login
 Swim
Comments: I wanted to take a break from treading at the start so I floated on my back for a minute. Water covered my ears so it was quiet. I was looking up at the bridge and all the people cheering and waving there hands. Out of the corner of my eye I could see all the people on the side looking for their swimmer and cheering. This was another moment where I just "took it all in" and loved it. I was thrilled that the course was clockwise being that my left lung was most troublesome (inflammation).I had contact with swimmers but nothing major. A lot of people touching my feet which at first freaked me out but I just stayed focused on keeping a steady pace. More than ever I knew I couldn't let my breathing get out of control so I purposely moved "slow" at the start which turned out to be "normal" given my race excitement. About halfway through the swim my left side started hurting (left lung) and I said to myself "Do not think about anything other than getting to the next buoy. I will reassess at T1 if I can continue" What would you do differently?: not be sick. Sight a little more frequently. Other than that I am happy with how it went  Transition 1
Comments: I was a little shaky after the swim. I was so excited to have made the time cutoff but I was nervous about my lungs holding up. As I slowly went through the motion of changing I was talking to myself. "I can do this. Even if I slow it down. I can do it" The volunteers in the changing tent were awesome. They told me to just leave my stuff. They packed it up and moved it, sprayed me down with sunblock and cheered me out of the tent. What would you do differently?: Given the circumstances, I feel good about this transition.  Bike
Comments: Tough but doable. I had gone out and previewed this course (thank God!). Before the preview someone said "There is no need to hammer up a hill because there is always another one coming, always" Noted. I knew I was going into this course hurt but I also knew I had trained on all hills for the past couple months. Things I said to myself on this course: 1. stay in the box. my box is only 5 miles long. 2. I am only working half this course. the downhills are the reward. I was on my way back from the 1st turnaround and I let my head go a little negative. I was thinking "poor me. I'm uncomfortable and feel bad for myself" Right then I rode up behind a girl who was also doing the half...with one leg. I sat up a little straighter and started cranking up the hill. What would you do differently?: Nothing Transition 2
Comments: Umm..I didn't really know I was supposed to do all of the items listed above. At Silverman a volunteer takes your bike and racks it for you. I just headed into the changing tent. It was like heaven. There were chairs, heaters, and nice volunteers that served you cool drinks. I wanted to stay forever... What would you do differently?: not sit down. Not a good time to lose momentum.  Run
Comments: I hesitated to write a race report because the course is not bad. I was. Each step involved pain and my left lung felt like it was on fire. I walked for the majority of this course, something I've never done before. It took patience and a hell of a lot of determination. I met up with someone who was doing the full for my last 3 miles. He was walking because his stomach wouldn't tolerate a run. We race walked and talked our way for 3 miles which helped immensely. As I approached the finish chute I said "I will run this no matter what" I picked it up and crossed the finish line and loved it. What would you do differently?: I gave what I had and I have to feel good about that. Post race
Warm down: I ate 2 cookies and wandered around the athlete area. I knelt down and cried for a minute - a release. The girl with one leg came up to me and said "Do you remember me from the bike?" I should have told her that I not only remembered her but she made me keep going. She said "You look like you're having a hard time. Are you alone? You can hang out with us if you want." I talked about the race with her for a bit and left just absolutely touched by her reaching out to me. What limited your ability to perform faster: being sick. that's it. Event comments: If you are up for a challenge, you like hills, want to enjoy a beautiful course and want to call yourself a bada*s - then do this race. Last updated: 2010-07-24 12:00 AM
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
View profile
Add to friends
Go to training log
Go to race log
Send a message
View album
CONNECT WITH FACEBOOK
United States
75F / 24C
Overcast
Overall Rank = 529/545
Age Group = 25-29
Age Group Rank = 12/12
My hotel room was right at T1 and my race didn't start until 8:30a. I wanted to get up a little early to see my husband start the full at 7a so I set my alarm for 6a.
My eyes literally popped open at 3:30a and I knew I was up for good. Things that caused me to be this nervous: 1. This was my first half ironman. I had just started doing triathlons the previous November 2. This is the hardest triathlon in the country 3. I had just walked out of the ER 9 days earlier with a confirmed case of pneumonia
At 5:00a I had a power bar and a couple sips of coffee
At 5:30a Will (my husband) and I headed down to T1 for body marking and last minute adjustments. I was making myself crazy running through scenarios in my head of how the race could go so I decided to focus on Will and the other people preparing for the full. Once I forced myself to get out of my own head I really started to take in the atmosphere and all of the Energy that I could feel just being there. I started to get excited!
After I saw Will start his swim I still had an hour and a half to kill. I met up with my friends Richard, Dean and Kim, Robin, Lisa, and some other BTers. It was really cool knowing that we were all going to be starting this thing together (mass swim start). We stood around, talked about what we were about to do and took pictures.
I didn't have a "warmup plan" per se but I saw other people warming up their arms for the swim so I did a little of that. I actually think I got more of a warmup treading water for 10 min before the start