How happy do I look?

Race photos from the weekend:

Bike

Finish

Finish

My First Half Ironman race

Nice thing about the first time, it's a Personal Best no matter what.

The Short Version:
Swim - Goal: 00:45:00, Actual: 00:38:12
Bike - Goal: 3:55:00, Actual: 3:15:05
Run - Goal: 2:20:00, Actual: 2:13:21
Total - Goal: ~7:00:00, Actual: 6:14:38

The Long Version:

I went to school in Peterborough, so I have been doing the Sprint race there for a few years as as way of visiting friends and going back to the town to stay in touch. So we went up the day before. First stop was the race venue. I bought a new Sugoi jersey from the Swim and Sport tent to wear for the race. Something with more ventilation than the one I have. Then I pulled on the wetsuit and went out for just a little swim. Wind had picked up and was a little bit choppy, but not bad at all. Wetsuit seems fine. Picked up my race kit, visited with a few other racers, met some new people, it was a nice way to spend the early afternoon. Then I went downtown to find a friend and have a snack. Did some grocery shopping. Went to the motel where we learned that we had been upgraded to a jacuzzi suite. Went to a steakhouse for dinner with a friend and his daughter, then to a bar downtown for a bit of socializing. A lovely evening. Soaked in the jacuzzi, and got into bed and watched the Tour de France.

I felt pretty calm until I was trying to go to sleep. then the nerves set in. Had a hard time sleeping and woke up to the people next to us blaring their TV at 3:30 in the morning. Woke up at 5:00 feeling like I didn't sleep at all.

Unfortuanately couldn't stomach much for breakfast. Drank as much Boost as I could stomach. Got to the race site around 6:30. Tons of people already there. Set up transition, mixed bottles, took care of last minute details.

LESSON NUMBER ONE: figure out how much time you need for pre-race, and add an hour. I still felt rushed. I ran into people I hadn't seen in a while and would chat... etc. all of that added up and with about 20 minutes to race time i was scrambling to get sunscreened and get my wetsuit on.

Swim:
The swim is a rectangle, going counter clockwise. you start on the beach, seeded by expected swim finish time designated by the colour of your cap. the swim to the first bouy was crazy. Lots of people, got kicked a bit, nothing serious. the swim around the first bouy, also a bit crazy. after that, i managed to get to the outside a bit and into clear water and finally found a happy place. second lap, same thing. I tried not to be bullied (ie, not give up momentum if someone was coming at me), but i also tried not to make this 12% of my day any more stressful than it had to be. I saw the clock when I exited the first lap and it said 17:something. I was giggling. When I came out of the water on the second lap it said 36:something. I started laughing. I couldn't believe I had finished the swim that quickly. It was probably closer to 37 minutes, but that is still quick for me. I guess there is something to be said for wearing a wetsuit and not having to stop to turn at the wall of a pool!

T1 pretty uneventful. no real issues with the wetsuit. chatted to the people around me. took my time just to make sure I had everything I needed.

Bike:
I was expecting hilly. I have always found the sprint race to be hilly. The first 5K or so were difficult, letting people pass me. But it is good practice to learn to swallow your ego and race your own race. It is a long day. Sun was out, but I was feeling happy after such a great, unexpected swim. Course rolls, with only a few steeper climbs. As I was setting up my transition I cleared/zeroed my PT bike computer and realized the battery was going. Well, the time was fine on the ride, but the cadence and power information were not correct. I would be pushing up a hill and expecting to see 190ish and i'm getting readings of 107. While i was disappointed that I was going to lose valuable data, it was a good lesson in what to do when something goes wrong. so, just switched over to paying a lot more attention to my PE and kept truckin'. I was pleased to see the OAT officials out in full force on the bike. Saw two women (or it might have been the same woman) get drafting penalties. I was always about 20 meters or so behind this large group of riders. no one drafting intentionally, just people not able to make up their minds about passing and not paying attention to where they were in relation to other people. But interestingly enough there are no penalties listed in the results even though twice i saw an OAT official hold up four fingers to riders.

LESSON NUMBER 2: always, always always put a fresh battery in the power meter on race day.

After the bike turn around it was pretty much a good headwind until the final 10-15K or so. I wished i had the power meter info then. It can be hard to guage effort into the wind. Course felt a bit hillier on the way back.

T2 again, uneventful. took my time making sure I had everything. Wore my amphipod fuel belt as a test. Wanted to see if i would actually use it, or if i would prefer to take what i need from the course. unfortunately the portapotty was on the OTHER side of the timing mat, so my pee break is included in my run time

Run:
Stopped at the port a potty to pee. and then, as planned, walked the first two minutes to get my head together and just settle after the bike. then started an easy run, just paying attention to my breathing. I hit the split on my watch every kilometer, but didn't look at it. The run course is pretty constantly rolling, with maybe two steep hills that you hit twice. I know understand what people mean when they say an IM run is just about not slowing down. I passed a lot of people in the first 5K that were walking, and not just walking, but STROLLING. I just kept up a gentle trot. Walked the aid station and took water and gatorade. My stomach was definitely off but i think it was just plain and simple hunger. I tried a Hammer Gel, but it didn't do the trick. I told myself to walk the aid stations and then after the turn around, if things were tough, i would walk the hills. I ended up just walking to steep hills. by the last half I was drinking and thouroughly enjoying the flat pepsi. Stomach was still a bit off, but it was pepping me up. For me normally 15K to the end of a half marathon is tough. That feeling this time didn't come until about 18K. The final 2K i just kept thinking about how close the finish line was. The final kilometer of this race is nice, along the park, and then through an ecology garden with the finish on the grass amongst the trees. Despite being in the bottom quarter of finishers, there was still a good crowd of people cheering us on. I heard my name, and looked to the side to see my boyfriend and his two little cousins (all that was left of the family group at that time as everyone was off at the picnic). It was so sweet that his little cousins INSISTED on sticking around to see me finish. I was touched.

I must have done well with my endurolyte consumption. i had zero cramping on the bike and the run.

Crossed the finish line with a smile on my face and headed straight to the lake.

Post Race:
It took a while for my stomach to settle. I was trying everything to get some calories but nothing was doing it for me. I had bought some Hammer Recoverite to try and that actually seemed to settle my stomach a bit and got me started on some calories. I finished around 2:15 in the afternoon. at about 6:00 the boyfriend had to pull the car over so i could eat half of the mcdonald's menu.

Finally, I have to say that the volunteers at this race are absolutely amazing. Every year I am impressed at how well they treat the racers, they are really friendly and want to make sure you have everything you needed.