Ironman 70.3 Vineman : Official Thread (Page 5)

First HIM is in the books!  Let me set it up for you.  All last week I had a chest cold (one day of false hope) such that on Friday I was considering a DNS.  All during my training for the swim, my plan had been to use a tempo trainer under the swim cap for the race to keep me from going too hard, only to get a rules clarification from USAT that this is considered headphones and thus illegal (even though I had an official tell me OK at Pacific Grove last year).  All during my training I had used HR and had planned out the bike and run with appropriate zones - then I left my HR strap at home hanging in the closet.  Yup, a classic case of "Plan the race, then race the plan". 

So how did it turn out?  I killed it.  In my stretch goal I had hoped to get in just under 6 hours and ended up doing a 5:41:17!  To hit that goal, for the swim I had expected a 40 minute time, ended up at 35:10.  For the bike, was planning on a 3:10, ended up at 2:57.  For the run, planned a 2:00 and ended up 2:00:09.  Surprised my by coming in 26/89 in my AG, so very happy with the results overall.  I'll get a RR up tomorrow probably, but right now, I'm just plain pooped!

Vineman 70.3 race report is up: http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/RaceLog/races-view-container.asp?raceid=247119

Feeling appropriately sore this morning but nothing painful.  Stupid cold is still with me - I felt better after the race in this regard! 

Thanks for all the congrats, this was by far the hardest physical challenge I've ever accomplished in my life.  The last two miles of the run required total focus and was accompanied by growning nausea.   I saw a recent post that said that if you puke before the finish line, you went too hard, if you puke after the finish line you didn't go hard enough, and if you puke at the finish line, you left it all on the course.  Well, I didn't quite puke on the nice volunteer who was removing my timing chip, but as soon as she was done . . .

Hey everyone, thanks for all your comments in this thread as we prepared for the race.  It is great to be a part of a team and to have others to bounce your ideas off of and to get advice when things are going south.  Next time, let's make sure we set up a meet and greet time at the race to put the faces with the names. 

So, this was my first HIM and I was really pleased with the outcome.  So pleased that, nibbling at the corner of my mind, like a mouse around the edges of a cracker, is the thought of doing my first full Ironman there next year.  Anyone else?

ooooh yay! add me to the thread!! I'm doing this. Bucket list race to check off.