I did it! I am a Half Iron Man!

I attempt an arduous task; but there is no worth in that which is not a difficult achievement.  -- Ovid

7 hours, 21 minutes, and 37 seconds.  Plus a bit of a sunburn and a nasty cut on my toe.  That's what it took for me to become a Half Iron Man.  The sunburn will fade.  The cut will (hopefully) heal quickly.  But the sense of accomplishment and pride is probably never going to fade.

Here I am with my finisher's medal and one of my biggest small fans.  Yes, it looks like I am crying - crying happy tears and just so grateful that I was able to do this.  Plus my husband had just told me how proud he was of me, and it kind of set me off a little.  This was a long journey for all of us - but it was totally worth it and I succeeded.

So I guess, as is customary, a bit of a race report is in order.  It may be a bit long, but I figure a 7+ hour race after a 7 month journey deserves as much.

Friday:
On Friday night I went down to pick up my race packet and hear the pre-race briefing.  It turns out there was some error in the swim waves, so I talked to the race director after the briefing and got my correct wave & cap - little old ladies (yeah, 40+ = old) wear white caps...how fitting.  :)  We also were going to start last - 7:16 am.  I scoped out the water a bit - didn't go in, because I was having a bit of last minute jitters - but looking at the buoys, they didn't look so far away.  It's kind of funny, because when I looked at buoys at a similar race in June, they looked forever away.

I took myself to dinner (mmm. Pizzeria Uno + dessert), stopped at 7-11 for some provisions (a pre-bedtime Bud-a-rita plus some sparkling water & ice), and went to the hotel to get some sleep - not that I ever sleep well in a hotel and certainly not before a race.  I caught 5 minute snippets of Cold Case and Law & Order SVU and House at various times through the night when I woke up.  Thankfully I had seen many of the episodes so I was able to go right back to sleep.  At 4:45 the alarm went off (one of six I had set - a wee bit OCD about waking up) and I was up and at-em.  The fam was planning on coming into town Saturday to catch me at T2 due to some other obligations.

Saturday:
Pre-race:  I ate an uncrustable, filled up my water bottles, packed & repacked my transition bag, and then left the hotel.  I got to my car and realized the GPS wouldn't work and I really didn't know the best way to get to the race site - eventually I got my phone to tell me...a little bit of anxiety I didn't need and it set me back a little later than I wanted.  I drove to the race site and my headlamp didn't work - so I was basically pumping up my tires in the dark.  Damndest thing, on the way home from the race later that afternoon, I looked back into the trunk of the SUV and there's my headlamp, flashing like a lightning bug.  One of those - everything that can go wrong on race morning does - kind of things.  Thankfully, these were minor annoyances more than anything.  Got my transition set up and heard some of the best news ever - WATER TEMP = 77.3 - WET SUIT LEGAL!

Swim: 53:56 (24/26 Age Group (AG), 114/126 Women (W), 334/363 Overall (OA)
The swim was basically a reverse-fat 1...straight up from the beach to buoy 1, hang a right (swimming against the current/tide) to buoy 2, hang a 120 degree angle and swim diagonal left (with the current at about a 45 degree cross current) to buoy 3, and then swim mostly straight back into shore (cross/with the current again, kinda).  The water was very shallow, so we walked part of the way to the first buoy.  My Masters coach had worked with me on dolphin diving last week, but I wasn't comfortable and figured easing into the swim would be the best for me.  Then I started swimming.  Round buoy 1, fine.  Out to buoy 2, against the current, took a while, but it was OK - I even still had people right around me.  Then most of the way out to buoy 3 was fine.  Swimming with the current/tide - I felt pretty fast (even though I was at the back end of my wave).  And all of a sudden, the police boats are hollering - everyone was way off course.  The tide had started affecting everything and swirling around the last buoy (which was anchored to a channel marker).  I got completely disoriented and couldn't figure out which way the buoy was to swim around.  It took me forever to get around the last buoy and start to head into shore.  Then, because the current/tide was so strong, I ended up swimming in kind of a zigzag - against current, but then the current took me way off line again.  I'm sure if I looked at how far I actually swam, it would be another quarter mile.  I should have swum all the way in, but once I could touch bottom, I stood up and walked.  It was hard work on my legs, but it let me calm down from the panic/disorientation I was feeling about the last buoy.

