Number of racers: >1,400
Swim distance: 1.2 miles
Number of people who swam over me: >500
Place out of the water: 1,000
Ride distance: 56 miles
Ride vertical: >4,000 ft
Place after the ride: ~500
Run distance: 13.1 miles
Run vertical: 1,000
Place after run: ~300
Lots of numbers in this race! For me the 1/2 Ironman was like three separate races. Partly because I didn't go as fast as I could have or wanted to ... here is the full story: The race took place at Lake Stevens - a beautiful location. Jonathan, Emily, and I headed up on Saturday to do all of the necessary pre-registration fun ... Emily quite enjoyed this:
Once that was taken care of we headed to the Children's museum in Everett where Emily had even more fun!!! It was a great day, which ended with freezies on the back porch - Em's favorite.
Race day was a bit different ... very early morning as we had to be ready for a 6:30am start ... so out of bed at 4am and up to Lake Stevens. Unfortunately Jonathan had to travel to China on Sunday - so no Emily, and we had separate cars so he could leave to catch his plane.
When we got there, people were everywhere. We had seen how far up the numbers had gone when we registered ... but to see >1,400 people milling around getting numbers, doing jumping jacks, and doing last minute gear checks was fun. The atmosphere was charged as everyone got ready for the Big Race.
The start was a bit rushed for me ... I was totally procrastinating getting into the water - but the start was a 'jump in the water off the dock' start .. so I needed to get in before I had to jump in. So I was slowly immersing myself when Jonathan yelled at me that my group was on deck. Yikes! Out of the water and up to the deck ... into the water and off we went! I got into a 2-stroke rhythm easily ... but really wanted 3 strokes ... it makes me go straighter and faster. After about 8 minutes in the water I settled into my 3 stroke rhythm ... and found the cable under the water to which the buoy's were attached. Cool! I didn't have to spot! I liked this option so I followed the cable the whole race. About 10 min in - just after I found my 3-stroke rhythm, the next group swarmed me. I am NOT a fast swimmer ... I could go faster ... but the swim is about surviving for me at this point. I hear the other athletes complaining about sore arms .. yeah, not going as fast as I could. I have no sore body parts coming out of the water. None. Well, normally I have none. In this race I had a fat lip, a sore eye, and a swollen ankle ... people grab your ankle to pass you, they kick you in the face, and they generally ignore that you are in their way and just swim over you. I did NOT enjoy this at all. Each time the next group would start (we were in wave so there were about 1000 people behind me) i'd eventually get swarmed by the fast swimmers. This is a great incentive to go faster but I did not really want to risk that until I got past 1/2 way. Back to the cables in the water ... following them was a great plan but other people had noticed this too. ... It might have been better to spot and be further away ... lets wreckage :) But I liked my cable guidance... it was funny though. Several swimmers did not see the 2nd cable which was at a 90 degree angle to the first one .. and they kept on swimming wayyyy out in the water. Kinda funny.
46 minutes in I finished the swim. For context, the Pro women finished in 26 minutes. Yeah, I know. Room for improvement :) My swim to bike transition was a bit slow - it was chilly out and my fingers were not working so well. I had practiced this but during a race you have the added stress of TRYING to go faster. In practice I had gotten it down to 2 min ... it was closer to 3 min during the race. Ah well ... on the bike I go - back to more familiar territory!
I was looking forward to the bike. My plan was to go hard for 50 miles and then relax and recover for 6 miles - so i'd be in good shape for the run. My stomach had other plans ... and for this I need to share a bit of context ... years ago I would have wicked stomach pains whenever my stomach got empty. The only way to describe it is like a knife twisting in your side. I was lucky to meet a doctor in a social setting who knew exactly what it was - my stomach lining was too thin and it was rubbing against itelf when I didn't have food to separate it. And he gave me a great remedy ... Licorice Root! These little chewable tablets are magic for my stomach! After 1 week on the magical licorice my stomach no longer hurt when it was empty! Awesome! Without licorice root I never would have been able to do endurance sports. So .... lately I have been lazy about taking it ... after I healed I only needed to take it once a week or once a month ... so it is easy to forget. And oh, how I paid for it on race day ... The whole ride it was like someone was sticking a knife into my stomach and twirling it around. I felt like I was 'limping' around the course. I knew the best thing I could do is get solids in ... so the banana I brought with me and the gels came in handy ... I ate them all! Of course when you put the first bit of food in it hurts even more because your stomach has to stretch out for it ... and is very unhappy. I threw up a few times while riding ... and ate some more. And that is how the bike went! I passed quite a few people, keep positive, and kept on doing what I knew I needed to do if I had a chance at finishing. Towards the end of the bike I was nervous about the run because it still hurt. But I knew I could move, and if I could move, I would try my best at running. I felt a slight twinge in my right hamstring ... ooooh, that was tight. I realized i'd be riding a bit funny due to the bruising/swelling on my right ankle. I was glad i'd had the foresight to put some tiger balm in my transition kit. I would need it!
3:10 in I finished the bike. Not stellar, but I finished, and I passed quite a few people. I was signing the song 'moving on up' in my head most of the time :) Off the bike my stomach was killing me. Jonathan was waiting for me outside the transition area and it's all he heard about ;-) I put some tiger balm on my hamstring, grabbed my running belt, changed my shoes, tossed my helmet, and off I went! Thankfully the banannas worked! Yay!!! I was so happy!!! The first few minutes into the run are always slow for me ... but i'd had the whole bike ride to warm up so it wasn't so bad. I was super amazed at how MANY people I passed on the run. I don't think of myself as a strong runner ... and I missed out on 6 weeks of running this summer due to sickness ... so I was not at the top of my game by any means. But I am not slow. I passed a lot of people - about 200 in fact. That was fun. I felt good, I felt strong, and I ran a solid race. I ended up averaging less than 8 min miles, finishing in 1:45. I was soooo happy to be done. Jonathan had left for his flight to China but the first thing I did was call him :)
Will I do another one? Yes! The challenge of a new sport is that you have so much to learn, and so much room to grow. I definitely want to do another one. And maybe, some day, a full Ironman. Here are the photos:
Sunday night was all about eating ... yummy homemade pasta sauce, pasta, bread, cheese, tomatoes ... anything I could find to eat :)
Thanks to the crew at Element Cycle for getting my road bike in top shape ... and to Norco for such a sweet ride! Next up is an off road triathlon -Xterra at Black Diamond!
