I did it. I completed my first HALF IRONMAN!!
VINEMAN 70.3 - OFFICIAL FINISHER
Where do begin? It was amazing. It was hard. It was painful. ...OK. OK. OK. I will start from the beginning.
Alarm goes off... it is 3:30am. We are tired. but also excited. we have all of our stuff prepacked, our T2 stuff is all set up. Our bikes are safely stored in the truck. All we have to do is get dress, fill our bottles, eat some breakfast, use the restroom and go...
As i filled up my Gatorade and water bottles, my excitement was brewing. I quickly made oatmeal, that I actually DO NOT enjoy, but for what ever reason, seems to work for me on long training/racing days, so I choked it down. We gathered into the van and we were off to Johnson's Beach for the start of the race.
Once we arrived, it was time to set up. I picked a nice spot at the end of the rack or the beginning, however you looked at it. My row was right at the entry from the swim. So as soon as i was done and ran out i was right there. In hindsight, I probably should have picked the other end so i had less of an area to run out with the bike.. bu
t c'est la vie. I set up shop, Bucket braided my hair, i wrapped my knee and squeezed into my wetsuit and excitingly looked down at my watch. i had 15min until my wave. WOW, time sure had flown.
Laura, Me & Ashley
Jay, Rachel, Bucket & Lizette
Me & Bucket
As I walked down to the beach I realized i had not used the bathroom... but also, that i did not have to go. Now, that may be TMI for you, but it is slightly relevant down the line. :-)
So, anxiously, Tina, Cole, EWS, Isabel, Clare & I were waiting to get into the water, Riz and Javi gave us a hug and calmed us all down. Reminding us that we are beyond trained for this. Take deep breaths, find our pocket in the swim and just go for it and to have fun. And that is exactly what I did.
We entered the water, I gave the girls a hug, said good luck and found my spot in the front of the swim pack, off to the right. Funny enough, Angela was right there as well. We were out of the way of the main group as well as not deep in the current. Not that there was strong on, but it was less off to the sides. I took a deep breath, peed, LOL, said a quick prayer to mom and the powers at be. I started my watch and then we were OFF!!
I swam my little heart out. I had Christy in my head, long and lean -- glide... so I did and I had Laura in my head - my swim buddy. Although we were in different waves, she was with me, reminding me that she beat me by 3 seconds on our last market set.. so I swam and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I kept my breathing regular, i didn't stress myself out, even with girls trying to swim over me or kicking me, I just kept swimming. When we hit the buoy for the turn-around, I did the "roll swim," which Riz and Javi taught us in the ocean. It was awesome and totally keeps you in your rhythm and then I kept going ... and then i started to laugh as my knees and arms started scraping the bottom of the river as the water was so low, people got up to walk or run it. It was comical. We saw it in the event meeting the day before and in fact a few of us did it during our training weekend. But I kept thinking as I was swimming at the same pace as the runners - man you are dumb, LOL. you are wasting prime leg energy on your swim! You still have to bike and run. So silly!! -- so I chuckled to myself and kept swimming... then Riz popped in my head. "Pee a the bridge and then start kicking so your legs can get ready for the bike." Now normally, I am a "stop and pee" gal and I also pee like 7 times in 45min. This time I had to slow down my momentum and NOT move my legs at all to get comfortable to pee. It kinda looked like I was drowning, but it worked. I felt better stated kicking and before you know it I was done with the swim and i felt good! As i ran up the ramp the first face i saw was Bucket and then Javi. Bucket seemed surprised to see me, which actually felt awesome as I knew that i rocked that swim! As I gave them Hi-5s I headed to my Bike to get ready for the next phase.
The Bike... my transition took a little longer than I thought, but not crazy. Once we changed out of our wetsuits and got all of our gear on, we had to pack up everything into one bag as they were going to take it to the finish line for us. So that was a little hectic as I had sunblock, wet towel, my suit, etc... at least with Cozumel, I won't have a wetsuit to deal with, so it should be realitivly quick.
