Spirit of Racine Half Ironman Triathlon - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

When we first started out in the water I was like, "Holy @#$", this water is cold. When my face and chest hit the water it sucked the air right out of me. I was like man what must be going through peoples minds out here. Pretty exciting stuff.

I was passing people like crazy. This is fun, but gets boring after a while. I wish I could just find a pair of feet to hang on for the ride. Alot of times I would come up on a pair of feet so fast that I would get kicked in the face.

Sighting was super easy in this one. The water was crystal clear. You could see people 30 feet away from you in the water. So I looked up occasionally to keep in line on the bouys.

I did run into a regular bouy and bonked my head.

This swim felt ALOT shorter than the 2 miler we did in Crystal Lake last week.

The new wetsuit worked great. I am really happy that I bought it. I also swam with some wax earplugs to keep the water out and two swim caps.

Nothing

I felt a little slow here because I wanted to make sure I got ALL the sand off of my feet and that I had all the nutrition that I was going to need in the back of my top.

I might get a Bento Box to store the nutrition.

Fun, fun, fun. The field I was with were pretty fast. We kept passing each other back and forth. There were some guys who were definitely drafting. I say this because I heard them talking to each other. They got busted later for it. I was about 30 ft back and was giggling to myself. About 30 miles into it was was pacing with a couple guys and was good until the end. I drank 3 bottles of Heed and 2 bottles of water on the ride. I took 12 gels, 15 Endurolytes, and 6 Ibuprofen. I never had to relieve myself. I almost got to close behind a guy who was able to let go on the bike. Wow, that would have sucked.

I am really happy with this performance. The pace was 22.4 and I was shooting for over 22. Schmize thought I could easily do it, but I am never sure until I actually do.

The roads kinda sucked in some areas which the carbon dudes had an easier time with. I would pass them on the flats and the hills. For know I am going to stay with the aluminum bike.

I felt really good at the end. Good to get off the bike.

Nothing.

T2 was not that fast for me. I didn't really work hard at making it fast. I got my socks on and my PF strap and made double sure that there was no sand in my shoes.

I have run like 30 miles the last 7 weeks because of plantars fasciitis in my left foot from the Rockford marathon. So my expectations were not very high. In fact I was pretty nervous about this. I started out from the bike and things felt wierd, like hey what the hell am I doing running. My heartrate got up pretty high climbing the hills at the beginning so I walked them. I think I might have ran a negative split because I was feeling much better the second half thant the first.
The first half I was being passed by everyone and their grandmother, which is kinda humiliating. I chalked this up to having an awesome swim and bike. The sun came out at the beginning of the run and it really started to heat up out there. As the heat started to settle down on us I noticed some people start falling apart. I was like, "Hey, I still feel pretty good. I must be doing alright." At mile 7 I startd to feel that I was going to finish the race without walking and without injury. I walked most of the water stations and took in a bunch of Heed and water. At mile 9 I took 4 or 5 Endurolytes. I took about 4 gels during the run. The ice was nice. I took a couple cups and folded them over and shoved them in my shirt. This kept me cool and kept my nipples from bleeding (which always happens to me). Worked well. I think that will become routine for me.

At mile 12 I thought I could push it a little and my left quad started to cramp. That was my first cramp all day. I was afraid of doing damage so I stopped and stretched a bit. I was able to make it to the end without any other incident. Awesome.

The clock said 5:20 when I crossed so I got way excited that I came in at 5:00.

I don't think I will be doing any more marathons in May.

Check out all the salt crystals on my arms! Hey I think I might have beat 5 hours. Honey give me a big hug! No? How about a kiss? Wow was that water cold! Where were you at T1. I was too fast for ya hey? Hee hee! Did I beat Schmize? Nowhere close, huh. Oh, well. We gotta find some shade.

We watched some people finish and I chatted with a grandparent named Jack whose son was John. They were from Florida. I had fun telling them all about the obsession that is triathlon.


Foot injury. That is the only excuse I had for today.


Awesome race! I got to see Schmize and jzat during the race. I did not recognize anyone else. I was pretty focused. About a week ago Schmize said it was on like Donkey Kong. So I would like to point out that I beat him in the swim and the bike. Oh yeah baby!! I guess those 4:30AM rides really paid off.