SOMA Half Ironman Triathlon - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

Our wave slowly inched forward as everyone in front of us got in the water. They had stadium stairs leading into the lake, which was nice. We had to squeeze over as our wave was getting in, as the lead Quarterman swimmer was coming in. The clock kept ticking and at 45 sec to go I was still on land. Not good. I got down the stairs and the girl right in front of me hesitated getting in the water. WTF! 15 seconds to go. I jumped in and started swimming towards the buoys, but it was too late. The starting gun went off, so I started my watch and swam towards the starting line. At least I wasn't caught in the washing machine.

I was careful this time to not go completely anaerobic off the start like I did during the Deuces Wild XTERRA earlier this year. I just told myself to keep calm and keep swimming. The sun was coming up, so it was hard to see the buoys. Myself and another lady were searching for the turnaround buoy, and one of the kayakers pointed to it with his paddle. I could barely see it with the glare. At the second turnaround buoy I checked my watch and it said 29:00. I was behind schedule. I was hoping to finish the swim in 45 min, but I was running about 7 min behind. After the turnaround I was able to see much better. At this point my underarms were hurting really bad from my top chafing. It was actually my sports bra under the top that was causing the problems. It had never caused problems on the shorter tris, but I also must not have put enough Bodyglide on in that particular area.

I had to pee about 3 times in the water on the way back. I don't know what was up there. Finally I got to the last turnaround buoy and could see the stairs. There were guys waiting on the bottom step to pull us out. It felt like it took forever to swim that last little bit to the stairs. I grabbed a guy's hand and made my way up the stairs slowly, as I didn't want to fall. The concrete after the stairs was also wet, so I walked as to not slip. The wetsuit strippers were right there at the carpeted area afterwards, and I wasn't ready for them. Normally I have my top unvelcroed, so I just turned around and had them do it. They got my wetsuit off pretty quick, and I trotted down the chute. They didn't have the timing mat until the end of the chute right before the entrance to the bike corral. So getting out of the water and getting the wetsuit off was counted in my swim time.

Go a bit faster on the swim. I was trying to stay calm and pace myself, but I may have been too conservative. This is my first half IM, so I didn't know what to expect. All I knew was, I had a long day ahead.

I got to my transition area, and Holly, a fellow Tucson Tri Girl was there as well, just a few bikes over from me. It was nice to have someone else to talk to during that part. I pulled my sports bra away from my skin and put on more Bodyglide where it hurt, but it was already seriously chafed on both sides, and on 2 spots on each arm. I took my time getting everything on, including my gloves. I didn't want to leave anything behind by going out too quick.

Nothing. My T1 time was what I expected.

The bike course started in a construction zone on the road, so carpet was laid down over most of the dirt before we got to the pavement. After that, we had one lane, as the right lane was completely chewed up. About a mile in I saw the first aid station, which was also an aid station for the run. Everyone there was dressed up in Halloween costumes. I saw Bat Girl, a girl dressed up like a Tic-Tac-Toe board, and a few others dressed as hippies. The course went up to Priest, then an on-ramp parallell to the 202. After that there was a short hill as we went over the 202, and I saw a guy fixing a flat there. A quick downhill and a turn onto Washington followed. A girl in front of me was reaching for her water bottle, and dropped it. The cap flew off and water flew everywhere. Then she reached for her Gu flask, and dropped that too, and it burst. I was going to be careful with my nutrition bottle, as I didn't want that happening to me. We turned onto Priest and headed back to the main area of the race. There were several bumps, and you knew when they were coming up as the sponge tops from the aerobottles were lying all over the ground.

I got onto Rio Salado, and there was a huge crowd down by the race. I heard someone yell "Go Tucson Tri Girls!" so that was cool. I also saw Zac and waved to him. Rio Salado was the longest straight stretch of road. I was finally able to stay in the aerobars for a longer length of time.

For my nutrition on the bike, I was relying solely on the vanilla Spiz in my bottle. I calculated out about 5.5 scoops for a 22oz bottle to give me 200 cal/hr. I figured on about a 3.5 hr ride, and measured out and marked my bottle with lines for every hour. The top block was 1, the second was 2, third was 3, and fourth was 0.5. This way, I could drink and hold the bottle up to make sure I was on track. I took a sip of Spiz every 10 min followed by water from my aerobottle, just like I practiced in training. In between feedings I sipped water to stay hydrated. Had to pee at Mile 20 (Bat Girl aid station), and again at Mile 43. There was no aid station there, but luckily the parking lot to Sun Devil Stadium was still open, and porta potties were still there from yesterday's homecoming game. I zipped in there, and chose the least gross of the 2 available, which had a turd in the middle of the floor. I had to pee so bad at that point I didn't care, and just placed my feet carefully. Rio Salado is a major street, and there were cops everywhere, or else I would have dove into the bushes.

