Beginner 1/2 Ironman Plan Group (Page 138)

I'm 2.5 weeks out.  The jitterz are starting.  I'm anxious even typing this. 

Good News.  After hearing what kind of bike I'm taking to my HIM, My professor, who's completed 4 IM's says, "you got your bike rack on your car."  I say, "yes."  He says, "Get in your car and follow me home.  Your gonna ride on my Giant. (his training bike) It'll be much better."

So I follow him to his house, and sure enough, he completed his first of 4 IM's on this bike.  It is an aluminum aero frame, aero fork, aero seat, 105 shimamo throughout, 10 gear cassette, and he is my exact height.  He throws me a farmer John wetsuit out of his closet and says to use it if they'll let me for the bouyancy factor.  WOW, what a turn of events.

I took it for a spin last night and averaged 20mph on a 10 mile ride.  Not to shabby since my best to date on my outdated bike was 18.5 on a 30 miler.  My bike is getting worked on today.  I had an appointment at LBS to change cassette and chain, rear wheel, brake cables and shifter cables.  Now, I'm going to see if they can tune up the Giant for me (there extremely slammed.)

Same thing here. The calf cramps on the swim had no impact on the bike, but they destroyed my run.  I didn't cramp on the run, but they were so fatigued from having been cramped for so long during the swim, it was ultra-painful and if felt like if I pushed too hard they would explode.

My Dad says quinine is the answer.  He orders it from Canada (not available in the US over the counter) and says it instantly relieves cramps.  He trains horses and doesn't do tri's, but if it works it works... I plan on doing a little research.

Kevin, that is absolutely fantastic! 

Which race are you doing (since I'm new to the group and know nothing )?

Okay, to end the suspense--I DID IT!!!! No race report yet as I don't have the detailed results with splits, just the overall time and approximate memories of each leg's time as I did it. I finished Chelanman, my first HIM, yesterday, in 5:53:40, sixth overall, won my age group. (Overall didn't count for age group--handy, that, as one of the top three was over 40!) Not entirely without incident but it was a beautiful race with gorgeous weather low 60's at start, low 80's by end, sunny, light breeze) and probably perfect conditions for me. Report will follow when I get the results.

Swim: According to my mom, I was the first woman out of the water. I didn't notice/care. Water was about 70 degrees, pleasant with a wetsuit, perfect course for me. With a current going out and into strong current coming back. I'm good at that for some reason and I passed oodles of people! Got the famous flourescent orange underwater cable to myself for nearly the entire return trip. Swim split (when I got out of the water, not official, 35:28. Felt great!

T1: Awful. My hands were cold and wouldn't work. Temps in low 60's but cold wind off the lake had me shivering and I kept dropping my watch, fumbling with shoes, gloves, etc. Probably about 5 minutes!

Bike: For me, good. The course at Chelanman is long (race literature says 58.1; my odometer said 57.98) and hilly--rolling hills for the first 34 miles, a 22-mile loop with three major climbs and two big descents, and a little flat bit back to town.  My split was about 3:27, 16.8 mph average. It felt like the entire field passed me on the bike leg, but I just tried to keep my own pace. The new gears performed well but I managed to jump the chain off the rings twice and this wasted a little time. This happens to me on other bikes so suspect it was just overly impatient shifting.

Run: 1:43 something. I think. Just ran by feel. I passed lots of people; only one person passed me --a guy I had biked near and done much of the run with. Felt tired but very relaxed, no soreness or difficulties until 10 miles when, for the first time in my life, my calf muscle cramped. This slowed me down a little to mile 12 then I saw a woman about 200m up ahead and, not knowing if she was in my AG or not, decided I had to go for it, cramp or no cramp. Luckily at this point the course was flat. Took off after her, passed with maybe 1 km to go. Saw the police light blinking at the final turn for the finish, crowds started yelling and for some reason I started "sprinting". At least it felt like it--last mile was well under 7. Praying, laughing, crying, talking to myself--hard to explain. I get really emotional at the end of long races, esp. this one as anyone who has followed the saga leading up to it will know why.  Note to beginners--DON'T do this at the end of your first HIM, unless maybe prize money is involved. I was doing okay till that point but finished pretty miserable....almost fell over onto the table while they were taking off my timing chip! FWIW--I beat the poor lady by almost five minutes, and it turned out she wasn't in my age group.