That all being said - I swam the whole thing.  No kayak resting, no backstroke, and despite the panic, I was able to keep on going.  Crossed the timing mat and started the long run/walk to transition.

T1 (swim to bike):  6:08 (20/26 AG, 106/126W, 309/363 OA)
Best part of T1 was the wetsuit strippers.  I didn't really need them since I had sprayed myself quite generously with Tri-Glide, but I figured when else would there be strippers in my life!  So I let a little old man pull my wetsuit off.  :)
Worst part of T1 was the fact it was probably a quarter mile to the transition area from the beach.  I ran/walked it, and as I was entering the transition area, I was able to see the race clock.  It said 1:12...and I had a 16 minute late start, so I was in transition before an hour!  Crazy!  I was so excited.
Because of their morning schedule, family wasn't there yet.  I dried my feet, ate a gel, loaded up my nutrition, helmets/gloves/sunglasses/bike shoes - and off I went...

Bike: 3:36:54 (20/26 AG, 108/126W, 335/363 OA)
The bike for this race is actually 2 miles longer than a normal HIM - so I am two miles cooler than most Half Iron Men.  At least that's what I'm going with.  I had ridden the bike course earlier, so I knew what I was in for...and it was good I did, because otherwise, the last stretch of 23 miles - straight on one road - would have been interminable.  It was kind of that way anyway.  No big hills - kept it in the big ring except for one climb.  I would have liked to have ridden a little more in aero, but to be honest, it didn't feel very good.  My body wasn't happy down and it wasn't happy up, so I alternated between the two - more often up.  Nutrition wise - I ate a Payday bar.  I was also planning on eating another uncrustable, but it didn't sound very good.  I ate about 1 bite every 10 miles - they were nice enough to mark every five miles...and every round number had a smiley in the zero.  It made me laugh the first 3 times...mile markers 40 and 50 were not so funny.  I also had my double mixed Gatorade in the front, but I had put too much salt in it, so it tasted more gross than normal.  I was so happy to have the water bottle handoffs - that worked really well.  My first pickup of clean water and I guzzled it like a man in a desert.
I did hallucinate that I heard a flat tire one time, so I pulled off and felt both my tires - no problem.  So I got back and finished.  As I was coming into T2, two-thirds of the family was there to cheer me on.  Here's a charming picture of my backside (I like to think because I'm so fast he missed my front...)

This is where one bad thing happened.  After I dismounted my bike, I was trying to get my leg over (and I had bottles in my rear carrier, so it's not an easy endeavor)...and I slipped.  The bike went right, I went left, and I accidentally stepped on my back wheel - doesn't seem to be permanent damage, but I bent the valve stem off the tube and all the air went instantly out of my tire as I'm standing at the dismount line.  Husband heard the crash and the whoosh of air - he didn't hear the expletive that followed.  But as I told the volunteer at the line, I didn't need the bike any more that day so it wasn't a big deal.  Into the second transition...

T2 (bike to run): 2:24 (12/26 AG, 65/126 W, 199/363 OA)
Clearly I was born to T2 - my best ranked performance of the day.

Can I just say, at this point, that tri suits are SO flattering?  NOT.  Seriously.  Anyway, here I am in T2.  Helmet/sunglasses/gloves off, running shoes/ballcap/race number on - and off to the run.

Run:  2:42:38 (18/26 AG, 95/126W, 302/363 OA)
Once I hit the run, I knew everything was going to be OK.  The bike didn't take me as long as I expected so I had forever for the run.  Even my slowest half marathon, back when I weighed a lot more and had bad knees, did not take me as long as I had left to finish (before the 8-hour race deadline).  So basically I was running for beer.  Yes, you heard me right - I was running for beer.  Although I technically had 8 hours to finish the race, the beer tent was going to close after the awards ceremony...which could end before 8 hours elapsed.  So I needed to do what I could to get in before then.  :)

So the run course was two loops - you left from transition, ran about a mile (where the turn-around would be on the way back), then did a big 5.5 mile loop back to the turn-around, picked up a bracelet to prove you did one lap, back out for another lap on the 5.5 mile loop, and then past the turn-around and into the finish.