I kept a slow pace on the bike, so that I could work on my hydration and nutrition. In hindsight, this was probably a bit to conservative, but I didn't want to go too fast and not be able to drink. I figured if I kept drinking water and Spiz, I'd be ok.

For how much they talked about drafting at the rider's meeting, there sure was a lot of it going on. I had pace lines passing me. At one point I saw a group of 20 bikes together. One section of construction was labeled "no passing zone" for safety, but people were passing there anyways. If I were a race official, I would have hung out in that area. What good is a rule and holding up everyone at a racer's meeting going over such rules if they aren't enforced? I did have a motorcycle pass by me several times with a draft official on board, but I was at the back and always by myself.

I would have enjoyed the bike much better if it were 2 loops. 3 loops gets to be a bit boring. The last 10 miles I couldn't stay in the aerobars anymore. My body was just more comfortable sitting upright at that point. But coming off the bike I felt much better than I did during my 58 mile training ride a few weeks prior. Probably because on that ride I was battling the wind.

Going through the crowd at the intersection of Mill Ave. was a blast. There were a ton of people cheering, and I always heard "Go Tri Girls" each time I went through. My purple Tri Girls jersey made me feel like a rock star. It was great having fellow club members there cheering the whole way.

Go out a bit faster on the bike. I didn't know how fast I could go and still be able to stick to my nutrition plan. I kept a steady & slow pace to make sure I could keep eating. When I rolled into T2, I had finished all of my Spiz, so I had gotten all of my calories in.

I rolled into T2 feeling pretty good. Well, as good as to be expected. Zac was right there on the other side of the fence, encouraging me as I got my run stuff on. Another girl a rack over from me was talking to her boyfriend over the fence, and he was trying to convince her to go out on the run. "You'll kick yourself tomorrow if you don't finish" he told her. She went ahead and went out on the run. I told Zac it was a long way, and I was going to go slow, but I wanted to finish. Running has always been the worst of the 3 sports for me.

Nothing. T2 took as long as I expected.

A few hundred feet into the run I saw the girl that left T2 just ahead of me. She was heading back to the transition area, and taking her number belt off. I wanted to say something to try to encourage her to keep going and not accept a DNF, but I didn't know what to say.

As I started the run, I saw posters taped to the sidewalk that said "We love Tucson Tri Girls!" and "Go Tri Girls!" Dang, this club is great!

I was hoping there would be porta potties outside of T2, but they were all on the OTHER side of the fence. What was up with that? I'm not going to go backwards and around taking some serpentine path to get to the potties. I want to use all my energy to go forward on the course. But I knew there was a potty at the Bat Girl aid station. I tried to run, but my bladder got the best of me, and I had a cramp and had to walk. I got to the aid station and the potty was free (thank goodness!) and I felt MUCH better after that. I passed by the first mile marker, and my watch showed 15:00. Crap! That was slower than I wanted, but I had walked alot there. I got onto Priest Drive, and at this point the sun was super hot. It felt like a hundred degrees, but it was really in the upper 80's (I think). I was carrying my water bottle with me, so I was able to constantly dump water all over me. I also had my vanilla PowerGels. I took a few bites every 10 min, followed by water, and sipped water in between feedings.

The next aid station reminded me of Candy Land. They had all sorts of candy decorations up along the path. I slowly trotted along, and noticed a lot of people were mixing walking and shuffling. I ran along the stretch along Tempe Town Lake. It felt like I was going really slow, but the sun was beating down on me. I saw lots of lobster backed racers passing by. The third aid station had kids dressed up like Captain Underpants. Very cute.

I used the first loop to figure out where the run course went. At least I had a lot of people with me, but they were all on their second loop. We ran down to the horse stables, then across the Scottsdale bridge. After that there was a strange out & back section on a dirt trail that I wasn't too fond of. As I ran, I was passing mile markers that read 11 and 12, but those weren't for me. I still had another loop. I kept hearing "You're almost there!" I hated having to admit I had another loop to go and people replying with a quiet "oh."