Once I was all ready to go, I ran out of the transition area, with my helmet cam on and rolling, I ran up the road where I saw silly fools trying to mount their bike... it is a rather steep, slippery & muddy, did they really think that was smart? LOL. That being said, I finally hopped on my bike and I was in the zone. Struggling to get my left foot to clip in, I just rode until I had no turns to deal with. In doing so I started to bang my shoe on the pedal to knock out any mud or debris. I saw stuff flying but my shoe would still not clip in. UGH... At Mile 5, we have to make a SHARP right turn on Sunrise and then we are on the "Westside Hwy" for a while. I braced myself with my one clipped in foot took the turn and headed up the hwy. As I made my way up the first decent hill, my shoe was not my friend... so I pushed and pulled with my right foot, slightly struggling. I was a little tired. But in a good head space. And just then, Coach Brad Hall of IronTeam came riding up next to me. He checked in on me, quick tips on my foot, a heartfelt GO TEAM, and then he was off. But his timing (not that he planned it) was perfect... that GO TEAM, was just what I needed to get me up that hill. Granted my left shoe NEVER CLIPPED IN for the ENTIRE RIDE... but i didn't care... i made it work.
This is me cautiously making the right turn onto Sunset
As I cruised along i tried many times to film the experience. I would turn my helmet cam on and off, record, etc... I was excited about it... in the end, NOTHING recorded. :-(
That being said, I didn't need the camera. My brain recorded it all. The wineries were gorgeous. The spectators were amazing and just when you didn't realize you needed it a TNT teammate from my team or another would say GO TEAM... and you were back in it! AMAZING.
As I cruised along the course, I was thankful that we had come up a few weeks prior to train the course. I remembered where landmarks were, to disguise the half-way point or when hills were coming, etc. It was great. I leapfrogged a few people here and there, one guy in particular "Green Machine" (he had a green bike and lime-green Tri kit) was super nice and embraced it when I called him Green Machine and we cheered each other on for about 20 or so miles... I am also happy to say that "Chicked" about 6 guys as well. :-)
Almost documented the "Chick" factor, too bad it was another chick. :-)
At one point, I heard a GO TEAM come up from behind me... it was Kelie. She was in the first swim wave that started the event and swimming in not her strong suit, as this girl.. this bad ass, signed up for a 70.3 without knowing how to swim!! CRAZY! but she killed it. So as she popped up next me, super cheery, i asked her how the swim was and she said GREAT! how awesome is that!?!?! needless to say she crushed the bike and the run. :-)
As I munched on my PB&J I mentally prepped for Chalk Hill. Chalk Hill is not a crazy steep hill, but it has switchbacks and is a steady climb... plus it is at mile 47 of the 56 mile ride... so climbing that kind of hill that late in the game is tiring.. but I was ready.. I read my race notes, LOL.. and I stopped eating and drinking at about mile 42, so I was not too full or have a swishy belly for the climb.. and I am glad I did. It was tough. My left foot of course was not helping at all, so my right leg was pushing and pulling up that hill.. an awesome spectator was there cheering us on -- "only 400 yards to go - you are almost to the top." You have no idea how awesome that is to hear... and you know what is more awesome, when you lean into that turn on the switchbacks and you are greeted by 3 people dressed as angry birds, a Unicorn, and a Purple cowgirl cheering you on to the top.. and just when you look down, you see in BRIGHT ORANGE Spray paint GO TEAM and your name! AMAZING!
On the final homestretch of the bike, I looked at my watch and to be honest, I was a little bummed. My watch had me at around 4:20 or so.. Training weekend I completed the bike in 4:05. So I really didn't understand what I had done wrong. My nutrition was spot on, I wasn't tired, I pedaled the whole time and never really cruised... but yet I was over. Slightly deflated, I gave myself a little pep talk and said you are doing this.. don't worry about the time, you are having fun and that's all that matters..so I pedaled on and entered the chute ... the crowd was amazing! My TNT teammates were right at the turn and it was great to see them and hear them.
As I entered the transition area and hopped off my bike, I was completely turned around. I thought my stuff was at the entry way from the bike, but I was positioned at the run OUT! So after being a little confused, I figured it out and made my way there, to have some other athlete have there bike on my stuff. i was soo annoyed because they racked their bike wrong, so it was a little difficult for me to put my bike on the rack.. but whatever, I kicked off my shoes attempted to reapply sunblock and I was out again and onto the run... the last phase of this crazy adventure.
The Run... as I raced out of the chute, I see Riz.. and then I HEAR Riz..
