Spirit of Racine Half Ironman Triathlon - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

Started the swim by running in and then trying to find a place that was clear. But with that many woman going at the same time, we were swimming on top of each other until we hit the first buoy. I got used to the water fairly quickly. My breathing was comfortable and my stroke felt smooth. I believe the swim was short because typically I never swim this fast. Considering the cold water, which I was very anxious about, I think I stayed fairly calm and just did what I had to do.

Neoprene cap and booties.

Had a little trouble getting my wetsuit off..my hands were numb, so getting it off over my feet was a challenge.

nothing

Started out fairly easy..saw one of the donks (Tripletmom)flat twice the first 5 miles, felt bad for her. Overall..great course..fairly flat with a few gradual climbs felt pretty easy for me. Then the fun began about mile 10. I met up with another girl that decided to challenge me. She wanted to take me on and play a little game of tag. I took her on almost the whole course. When she would pass me I took the opportunity to push it and pass her again when she took a nutrition break. We went back and forth and then the last mile and a half she decided to take a pee on her bike. I flew by her and said "your it"...she laughed and said thanks for the good times today!! She did push it past me at the end and came in just seconds before me. Had a great ride!! Rode with perp and took 2 endurolytes every hour. They were handing out heed in waterbottles...not crazy about heed. But I managed to get used to it. Ate a banana...thought it was cool that they were handing out bananas at one of the aid stations. The crowd support on the bike portion was really great!!!

Nothing

All I could think about was how bad I had to pee. Got my shoes on and headed for the nearest porta potty.

Learn how to pee on the bike.

Faced a pretty good hill out of T2..ran it but had to get the inhaler out right away. Hot and humid conditions didn't help the asthma one bit. Legs were feeling pretty tired from pushing so hard on the bike. Really paid attention to my hydration on the whole course. They were passing out ice so I put a bunch under my hat and down my shirt to cool off. Felt great. About mile 5 I had trouble breathing again so I stopped to use the inhaler again. Walked for a bit to get my breathing under control. I was thinking to myself this is gonna be a long run today. Continued to use the endurolytes and drank plenty of water and choked down more heed (yuck). Felt ok until I hit about mile 8, again had to get the inhaler out. Now I was getting pissed and couldn't figure out why I was having so many issues. Again had to walk. Also, something was not sitting well in my stomach..my guess is it was the heed. Made a B-line to the porta potty only to discover there were 3 other runners waiting to use it. Crap! I knew I wouldn't be able to continue if I didn't go. Started running again feeling pretty good thinking yeah its almost over. Hit mile 11 and again asthma issues. The medical cart came over and asked if I was ok and I told them I was fine and they waited near me until I got my breathing under control again. I was not going to quit!! Finally the finish was in site. I pushed it to the end and as I neared the finish, heard a huge amount of cheering. I looked to my right and saw all the great BTers and Donkey group gathered near the finish line cheering everyone on as they were coming in. What a great support group. This is one of the reasons I love this sport so much...great people and great support. :)

Nothing...Asthma just happens I guess!

Walked over to the BT/Donkey tent...chatted, had a beer (thanks Terri and Clint for the refreshments) :), stretched and then headed home. Also thank you Phil for navagating me all over Racine.


Asthma, heat


Loved this race. Would do it again next year. The lake was great, bike course was easy and the run was nice. Awesome volunteers!