I finally made it back to the bridges and the expo area. I had to pass by the sign that pointed to the finish line, as I still had 6 more miles to suffer. Zac was there waiting for me under a tree, and he took a picture as I ran by. 6 more miles to go. This is going to hurt.

After I passed by the expo area, I was all alone. There was a guy way up ahead of me that had a friend riding next to him on a bicycle. The friend on the bike told me the aid station up ahead was still open, as his friend had just passed through. The guy on the bike was going back to find out how long the finish line would be open for.

Then it hit me. Was there a cutoff time? What if an official finds me on the course and pulls me off because I was too slow and they are closing the course? I started to run faster. I got to the Bat Girl aid station, and refilled my bottle with fresh ice water. I hit Priest, and once again it was super hot (maybe because of the traffic right next to the course). I told myself to keep running. I could see the guy in front of me way ahead, as he was already heading down to the second aid station, which was still half a mile away from me. There was no way I could catch up, but there was no one behind me either. So I kept running, slowly. I finally got to the aid station, and they handed me a bottle of water as they packed up. I tried to run after that, but couldn't. My legs just wouldn't go. So I tried to walk, fast. After the aid station, there was no one. I had no one running by me, and no one to talk to. At this point I though for sure I was the last racer on the course. As I walked I started to panic. What if they didn't let me finish? I didn't train 20 weeks not to finish. But I couldn't make my legs go any faster. I'm slow, but I want to finish! Please just let me finish!

I was alone on the course, and my thoughts were spinning wildly with paranoia of being pulled off the course by an official. Vehicles with volunteers were going back and forth picking up supplies from the aid stations, and as each one passed by I though for sure one was going to pull over and someone was going to get out and tell me to get in for a ride back to the expo area. I was just past Mile 8 at this point, but Mile 10 seemed so far away, and the finish was horribly far away. I tried not to think about it and just tried to get to Mile 10. I looked across the lake and could see the expo area where the finish line was. Zac was waiting for me there. I wished he was with me, just so I could have someone to talk to. It was like I was in solitary confinement.

I made it to the next aid station, where the Captain Underpants kids used to be. There was a moving truck there with the aid station supplies loaded, and a lady reached in the back and got me a bottle of water. "I'm sorry, they told us we were done" the lady said. "It's ok...thanks" I whispered. For some reason I couldn't talk very well. Now I thought for sure I was the last one out there. I hobbled along, just trying to make my goal of reaching Mile 10. Running was too painful, and at this point walking was probably faster. I just tried to keep moving forward. I was also force feeding myself. I hated gel and everything about it, but knew if I stopped eating, my race would be over for sure.

Finally I reached Mile 10, and just a short ways after was another aid station. The volunteers there told me that there was one more racer behind me. I wanted to believe them, but the paranoia wouldn't let me. "Are you sure?" I asked. "That's what they radioed to us" the volunteer replied. I now had a new goal...to not be the last one. I climbed up the hill after the aid station and got to the Scottsdale bridge. Fueled by a new goal, I started running (well, hobbling, but something a bit faster than my walk). If I could just make it to the end of the bridge and put that distance between us, I could finish in front of someone. With each step I yelled the word "run." Homelss people rode past me on their 3 wheeled bicycles and looked at me like I was crazy. "Run...run...run." I made it to the end of the bridge and the short turnaround onto the walking path. At this point I had to walk, but as I headed down the path I could see the bridge, and no one was on it. Maybe the volunteer had lied to me to try to push me to finish. As I headed down to the lake path, there were other racers coming towards me who had just finished the out & back. They were about a mile in front of me, but it was comforting to finally see other racers and know I wasn't completely alone.

I walked along the dirt path of the out & back, and on my way back I saw 3 people walking towards me. I thought that maybe one of them was the guy behind me, and the other 2 had already finished their race and came back to run with him to help him finish. "Tell them there's one more" one of the guys said as I walked by. They were half a mile behind me. If I kept moving foward, I'd be able to stay ahead.

I hit the final aid station at Mile 12, where a kid there handed me a bottle of water. It was nice to see they hadn't all left. Just after that I came across some younger girls that had been volunteering, and they cheered for me and gave me high fives. I had less than a mile to go. The last part was along the lake, and there were rental sailboats out on the water. Must be nice to spend a Sunday afternoon in such a relaxing manner rather than torturing yourself for 70 miles. The bridges where the expo area was slowly grew closer. Finally I got to the sign that pointed the way off the lake path and to the finish. A volunteer was there with a radio, and she directed me to a row of cones leading in the grass up to the street. "You've got about 500 meters to go" she said. I couldn't believe it! I was almost there! I could see the finish line, and the archway was still up.

