All in all, it was a fantastic weekend...Eric and Lisa and Leanne were the best traveling partners around! Laid back, easy going and EARLY for everything so I wouldn't stress...
We got there early on Friday, checked in to our motel and headed to lunch!! Then to packet pickup (easy peasy) and then back to the hotel/motel......We had a great dinner out at a Tavern complete with music and candle light ambiance!
Lets just skip to the race....
After the practice swim on Saturday I decided to NOT wear my wet suit. The current was in our favor, the water temp was perfect and I could have stayed in the water all day. The real swim was another matter....the water temp was still perfect and I should have picked up on the fact that the Pro's were swimming way to the left because of the current, but it didn't click. We had to run a bit because of the shallow water and I tried this new skipping thing I saw one woman pro do...kind of fun, actually. Started my swim, put my head down and swam to the first buoy. All is good, swam to the second buoy, still good....but when I got to the second buoy and looked for the third red buoy it was WAY WAY to my left...oh brother...put my head down, swim...swim, swim....seems like I was swimming forever and did not give in to the temptation to look at my watch, made it to the buoy and found myself in a whirlpool of swimmers gong NOWHERE!!!....decided to just go to the right of the buoy instead of around...good move...as others got stuck there....began swimming again...but because of the chop and the bidirectional current, it was hard to time my sighting with the swells...making sighting really hard...soon i found myself in the complete middle of the swim...olympic swimmers swimming over me....saw the red buoy and swam, swam, swam...going almost no where...decided to make the executive decision to swim for the second olympic buoy instead...only to find out later that the red buoy had drifted....finally turned the corner and said..swim till you can stand..and then give yourself permission to walk...but when I could finally stand, it was more fun to dolphin in..so I did...and it worked faster and I learned a new skill...I did swim 1.2 miles...but admittedly not around all legal buoys...ah well...almost 57 minutes later and i was spent!
The bike was great....I was able to maintain over 16mph for the whole thing..I was aiming for 17 and I will blame "data error" on my not being able to maintain (I hit the stupid lap key at mile 45 and lost all speed/mileage data) my 17 mph..I was just over 17.3 mph for the first half..and then came the two hills and then..the computer...and then...I need to learn to not be so dependent on the computer!!! ah well, I felt great on the bike, my new bike fit was PERFECT! I had ZERO pain in my left arm, my neck or my back (until the next day, but then what does it matter???).....
Off the bike, onto the run/walk...well, walk....I felt like I was having an asthma attack in the beginning. I'm not really sure what happened...i wasn't wheezing, just felt like I could not get all my air in or out...Nothing a little inhaler action couldn't cure, but I panicked thinking that I had forgotten the inhaler and I couldn't remember where I had put it in order to be able to tell anyone where to get it! THEN, i remember that I had actually hooked it to my hydration belt! Alleluia...managed to get two puffs before dropping it right in traffic....Don't you worry, I just stopped traffic and ran out to get it..haha.. I was NOT going to let that thing get away from me.
I had some quad cramping off the bike...usual for me. I was VERY guarded as I had been having severe calf cramping and injury that had prevented me from running more than 4 miles in a row since April....I took in some magnesium, salt and Sport legs and the quad cramping went away. NO CALF pain at all, but I was not feeling right. I was extremely tired...and hot..and even though there was water, ice, sponges and cokes at EVERY water stop, I just didn't have ANY energy.....come to find out after the race when I was cleaning out my speed fill, that I had only taken in 1/3 of the total nutrition that I was supposed to take in on the bike. DOH! no wonder I had NO energy. Good news is, the apple sauce PowerBar Fruit packs work like a charm...no GI, but also not enough calories...Lessoned learned...I will need to set my watch on the bike to remind myself to drink!
Back to the run...for what its worth, I'm not really sure what I was expecting...having not run more than 4 in a few months...so I'm not all that disappointed in my performance given all the circumstances...Actually, i'm rather happy that I finished in MUCH better physical shape than 2 years ago at Musselman....
Everyone was passing me on the run...but it didn't matter...I asked a cop if I could cry and he said "NO."..so being the law abiding citizen that I am, I did not cry...I just kept going....then that crazy thing where you have to go PAST the finish line, down a hill and back UP the hill to the finish....Thanks to Kat I was able to run it..even though by then I DID have calf and hamstring cramping...Thanks to Team Z, Lisa, Eric, Keri, Sally, Judy, Jean, Jodi etc, etc, etc (i'm forgetting LOTS of people)....the finish is always strong b/c..well...you just HAVE to run by the team tent!!! Thanks to REV 3 for putting on a stellar performance and for being there for all of us at the end..with cold water and towels...and AWESOME Medals......
Lessons learned and things that went right!
1. I can still swim despite the freaking out.....I will just practice at the beach this summer
2. I need to take in ALL my nutrition on the bike (I actually took in water, but not enough calories or carbs)
3. NO GI distress...well a little on the run, but was able to work it through.
4. NO CALF cramping until the very end and that was just because...well, it was the end.
5. I can bike! and my FIT was fantastic...well, worth the money
6. Certainly NOT 6th, but I have the GREATEST friends EVER!
7. I have the GREATEST family EVER! and they finally figured out how to track me online...we'll have to have IM tracking lessons during IMLP this July...
8. Applesauce/Fruit packs work great - only remember to open them before starting the ride (which I did and that worked well)
9. LEANNE LAYNE is a super roommate...sleeps through anything and doesn't snore!! PLUS she finished her half and now has a 70.3 sticker to prove it!
10. Dude this is my 4th half ironman...WHAT?????
11. Team Z rocks!
12. Rev 3 rocks!
13. Brady makes me want a puppy!
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