What a day! I felt like I was coming down with a sinus infection or something on Thursday, so I was a little worried about how I would feel on Saturday. I literally wanted to sleep all day on Friday! Unfortunately, we were traveling, so I couldn't. But I at least thought I would sleep like a baby the night before the race - WRONG!!! I fell asleep around ten, and then about 12:30 AM some very rude person out in the hallway of the hotel was talking and laughing really loud outside our doorway, and it woke me up...and that was all I slept for the rest of the night. I just laid there for hours, getting more and more anxious, until the around 3:45, when I fell back asleep just in time for the alarm to go off. Not a good start, but so it goes.
We were really lucky to have good weather. The forecast had predicted storms, but we only had a bit of rain that hit me just after I hopped on the bike. The temps were actually not too bad...I was worried about being cold on the swim, but the water was just right! The only downside was that visibility was nil...you couldn't see a thing in that water, not even your hand in front of your face! I had an easy swim, knowing that I had a long day ahead of me. The only other tri I have done had only 16 women participants, so I haven't had the experience before of people crawling over me in the water, so that was new. The women started after the men, but when I caught up with some of the slower men, I kept feeling like they were grabbing my ankles! Funny. But I got out of the water feeling really good, and after the 1/2 mile or so distance we had to run to get back to the transition area, I finished the 1.2 mile swim with a time of 48:47.
I took my time in transition, making sure I had everything I needed for the long bike ahead. The course is pretty much FLAT, which was different for me, since we have zero areas that aren't hilly here. Flat has its pros and cons...the pros being I never had to really peddle hard the whole race, except for during a bit of headwind that hit me about mile 22. The downside is that I was spinning the entire time...no coasting on a flat! It was really fun, though, and I was thoroughly enjoying myself until around mile 40, when the cluster headache started. I had to stop after mile 41 to apply some essential oils and give myself a quick massage. But that headache stayed with me for the rest of the race. I did the 56 miles ride in about 3:14, not counting about 3 minutes of stops.
After that, my head was throbbing, but I figured that no matter what, I knew I was going to finish! So the run was basically just a test of endurance...enduring the pounding headache for a couple more hours until I could get that finisher's shirt and medal! The course was interesting...an out-and-back on the jetty, another out-and back along a trail, and then a small loop through the state park...then repeating the whole course again. The nice part of it was that there was plenty of shade along the course. After the first mile, I stopped in the bathroom for a couple of minutes, unsure of if I was going to be sick, but I felt okay, so I kept plugging away. It was fun to do all the out-and-backs, because I was able to see a lot of other people I knew along the way, so there was extra cheering for each other, which is always a nice distraction. I drank water at every aid station, and had something to eat at each one, too. My body actually felt pretty good for the whole run, with the exception of a little stiffness in the knees and ankles, probably due to running carefully so as to limit the pounding on my head. I finally crossed the finish with a 2:12:39 on the 13.1 mile run.
After crossing the finish line, Ben was there to catch me and help me over to the food area. I immediately felt like I was going to vomit. I forced myself to drink a couple of bottles of water, but I couldn't eat anything. My headache was SO bad, and I just wanted to curl up and sleep somewhere, but I had to clean up all my gear and load it up. Ben was TONS of help! Overall, my only goal was to finish before the cut-off time of 8 hours. Realistically, I thought I would get about a 7-7.5 hour finish. I was really surprised to finish the race with a time of 6:31:33! I was 9 out of 12 in my division, and 42 out of 64 women overall. Kind of on the low side, but on the other hand, not bad for less than 4 months of training and being the new kid on the block! I'm pretty happy about the whole thing. After a shower and a short nap, I felt almost as good as new, so I guess I'm pretty capable of doing a half-ironman after all!!! | 