Very sore yesterday and this AM but not too bad now; don't want to look at the bike or think about running for at least a few days, though. Overall happy with the race--it was, in many ways, a perfect race for me--maybe I could have pushed the run a bit harder in retrospect, if I had that much of a "kick" left, but as I did it there was definitely nothing left to give when I crossed that line!

Thanks to all who offered support and encouraged me to hang in there when the going got rather epically tough. In the end, it was worth it, the journey even more than the destination.  Best of luck to all of you, wherever you are on your own journey!

Okay, to end the suspense--I DID IT!!!! No race report yet as I don't have the detailed results with splits, just the overall time and approximate memories of each leg's time as I did it. I finished Chelanman, my first HIM, yesterday, in 5:53:40, sixth overall, won my age group. (Overall didn't count for age group--handy, that, as one of the top three was over 40!) Not entirely without incident but it was a beautiful race with gorgeous weather low 60's at start, low 80's by end, sunny, light breeze) and probably perfect conditions for me. Report will follow when I get the results.

Swim: According to my mom, I was the first woman out of the water. I didn't notice/care. Water was about 70 degrees, pleasant with a wetsuit, perfect course for me. With a current going out and into strong current coming back. I'm good at that for some reason and I passed oodles of people! Got the famous flourescent orange underwater cable to myself for nearly the entire return trip. Swim split (when I got out of the water, not official, 35:28. Felt great!

T1: Awful. My hands were cold and wouldn't work. Temps in low 60's but cold wind off the lake had me shivering and I kept dropping my watch, fumbling with shoes, gloves, etc. Probably about 5 minutes!

Bike: For me, good. The course at Chelanman is long (race literature says 58.1; my odometer said 57.98) and hilly--rolling hills for the first 34 miles, a 22-mile loop with three major climbs and two big descents, and a little flat bit back to town.  My split was about 3:27, 16.8 mph average. It felt like the entire field passed me on the bike leg, but I just tried to keep my own pace. The new gears performed well but I managed to jump the chain off the rings twice and this wasted a little time. This happens to me on other bikes so suspect it was just overly impatient shifting.

Run: 1:43 something. I think. Just ran by feel. I passed lots of people; only one person passed me --a guy I had biked near and done much of the run with. Felt tired but very relaxed, no soreness or difficulties until 10 miles when, for the first time in my life, my calf muscle cramped. This slowed me down a little to mile 12 then I saw a woman about 200m up ahead and, not knowing if she was in my AG or not, decided I had to go for it, cramp or no cramp. Luckily at this point the course was flat. Took off after her, passed with maybe 1 km to go. Saw the police light blinking at the final turn for the finish, crowds started yelling and for some reason I started "sprinting". At least it felt like it--last mile was well under 7. Praying, laughing, crying, talking to myself--hard to explain. I get really emotional at the end of long races, esp. this one as anyone who has followed the saga leading up to it will know why.  Note to beginners--DON'T do this at the end of your first HIM, unless maybe prize money is involved. I was doing okay till that point but finished pretty miserable....almost fell over onto the table while they were taking off my timing chip! FWIW--I beat the poor lady by almost five minutes, and it turned out she wasn't in my age group.

Very sore yesterday and this AM but not too bad now; don't want to look at the bike or think about running for at least a few days, though. Overall happy with the race--it was, in many ways, a perfect race for me--maybe I could have pushed the run a bit harder in retrospect, if I had that much of a "kick" left, but as I did it there was definitely nothing left to give when I crossed that line!

Thanks to all who offered support and encouraged me to hang in there when the going got rather epically tough. In the end, it was worth it, the journey even more than the destination.  Best of luck to all of you, wherever you are on your own journey!

Okay, to end the suspense--I DID IT!!!! No race report yet as I don't have the detailed results with splits, just the overall time and approximate memories of each leg's time as I did it. I finished Chelanman, my first HIM, yesterday, in 5:53:40, sixth overall, won my age group. (Overall didn't count for age group--handy, that, as one of the top three was over 40!) Not entirely without incident but it was a beautiful race with gorgeous weather low 60's at start, low 80's by end, sunny, light breeze) and probably perfect conditions for me. Report will follow when I get the results.

Swim: According to my mom, I was the first woman out of the water. I didn't notice/care. Water was about 70 degrees, pleasant with a wetsuit, perfect course for me. With a current going out and into strong current coming back. I'm good at that for some reason and I passed oodles of people! Got the famous flourescent orange underwater cable to myself for nearly the entire return trip. Swim split (when I got out of the water, not official, 35:28. Felt great!