My fan club was at the turn-around for the end of my first loop, at the 6.5 mile mark.  Above I am coming into the turn-around, same with the first shot below.  Did I mention that tri-suits are not flattering?  (Body image is an off-season goal.  More on that another day.  Right now, I am just content to think I am a flippin' rock star.)

At the turn-around (and at the rest stations every mile) they had food, water, ice, and Coke.  Here I am leaving the turn-around (walking because I'm eating Chex mix and looking really pissed off for some reason...not sure why).

The run went awesome.  After about mile 2, I caught up with my friend who I had ridden the course with a couple weeks ago.  I ran with her for a few miles and it was nice to have someone to talk to.  At mile 4, I took my first cup of Coke.  There is NOTHING better in this world than Coke.  I gave up drinking soda (generally diet Pepsi) in the last year, although in the last month or so I've actually had diet sodas occasionally - more than I'd like and I'm hoping to give them back up after race season...but that Coke on the race course was like ambrosia.  Mead.  Nectar of the gods.  OMG.  Holey good.  I was actually irritated when I came on a rest station later in the race that had run out of Coke.

So I finished up the first lap, got a big boost from my cheering section at the turn-around, and headed back off on the second lap.  Around mile 7 or so, I ran into a woman who was going about my speed.  I asked her if she'd mind some company (shout-out to Tammy from Lynchburg) and ran the next 3 miles with her.  I didn't even feel those 3 miles - we were chatting like we were long time friends and the time just flew.  Eventually my watch beeped for mile 10 and I was feeling really good, so I picked up the pace and left Tammy.  And then I busted a move to the finish.  OK, I don't think I was any faster those 3 miles, but it felt like I was cruising - probably because my brain stopped working.

And then there was this:

The FINISH LINE!  I hadn't really set any goals for myself, except to finish - since it was my first HIM and I had no context.  I didn't want to be last and I wanted to finish in the allotted 8 hours.  It would be an added bonus if the beer tent was still open.  During the last part of my run, I actually took a few peeks at my watch and realized I was well under the 8-hour projection.  And then as I ran into the finish, the clock said 7:37:xx - take away the 16-minute delay for my wave start and HOLEY CRAP...7:21!  I was so crazy excited.

I got my medal, cold cloth, and water.  The lady got the chip off my ankle (which is always a challenge because I don't trust velcro, so I safety pin my chip and my Road ID).  And then, after a few minutes and lots of hugs from my cheering section...we went to the beer tent.  Yes.  Before food and soda and gatorade, we went to the beer tent and I ordered a Fat Tire.  (We actually got 2 free as participants but I gave my 2nd to the hubby.)  I did it!  I finished in time for beer!  I did end up going to get my pizza and gatorade and another can of Coke...mmmm Coke, but first things first.

Afterwards, we came home, cleaned up, and went out for a celebratory dinner (and to buy cupcakes - since I said all I wanted after the race was to eat cupcakes and beer).

Post-dinner celebration above.  Then some college football until I could function no longer, and I went to sleep.  Hubby woke me up to tell me that the results were up (and mine were wrong...due to the swim-cap fiasco on Friday).  This, of course, got me all in a tizzy - because I worked hard for that 7:21 damnit - so I e-mailed the company and posted on their Facebook - and to their credit, my time was all fixed as of last night all ready.  Thank you so much, Set Up - you did right by me.  Great race and you totally took care of problems as fast as you could.

So a big thanks to my cheering section (hubby and daughters and extended family), my tri friends (in real life and otherwise), my Masters coaches, and even the people who thought I was crazy.  Yeah, I probably am.  But I am also a Half Iron Man.