. "You Killed it on the bike! I mean really killed it!! EASE into the Run!! ... I am pretty sure I "Yessed" her or said "OK," LOL. I don't remember. But I do remember thinking?!! What is she talking about, when I looked at my watch before I was like 30min OVER my time... none-the-less I pressed on with my 3-1 intervals (run 3min / walk 1min)... I figured this would be about the amount of time my knee could take with pain before I had to walk. As I began to run, I noticed my left arm was hurting from my wetsuit chaffing it the day before, so i took my left knee strap off and put it on my arm, to cover the burn. It worked. Genius! As I pressed on, I started to have slight GI issues... now, remember in the beginning of this post when I said I had not used the restroom, here is where it bit me in the ass... or stomach I should say. :-) As I was running my tummy was unhappy, I stopped at the first few aid stops to but nothing happened. It was hot. 93 degrees and zero shade. YUCK.. But I still pressed on.. I reached mile 3 and I looked at my watch. I was at exactly 5hrs.. and then it clicked in my head.. HOLY CRAP, I did kill it on the bike... (my watch was on auto-sport, so the time lumped everything together, the swim, bike & transitions!) I couldn't believe it. So I thought to myself, when I was running, I able to run 10miles in 1:46 and when I not, I still managed to do it in roughly 2hrs... so there it was. i was in range of my A & B Goals -- 6 1/2 - 7 1/2 Hours.. WOW... so i really started to run. stuck with the intervals, but my tummy was not in the mood.. and then by mile 5, just when my tummy, didn't necessarily feel better, but got with the program that I really wanted to do this, my right knee was like I'm done! You worked me so hard on the bike (that was the leg that actually did clip in) and now we are running on hard cement... No Thank You!! And then, what I thought would be a silver lining, Le Creme Winery, because of the dirt road, ended up being waaaay worse. Since I was so hot, the dirt was hard, there were tons of rocks and my poor knee was miserable and with that I saw my race goal slipping away. My intervals went from 3/1 to 2/2 to 1/3 to run on the downhills.
I was bummed.. but I didn't care. I stopped at every aid station for water, two to drink and two to dump on my head or neck to cool off. I GO TEAMED everyone. I was lucky to see Christy, Jay, Kelie, Jose, Brandi, Kyle, Eryn, Ashley, Isabel, Scott & Rene on the run... and the best part was about mile 11, Scott and I started to "run" together til the end. Poor Scott had a bum calf and a pinched nerve in his neck, so he was just as miserable as I was. My AJB and I hobbled along. At mile 12, we saw out amazing Spirit Captain, Christal. She was taking pics and cheering us on. Of course, Scott and I stopped for the photo and she laughed at us. We were like, do you really think 10secs is going to make a difference on our 3hr walk. LOL... we trucked on.. 12.5 Unicorn Meredith and Purple Cowgirl Liz from Chalk Hill were there.. Scream, cheering it was amazing.. and what was super cool as they took our race belts, so we could have a cool photo at the finish... So sweet. So with the last .5mi to go, Scott and I went for it. We ran, we hobble and wobbled into the chute..-- the longest chute ever created, BTW -- we saw Riz and teammates and they were there Hi-5ing us and we did it.. and made it to the finish line. The Wounded Warriors DID it! And I could not have imagined crossing the finish line with anyone else.
FINISH LINE!!
Scott & Rach
Wound Warriors
The AMAZING Cheer Team
Meredith, Christal, & Liz
Rene, Jay, Me, Scott, Kelie, Elisa, Christy
Me & Jay
Me at T2
Stan & I
My Partner in Crime
GO TEAM
So the race was amazing. I knew going into this race that my knee was going to be an issue and that's OK.. All I wanted to do was to do my best and if I was able to improve, even just the slightest bit, I would be happy... And I did... remember a few posts ago and my constant reminders on Laura beating me in our last swim marker set by 3 seconds and I was wondering would do better in the race... Well.... I guess those three seconds and our friendly competition fueled me more than I thought as I beat Laura by 9 seconds on the swim!!! WAHOOOO!!! (she is doing Barb's Race this weekend, which is Vineman 70.3 but a women's only race. So her motivation now is to race 10 Seconds faster, LOL, to beat me)... whatever drives us right?? :-)
So overall, I am thrilled... I shave 5+min off my swim and 35+min off of my bike from the training weekend 3 weeks before the race. The run.. eh.. it is what it is... I will get PT, stretch, do more core work and of course aqua jog and I am confident my knee will be ready for Cozumel.