T1: Awful. My hands were cold and wouldn't work. Temps in low 60's but cold wind off the lake had me shivering and I kept dropping my watch, fumbling with shoes, gloves, etc. Probably about 5 minutes!

Bike: For me, good. The course at Chelanman is long (race literature says 58.1; my odometer said 57.98) and hilly--rolling hills for the first 34 miles, a 22-mile loop with three major climbs and two big descents, and a little flat bit back to town.  My split was about 3:27, 16.8 mph average. It felt like the entire field passed me on the bike leg, but I just tried to keep my own pace. The new gears performed well but I managed to jump the chain off the rings twice and this wasted a little time. This happens to me on other bikes so suspect it was just overly impatient shifting.

Run: 1:43 something. I think. Just ran by feel. I passed lots of people; only one person passed me --a guy I had biked near and done much of the run with. Felt tired but very relaxed, no soreness or difficulties until 10 miles when, for the first time in my life, my calf muscle cramped. This slowed me down a little to mile 12 then I saw a woman about 200m up ahead and, not knowing if she was in my AG or not, decided I had to go for it, cramp or no cramp. Luckily at this point the course was flat. Took off after her, passed with maybe 1 km to go. Saw the police light blinking at the final turn for the finish, crowds started yelling and for some reason I started "sprinting". At least it felt like it--last mile was well under 7. Praying, laughing, crying, talking to myself--hard to explain. I get really emotional at the end of long races, esp. this one as anyone who has followed the saga leading up to it will know why.  Note to beginners--DON'T do this at the end of your first HIM, unless maybe prize money is involved. I was doing okay till that point but finished pretty miserable....almost fell over onto the table while they were taking off my timing chip! FWIW--I beat the poor lady by almost five minutes, and it turned out she wasn't in my age group.

Very sore yesterday and this AM but not too bad now; don't want to look at the bike or think about running for at least a few days, though. Overall happy with the race--it was, in many ways, a perfect race for me--maybe I could have pushed the run a bit harder in retrospect, if I had that much of a "kick" left, but as I did it there was definitely nothing left to give when I crossed that line!

Thanks to all who offered support and encouraged me to hang in there when the going got rather epically tough. In the end, it was worth it, the journey even more than the destination.  Best of luck to all of you, wherever you are on your own journey!

Race report now up. Be forewarned--it's a bit epic, like the race itself! Mom was technically right-I was the first woman out of the water, but actually I think I had the fourth fastest time--40+ people started five minutes ahead of the under 40's. A few women had faster times, but none made up the stagger. Very few guys did, either, which meant I was out there solo for much of the swim! Bike actually wasn't too bad--13th out of 55 women and 2nd in my AG, but light years behind the women who finished ahead of me. Yikes!

Next--not sure. The Oly I'd hoped to do in Vietnam in Sept. was cancelled. The same people are putting on a HIM and IM then at Bintan in Indonesia--lovely course but it's not a politically expedient time to ask for/get the needed leave from work. So kind of up in the air. Probably a run focus and maintenance on bike/swim till next year, not really what I need as a triathlete, but due to the reality of my job and training situation. Might do Angkor Wat HM again, or maybe the Singapore Marathon. More tris probably in the works for next spring and summer. I'd like to do Vineman 70.3 if our family plans can jive with that. My work and family situation is uncertain so no decisions for now. No plans for an IM while I'm working full time and living in Vietnam!

So I finished my first 70.3 on Sunday in 7:29:04.  Super happy with my swim, really happy about my bike, had a plan and stuck with it.  Run was tough, it was pretty hot out.  I'm wondering too if the altitude (Calgary is 3400ft, I live at sea level) had anything to do with it.  My respiration rate was quite high on the run, and if my HR got above about 145, I started to feel nauseated.  So, I ran/walked it and got it done. 

I was lucky that I got the advice from HR and Jo that the plan was a little light on the bike, so I upped that in the last 6-8 weeks of my training.  The swimming plan I didn't really follow as I was swimming with a masters group twice a week.  The one time per week I did swim on my own I would usually just pick a workout and do it.  I did get in several open water swims before my race, which helped soooo much.  The one thing I would suggest to anyone working this plan, is do quite a few bricks, especially after your long rides.  I don't think I had prepared myself adequately for running off the bike for those distances.

Good luck to all those training!!