Well, I did it. I did my first half-Ironman and I didn't die.
Set-up & Start
I got a lift from a BTCer from just down the street. We had never met until the day before the race, but I had seen him around at other events. At 5:00am sharp, he picked me up and we drove over. The morning was cool and calm but we weren't optimistic about the conditions since it was expected to be close to 100 that day. The one thing I had forgotten to do the day/night before was check my tire pressure, but fortunately Chris had a pump with him. I got set up in the transition area, and waited for my mother and grandmother to show up while I oriented myself in the transition area, waking from the swim entrance to my gear, from there to the bike exit, then from the bike entrance to my gear and from there to the run start. I picked a couple landmarks to orient on, which is good since one of them ended up moving. I didn't find my mother and grandmother until just before my start, but I got them oriented on when I would be coming through each part of the race.
The Swim - 1.2 miles, Goal 45 minutes. Safety 60 minutes. Actual 47:11 (but I was out of the waster in just over 45)
As I've mentioned before, I haven't been able to pick up freestyle adequately, so I just breast-stroked the whole thing. The start was great, there weren't too many people and we started out swimming into the sunrise. This meant I couldn't see the buoy markers, so I just followed the other swimmers. I had gotten tinted goggles a few days before the race and boy did they serve me well!
The sunrise also meant I got the most amazing effect of the sun sparkling off the water and through it when I was underwater. It was absolutely amazing, the kind of thing you could never describe adequately with words and even a still photograph wouldn't have done it justice as I was going in and out of the water. It was an amazing start and I knew then that it was going to be an amazing race. I managed to stay almost completely focused on the swim. A couple times my mind would think about the bike or the transition, but I'd quickly think to myself, "Yes, there will be a bike" or "Yes, there will be a transition" and it was quickly out of my mind. I also got to find out what it's like to not only swim in a wetsuit but to have to pee in ones wetsuit. Twice (I made sure I was far away from anyone else). I crossed the mat in 47:11, but was out in about 45, which was right in line with what I was hoping for.
Tim (one of the BTCers who only did the swim leg of the relay) and my grandmother greeted me on the way to T1. I could hear Tim calling my name as I crested the hill heading to transition but couldn't see him since I didn't have my glasses on. As I passed him I saw my grandmother, who called out to me. I called back and headed in for transition.
T1
No goal, just get out healthy, safely and without forgetting anything. Actual 2:04
There really isn't anything interesting to say about T1, which to me says it was a successful transition. I got in, stripped the suit fast and was unracking the bike so quickly I had to ask myself if I had forgotten something but I hadn't and finished in 2:04
The Bike - 56 miles, Goal 3:30, Safety 4:00, Actual 3:28:55
I did great on the bike, I stuck to my pacing plan with my HR monitor, working in my Endurance range of 125-135bpm. I editted my nutrition plan slightly on the fly as I couldn't stand the taste of the Gatorade for some reason and alternated margarita w/salt Clif Blocks and double concentrated Accelerade every 15 minutes, both taken with water.
The first lap was very nice, there was some cloud cover and it wasn't too hot at all. The first third of the loop is rolling hills on highway 36. The cars were never an issue and there weren't too many people on the course. I got passed by the lead male pro about 7-8 miles out and he was FLYING. It was close to ten minutes before another pro passed me.
The middle portion starts with a big downhill going west on St Vrain and a pretty steady but very gradual downhill the rest of the way, it's a great place to really fly. The rest of the course is mostly South through fairly flat farmland with some small rollers and a slight uphill on the end before turning back into the reservoir access road. the turnaround was tight and apparently a lot of folks missed it but I got through without any trouble and from what I heard I was one of the faster people through (which I'm not sure I buy, but whatever).
The aid stations were great, the Boulder Tri Club had a great turnout at Aid 1 with lots of volunteers (including Chris MacCormack!) and seeing them really lifted my spirits. Aid 2 was not as well staffed but they still seemed to manage themselves well. Aid 3 had HAC's in Bikinis... there were guys too, but I didn't notice them since there were, y'know, women in bikinis. That lifted my spirits as well.
The second loop was great until i got to a point where I was 2:12 out on the bike, that was when the clouds broke and the sun and heat started pouring through. Again, Aids 1 and 3 were big boosts and coming into the last few miles I chatted with a couple other riders, playing leapfrog and feeling absolutely awesome coming into the reservoir for my run.
T2
I popped off the bike and boy did it feel weird to run! Pretty smooth transition aside froma pit stop in the little blue relaxation hut (the port-a-john)
The Run - 13.1 miles, Goal 2:00, Safety 2:30, Actual 2:59
This is when I got stupid. I felt great. I felt really great and the run is my most comfortable leg. I couldn't get my HR down to where I wanted it though and was having daydreams of a sub 2:00:00 run flitting through my head so I convinced myself to run on RPE. This is where the Perceived part of RPE becomes problematic. What felt easy was still too hard. I got halfway through the run still feeling awesome and if the run had been a 10k, I'd have whooped some major butt. I even tried upping my pace a little shooting for a negative split. Instead, I ended up with what was closer to a 2 hour second lap. If I had been smart and done what I KNEW I was supposed to do, what I had done during the bike and resulted in a great ride, I'd have probably finished in 2:35-2:40 for a sub 7 race.
Instead, I ended up with a 7:21:55 finish, last in my AG (except for the 4 DNF's, there were 45 DNF's overall and about 200 people that registered but didn't start).
