue first and foremost to my husband for being incredibly supportive of all my weekends consumed with long brick workouts/bike rides and him having to endure many nights of Raisin Bran for dinner (since he cannot grill to save his life). The second biggest thanks is a tie. The first goes to all my wonderful, understanding friends who still talk to me, despite my lack of availability over the last 4 months. The second to my coach for making me the best athlete I can be and being proud of me (despite the elite triathletes she has on her coaching roster – I am not one of these) If you ever need a lesson in humility, become a triathlete. 90% of the athletes at any given event are just as Type A, obsessive, and want it just as bad, if not more, then you do.
The night before the event we rolled into Enumclaw (southeast of Seattle) about 10pm; I was sound asleep by 11pm.
Woke up at 6am and ate piece of ham (from the hotel restaurant), oatmeal and an apple. At 6:30am polished off a Balance bar.
Temperature at the event was about 58 degrees and overcast with slight drizzle at times. Perfect Pacific Northwest race weather! Event start was at 9am. http://racecenter.com/blackdiamond/halftridu/index.htm
Swim
I felt good during the swim (although as I was slow as a turtle and frozen by the end) About ¼ way through this woman grabbed onto both my legs (back of my calves) and started pulling me under I turned around, looked her in the eye, and yelled HEY! I would expect this at a sprint distance event but not a half IM. Who the hell does this at a half IM? Had this women not done a tri before? If my feet were not so frozen I would have kicked her in the head. My feet and hands were ice cubes (tried to find the neoprene booties to go over my feet the week before the event but no avail). I would have been hypothermic had it not been for the full body wetsuit I borrowed from one of my tri friends. Low body fat makes for great running and severe lack of warmth in the water.Bike
For the bike I took my time in transition (trying to get the full body wetsuit off was tough) and I wanted to be extra sure I did not forget anything (such as nutrition and arm warmers). I did not want to mess around with a 3+ hr bike ride. I was sooo cold after the swim the arm warmers were a life saver. Literally. It took me a good 15 miles on the bike to get my body and my legs warm. I did not wear a bike jersey, just my tri shirt/shorts.
I had 2 16 oz bottles of accelerade on my bike and got through the first one and maybe a quarter of the second one throughout the 3 hr ride. I also took 3 powerbars and cut into 1/3's and rolled in balls and put these in a sandwich bag. I wore the bag o powerbar balls in my bosom inside of my race top. Worked for about 1/2 the ride then the power balls became one conglomerated power blob. Coach says next year when I do this distance (yes, I am doing this again) she wants me to use gels so my stomach doesn’t take energy from my muscles trying to digest solid food. I sipped my accelerade every 10 min and ate a power bar "ball" about every 1/2 hour. Ate a total of about one and a half powerbars on the ride. For the first part of the bike kept HR lower z2 (around 145). During the second half did start building to around 150-155. Toward the last 6 miles did mid z2 to a little z3. I pretty much stayed out of z3 (lactate threshold) because I was paranoid about not having energy for the run. Considering I had to run a ½ marathon after the bike, I thought what I cheezed out on during the bike I would have 13.1 miles to make up for on the run. I was on my aerobars almost the entire time (but do not normally train much this way since I like to have full control of my bike when riding in traffic by myself). As a result, my lower glute/upper hams (English translation: butt and back of thighs) were yelling at me but I kept down on the bars and was glad I did, especially when it came to the run.My glutes/hams were not the only thing yelling at me when I got off the bike. My hubby was giving me words of encouragement saying “you love the run” to which my reply was “not after almost 60 miles on the bike” His response “you will love the run”. Everyone around him started laughing; if I had one ounce of energy extra energy, I would have started laughing as well.
In transition when I bent over and switch out of my bike to my running shoes my hams/glutes felt like they were going to jump out my skin. This is where the power thoughts/words come in handy. I thought okay, 13 miles w/ a little pain, I can do this! The absurdity of having to run 13.1 miles in pain was too much for me to handle at that moment; I broke out in laughter as I was reaching down to grab the cliff gel shots.
Run
Did a gel shot at the start of the run. I had to pee so I used the outhouse conveniently placed at the start of the course. The hardcore athletes pee on the bike. Yep, you heard right. They stand
up, let it go, then rinse off with water. Beings I am not even coming close to placing in my age group, I would look like the biggest jerk/poser/idiot if I attempted this. Maybe in a few years;-) I did 2 additional gel shots on the run (one about every 1/2 hour). Took water at every aid station (had one about every mile) and walked through most. Kept HR around 155 for the first third then for the rest stayed around 165. Pushed into 170-175 the last couple miles (my running lactate threshold). My legs were fatigued and throughout the entire run in addition to my glutes/hams aching but I somehow powered through it. Part of the run course was on trails; toward the end I tripped on a rock (result of dragging my legs from exhaustion) when I was only 1/4 mile from the finish and went flying. In a semi panicked state (from my heart rate being so high) I still managed to pull myself up and make it to the finish line.Summary of my Results
More race pics: http://www.finishshots.com/racerresults3.php?raceid=506&bibnumber=67
I loved the half IM distance and will most certainly do this distance again next year! 5 days later I almost have my appetite back and my overall body soreness has almost subsided. I now get to reflect on my season, give myself 6 weeks of unstructured training (run and bike at MY leisure, no training plan) then do it all over again next year. Now I can eat dinner w/my hubby and hang out w/my friends; for a couple months at least ;-)
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