I got onto the street, and it was a straight shot to the finish line. I mustered a slow jog, and slowly moved along. The crowds were gone, but the people dining outside of Monti's Italian restaurant were cheering. I waved and tried to smile. There were about 10 people by the finish line, and they cheered and I tried really hard to wave and smile. The announcer was still there, and even announced my name and that I was from Tucson, AZ. Finally I heard the beep of the timing mat, and I crossed the line. Zac was right there at the end, and put my finisher's medal over my head. "Congratulations!" one of the volunteers said. "Thanks" I said softly, as my voice was faint and cracking from trying to hold back tears.

Do more run training in the heat.

I headed straight for the RV, which was parked in the lot pretty close to the finish line. Each step was painful, and I just wanted to take my shoes and shirt off. My feet were killing me, and my sports bra was still cutting into the chafed area. I got inside and immediately sat down. There was no way I was going back for my bike and stuff in transition, so I gave Zac my number belt and wristband so that he could get them. I had barely enough energy to get out of my race clothes and into a T-shirt and shorts. I laid down right away. I tried to eat a few bites of banana, as I hadn't had anything solid to eat all day, but I wasn't hungry. I was just enjoying laying down and not moving. I fell asleep and slept the entire drive home. Once we got home I felt much better, and ready to eat some real food. I was craving minestrone soup and Cheeze-It crackers.

After I got some food in me, Zac said I was looking and acting much better that I had been after the Deuces Wild XTERRA (I had bonked hard on the run during that race). The part that felt the worst was the area on my arms and chest where I was chafed real bad. Other than that, it was just the usual soreness. The next morning I didn't feel too bad. Just a little sore like I always was after races.

This 1/2 IM was an intermediate goal. I wanted to do this race this year, because I want to do IMAZ in 2007 for my 30th birthday. So this race was part of that goal. I'm glad I finished, but I'm bummed about my slow time. It was way later than what I was hoping for, but the heat on the run probably played into that. Even Tim DeBoom (who won) said it was hot. What has me worried is the rule of thumb estimate of taking your 1/2 IM time, doubling it, and adding an hour. That would put me at 18 hours, 1 hour over the cutoff time.

Right now, I can't grasp the idea of completing that race. The half marathon was really painful, and I don't know if I could continue on for another 13 miles. I know 2007 is quite a ways away, but to me it seems really close. I would start training in Oct of next year for the race, which is why it seems so close.

This race was also a test to see if I could follow a structured training plan for 20 weeks. I did pretty well following it, but I was getting really burned out on structured training in the last month. 20 weeks is a long time. I might do better with a 16 week plan, but I don't know. I have time to figure it out. But I'm glad I did this race this year. I don't think I could've done this race and then jumped right into training for IMAZ just a few weeks after.

It's been exactly 1 year since I did my first tri. If you would've asked me a year ago if I was going to do a 1/2 IM the next year, I would've told you you were crazy.

THANK YOU TO:
Zac - First and foremost my husband. He took over lots of housework, and encouraged me the whole way. I couldn't have done it without him.

BT - Without this site and the training logs, plans, forums, articles...everything, I probably never would have done this. I used the BT 1/2 IM training plan to get this far.

Tucson Tri Girls - A great club, and when you put that purple jersey on for the race you get a ton of people cheering for you. I even had a guy in a UofA jersey say "Go Tri Girls" on the run.

G8RLA94, jeng, and everyone else who wrote a 1/2 IM report - I gained a lot watching other's blogs and reading their race reports. I felt like G8RLA94 was my virtual training "partner" as he was on the same training plan as I was at about the same time and did his first 1/2 IM one week before mine.

The volunteers - Especially those that wore Halloween costumes on the course. When your goal is to "get to the next aid station" it's nice that the people there are friendly and not peeved after spending an entire day out in the sun.

THANK YOU EVERYONE!!!


Lack of knowledge and experience of a 1/2 Ironman race.


Registration took quite a long time, and the bike course was laid out kind of goofy, but overall a good event. Results with splits were posted on their website when I checked the very next day!

I checked the results, and I finished in front of those 3 people, so I wasn't last! :) There were also 41 DNFs, so I'm glad I wasn't one of those.