I know by most standards, this was a slow swim, but I was really pleased with it. I expected to take a full hour. I was kind of frustrated that the timing mats were at the top of the shoot. The shoot was a really long run up hill. According to my watch, my time out of the water was 51 minutes.

I definitely need to spend some time with a swim coach. I am signed up for a stroke improvement class next month and think it will be a big help in the next race.

I really was in no hurry to get out of transition. I was more concerned with making sure I had everything with me and that I had time to catch my breath. I kept reminding myself.... slow and steady is the theme of the day.

Nothing

The start of the bike was amazing. I was cruising along at 23 miles per hour, thinking this was going to be my best bike ever. What I didn't realize, and found out quickly at the turn around, was that we had about a 10 mile per hour tail wind at the start. As a result of the wind, I was either going 20+ miles per hour or 14 miles per hour. There was not a whole lot of in-between. On the bike I ate 1 gel, 1 power bar, and had 2 scoops of heed.

Just keep riding harder and longer.

Again, I took my time with the transition. I had to stop and use the port-a-pot which cost me a little time. I also changed socks and put compression sleeves on my calves.

Maybe speed up a little.

This was the slowest, hardest, most painful 1/2 mary ever! The first 2 miles took me 30 minutes. My legs were ok, but I was extremely sick. I was dizzy and had terrible upper GI cramps. I really didn't think I was going to be able to keep going. The heat was absolutely awful, and I had not really trained in those conditions. I started feeling a little better by mile 3 and was able to choke down a gel. That helped rally me some. As the course went on I felt better and was able to run more. I employed a walk-run strategy with the cones. The cones were about 100 feet apart and I would walk 1 and run 2. At every aid station, I poured ice down my shirt and water over my head. On the course I had 3 gels, 2 oranges. lots of water, and some coke.

I definitely need to do more hill running. I also think next time I will be more prepared for the feeling immediately after the bike.

I ran to my husband and cried. I honestly could not believe I had made it. Even though I wasn't very fast, it felt like the greatest accomplishment of my life.


The heat was probably the biggest limiting factor. I also did something wrong with my nutrition. My stomach was just a mess on the run.


I feel AMAZING! I cannot wait for the next one. I feel like I learned so much and can't wait to fine tune the effort.