New Balance 1/2 Ironman - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

Not sure of rank as they haven't parsed out the results yet. I think I was the 5th woman (I was 81st including men/women). Somehow I totally missed the 1:00 warning, and was standing around with my goggles on my forehead when the gun went off. Crap!!! That flustered me a little bit but I got off OK. I had tried to start near the front/right and I found a rhythm pretty quickly. I don't tend to draft -- can never find legs the right speed and don't like feet in my face. I swam side-by-side with one guy for much of the swim. Rounded every buoy really tightly, so good navigation. I felt good and just tried to be relaxed and not tax myself too much. A nice swim!!

Pay more attention to the start so I don't get caught off-guard!

Pretty smooth. I didn't want to rush it, but the adrenaline really kicks in and it's hard to slow down! Tried to dry off my back and spray on some sunscreen. No problems with anything.

Nothing.

So the bad part about being a good swimmer is that there aren't many people in front of you on the bike so you get passed.... a lot. Add to that the fact that biking is my weakess and I get passed.... a lot. I am totally prepared for this, but it does get demoralizing after awhile. I passed my first person at 25 miles, and he passed me right back. We cat-and-moused for about 15 miles, and I eventually prevailed. Overall I passed four people. Four.

I tried to gear down and not kill myself on the hills, but also tried not to be too much of a pansy. Tried to really pick up the downhills and push comfortably hard on the few flat areas.

I had to pee pretty badly, which I have never done on the bike. I told 3 people passing me on a hill that I was contemplating taking this big step, and the woman totally told me to go for it. On the next downhill, we got a decent shower, so I let 'er rip. People tell you to pee on your bike all the time, but they never tell you what happens: It runs down your legs, into your shoes, just everywhere. The rain was very helpful!

Around mile 40 I had to pee again, but there was no rain and I only had Infinit. At the next aid station, I swapped out my empty bottle for a water bottle, and then peed again and rinsed off. So glad I have mastered this race strategy! I did not want to get off my bike to take care of that!!

My loops were split pretty evenly -- I think I was about 2:00 slower on the 2nd loop, but there was definitely more wind. I kept looking for my training buddy Heidi towards the end of the ride. I swim faster, she bikes faster, and we are pretty closely matched for the run. We had a fantasy of running together, but I didn't see her. Oh well.

I tried to ride my own ride and just keep the pace smooth and not kill myself so I'd have some legs for the run. I did a good job. I wonder if I could have pushed harder, but if I did who knows what I would have lost on the run.

My parents and kids (and Heidi's husband and kids) were there at the end cheering me on -- sooooo cool to see that!!

Be better!! But I can't change that on race day, so I'll just keep training!

Not sure of time, as it is grouped with my 1st run loop (many are, I hope they parse it out). I had a hard time racking my bike as one of the fancy elite bikes was crowding my space. Everything was wet from the earlier rain. The area was a mess and I also had a hard time finding my Garmin wrist strap. As I was looking around, I heard Heidi yelling at me -- she had just come in from the bike. Yeah!! So I waited a few seconds for her so we could run together. Fun!

Put my Garmin wrist strap in my hat so I don't lose it.

This was HARD... but it's meant to be, right? I started with Heidi and we just tried to pretend it was a training run. She is a strong runner! I felt pretty good starting out, didn't have icky bike legs, really. I felt like we were pushing a bit, but I was gonna go for it. I didn't have my Garmin set to HR, for better or worse -- had I known my HR I probably would have slowed down! I had to walk a few steps through aid stations as I have a really hard time drinking and running. Heidi ran the aid stations and it was hard to catch her. I ran behind her about 5 feet for much of the 1st lap, then caught her for the go-around. Saw Heidi's family and mine too -- so that was encouraging. I ate two Gus and drank some water.

The 2nd loop was definitely harder, we were feeling it. But we kept trying to push ourselves. I really hate Gus but I knew I needed nutrition so I forced down a 3rd one. About that time Heidi was ahead again (after water at an aid station) and I told her I was having a hard time. We had already agreed that we would totally do our own race and not wait for one another. So I let her go but tried to keep her in my sights.

I was having some pretty negative thoughts, which for me means I need nutrition. So I forced down a 4th Gu at about 13 or 14K. The last 6K were hard. I knew I was in a position to crush my 6:00 goal, so I was telling myself, "It's OK to walk! You'll still be sub-6:00!" But I was also hearing Heidi's husband in my head. The day before he had said, "You've done all the training. Now it's just about what's between your ears. It's 100% mental." I did not want to be mentally weak. So NO WALKING. Passed 15K, and I'm thinking, "OK... 3.1 miles to go. It's not so bad. Even if you slow down you'll be done in less than 30 minutes." When I passed 16K, I told myself, "It's like swimming 4000 meters. That's so easy, and that's SWIMMING. This is RUNNING. Piece of cake." (But it sure didn't feel like it.) Same pep talk at 17K -- only now it's like swimming 3000 meters. NO BIG DEAL. At 18K I told myself, "You just have to run what you swam this morning. That was such an easy swim. Imagine running it. No big deal!!" At 19K it was just, "HANG ON HANG ON HANG ON. You can do this and finish strong." A few hundred yards from the finish line my kids came running up. They are fast and strong!! We held hands and ran like gang-busters for the finish chute. I could see the timer ticking down... could I get there sub-5:43? No... I couldn't. But who cares, cuz I got to STOP!!!

I told myself during the run that maybe I shouldn't have stayed with Heidi the first lap and I could have finished stronger. But maybe I would have just been slower overall, so it's good she pushed me. I think the end of a run will always be tough -- it's part of the bargain, right? (Heidi ended up with a 5:40 -- she negative split her run. We were 11th and 12th in our AG, which we were so happy about!)

I had to sit for a few minutes, Heidi told me to drink Gatorade. I was really overwhelmed and just spent spent spent. I made myself eat some bagel w/peanut butter and a cookie, drank a few cups of Gatorade. Went to the lake and stood waist-deep -- to rinse off the pee (!) and rest the legs. Got a 15' massage. Tried to walk, but I just hurt. Cried a little. Ached. Limped. Then we pretty much hopped in the car and went off to catch a ferry. I finally showered around 11pm that night! Dad drove home so I napped and relaxed in the car.


Nothing, really. I think I did what I was capable of doing on that day and on that course.


A really lovely race. Smaller than many HIMs (about 600 participants). A gorgeous course in a lovely setting. Challenging but not crushing. Super-friendly competitors. Good swag -- cool hooded tech sweatshirt.