Patriot Half Ironman RR

Prerace:

I went into work early on Friday, had a few appointments, a couple of meetings, and was home by noon. Chris met his mom and dropped Petru off (Thank you, Margaret!) for the night (which ended up being 2 nights!). We packed the car and were out the door by 12:30pm. I wanted to get there early to do a short swim to get my eyes used to the murky water, in hopes that my brain would not go all red lights on me on race day. But, after spending time getting myself inside my wetsuit (which has a big huge whole the Xterra folks did not have enough time to fix before the race) I saw a man running toward me with his hands up in the air yelling; "no swimming, we have signs everywhere". We both looked around and saw no signs. He did put one on later. So, I ended up swimming at a boat ramp a mile away. The water was calm and I felt so comfortable. Good.

We stayed at the Cathedral Camp for $50. Loved the place. Clean, simple, quiet. I watched a bunch of trash TV on my i-phone, had some soft icecream, and turned the lights off at 9pm. I kinda slept and was up and ready @ 4:30am. And got my period. Problem solve and adapt. Luckily, I was prepared. Oatmeal, chat with other triathletes while cooking, coffee, clothes on, walk to the transition area. Here, the silliest thing: one huge line to get body marked, before going into transition. Some smart folks body marked themselves and cut in. Ha!
In transition I saw my friend Mary and chatter a bit. Several bathroom stops later and I had my wet suit on and was ready to go.

SWIM: 41:52 (GRRR).
I got kicked in the head the moment I put my head in the water. OK, then. Again, problem solve and adapt. I moved on. I felt really strong in the water. My swimming has improved a ton this year, which is funny bc I did a 35 min swim at last year's HIM, and I had no pull then. I had 2 problems with this swim: 1) I could not stay on anyone's feet, as I could not see bubbles. The water was so murky, I would see some bubbles, follow them, but end up on the other side of the person. 2) I could not sight. The buoys were so far apart, and there was a current, so I zig zagged like crazy and got a bit discouraged at some point, but pulled myself together. I felt smooth in the water and my catch and pull were right on, but I just went off course too much. Out of the water and Chris said 38 something, which I thought was reasonable given the zig zagging. Well, turns out we had to run to the mat, and I almost fell (dizzy) so I walked. Still, whatever, I moved on.



T1: 3:58.
I'll let you guess what slowed me down here..

BIKE: 3:00:51; 18.67 MPH.
On the bike and I felt great. Except for the back pain. But, I was prepared, and took 2 200mg ibuprofen with every gel (8 gels = 800cals). That helped dull the pain a bit. I passed a lot of people on the bike, and I did not get tired at all. My average HR went from 170 when I hopped on the bike to 152 for the 56 miles. Right where I wanted it to be. This is a 12 minute PR for me. Given that I was in aero for maybe 10 min, this makes me happy (and yes, I need to stop being a chicken and get in aero). The bike was uneventful other then me seeing a woman on the ground at mile 30sh. Two racers where already there with her, so I went ahead and alerted the volunteers. I really hope she is OK. Another event was a funeral, which caused a traffic jam where a bunch of us had to slow down, really slow down (that mile was a 15.4MPH, my only mile this slow) and were going wheel to wheel for a while. Ha!

T2: 2:52
Same deal here...had to change:)

RUN: 1:57:11, 8:56 pace
I started the run feeling great. I wanted to run a 1:38, which is 10 min slower than my open HM PR. It felt doable given that I have been doing bricks since January, including a 44 mile+8 mile @ 7:35.
My HR was 175 to begin with, and I decided to start the run @ 7:38, to give myself a chance to bring it down. But, it was HOT, and my HR did not go down. It went up to 192 average by mile 3, and I could not breath. My legs, on the other hand felt great. I started putting ice in my bra, and drank some coke at the mile 3 aid station. And then it all came out. Repeat 5 times (water, gel, coke again, water, gel) and then at mile 8 I decided no more. Obviously I could not hold anything in. My pace kept creeping up and up and I honestly felt so bad, nauseous and with chills, that I did not think I would finish. I though of Jenn racing her marathon, and pushing thorough. It worked for a bit. Then I had to resort to splurging $XXX at Lululemon if I make it under 2 hours. No doubt the toughest run of my life. Not sure if it was the heat, or a combination of ibuprofen, gels, heat. I have a pretty tough stomach, but I know racing in the heat is very tough for me. Regardless, this was a very very bad run for me. I never run this slow, not even in recovery runs...


But, done, done, done!

Total time: 5:46:52, 4th/30 35-39 AG. Placing 4th in my AG makes me feel better. In fact, this qualifies me for the National AG Championships in Vermont, which I need to decide if I am going to do.

Afterthoughts:
I felt proud crossing that finish line. I've had an amazing winter/spring running season and although I felt happy getting PR after PR, I did not experience the happiness I felt when I crossed the line this past Saturday. I did not work half as hard for those PRs. I asked myself several times if I could have ran faster, walked less at the water stops. The answer is a strong no. I feel good about this. Now I rest up for one week and then move on.

I discovered what is going on with my back. This morning I woke up with my R side (back and leg) sore. My L side is fine. I think I am using my R leg much more on the bike. I need to have someone analyze my biking.

My legs felt strong on the bike and on the run. No heaviness, not even at the beginning. This makes me feel good about the training and one week taper.

I absolutely loved the bike, even with the back pain. I felt confident and strong.

I met Tami and Kim, who both had great races! Kim just killed it on the bike. I need tips, Kim:)

Thanks for all your support. I felt the love during the race:)And as always thanks to Chris, the best sherpa ever!