Aside from that remarkable act of mental deficiency, I had a great race. I stayed focused on the swim during the swim. I stayed focused on the bike during the bike (my splits were pretty close to even,
though I have to check the numbers) and the transitions were comfortable and smooth.
Even with that lapse, I had a great time and I'm looking forward to coming back stronger, faster and above all smarter, for next year. Who knows, maybe it will be a warm-up for a fall Iron Man...
Set-up & Start
I got a lift from a BTCer from just down the street. We had never met until the day before the race, but I had seen him around at other events. At 5:00am sharp, he picked me up and we drove over. The morning was cool and calm but we weren't optimistic about the conditions since it was expected to be close to 100 that day. The one thing I had forgotten to do the day/night before was check my tire pressure, but fortunately Chris had a pump with him. I got set up in the transition area, and waited for my mother and grandmother to show up while I oriented myself in the transition area, waking from the swim entrance to my gear, from there to the bike exit, then from the bike entrance to my gear and from there to the run start. I picked a couple landmarks to orient on, which is good since one of them ended up moving. I didn't find my mother and grandmother until just before my start, but I got them oriented on when I would be coming through each part of the race.
The Swim - 1.2 miles, Goal 45 minutes. Safety 60 minutes. Actual 47:11 (but I was out of the waster in just over 45)
As I've mentioned before, I haven't been able to pick up freestyle adequately, so I just breast-stroked the whole thing. The start was great, there weren't too many people and we started out swimming into the sunrise. This meant I couldn't see the buoy markers, so I just followed the other swimmers. I had gotten tinted goggles a few days before the race and boy did they serve me well!
The sunrise also meant I got the most amazing effect of the sun sparkling off the water and through it when I was underwater. It was absolutely amazing, the kind of thing you could never describe adequately with words and even a still photograph wouldn't have done it justice as I was going in and out of the water. It was an amazing start and I knew then that it was going to be an amazing race. I managed to stay almost completely focused on the swim. A couple times my mind would think about the bike or the transition, but I'd quickly think to myself, "Yes, there will be a bike" or "Yes, there will be a transition" and it was quickly out of my mind. I also got to find out what it's like to not only swim in a wetsuit but to have to pee in ones wetsuit. Twice (I made sure I was far away from anyone else). I crossed the mat in 47:11, but was out in about 45, which was right in line with what I was hoping for.
Tim (one of the BTCers who only did the swim leg of the relay) and my grandmother greeted me on the way to T1. I could hear Tim calling my name as I crested the hill heading to transition but couldn't see him since I didn't have my glasses on. As I passed him I saw my grandmother, who called out to me. I called back and headed in for transition.
T1
No goal, just get out healthy, safely and without forgetting anything. Actual 2:04
There really isn't anything interesting to say about T1, which to me says it was a successful transition. I got in, stripped the suit fast and was unracking the bike so quickly I had to ask myself if I had forgotten something but I hadn't and finished in 2:04
The Bike - 56 miles, Goal 3:30, Safety 4:00, Actual 3:28:55
I did great on the bike, I stuck to my pacing plan with my HR monitor, working in my Endurance range of 125-135bpm. I editted my nutrition plan slightly on the fly as I couldn't stand the taste of the Gatorade for some reason and alternated margarita w/salt Clif Blocks and double concentrated Accelerade every 15 minutes, both taken with water.
The first lap was very nice, there was some cloud cover and it wasn't too hot at all. The first third of the loop is rolling hills on highway 36. The cars were never an issue and there weren't too many people on the course. I got passed by the lead male pro about 7-8 miles out and he was FLYING. It was close to ten minutes before another pro passed me.
The middle portion starts with a big downhill going west on St Vrain and a pretty steady but very gradual downhill the rest of the way, it's a great place to really fly. The rest of the course is mostly South through fairly flat farmland with some small rollers and a slight uphill on the end before turning back into the reservoir access road. the turnaround was tight and apparently a lot of folks missed it but I got through without any trouble and from what I heard I was one of the faster people through (which I'm not sure I buy, but whatever).
The aid stations were great, the Boulder Tri Club had a great turnout at Aid 1 with lots of volunteers (including Chris MacCormack!) and seeing them really lifted my spirits. Aid 2 was not as well staffed but they still seemed to manage themselves well. Aid 3 had HAC's in Bikinis... there were guys too, but I didn't notice them since there were, y'know, women in bikinis. That lifted my spirits as well.
The second loop was great until i got to a point where I was 2:12 out on the bike, that was when the clouds broke and the sun and heat started pouring through. Again, Aids 1 and 3 were big boosts and coming into the last few miles I chatted with a couple other riders, playing leapfrog and feeling absolutely awesome coming into the reservoir for my run.
T2
I popped off the bike and boy did it feel weird to run! Pretty smooth transition aside froma pit stop in the little blue relaxation hut (the port-a-john)
The Run - 13.1 miles, Goal 2:00, Safety 2:30, Actual 2:59
This is when I got stupid. I felt great. I felt really great and the run is my most comfortable leg. I couldn't get my HR down to where I wanted it though and was having daydreams of a sub 2:00:00 run flitting through my head so I convinced myself to run on RPE. This is where the Perceived part of RPE becomes problematic. What felt easy was still too hard. I got halfway through the run still feeling awesome and if the run had been a 10k, I'd have whooped some major butt. I even tried upping my pace a little shooting for a negative split. Instead, I ended up with what was closer to a 2 hour second lap. If I had been smart and done what I KNEW I was supposed to do, what I had done during the bike and resulted in a great ride, I'd have probably finished in 2:35-2:40 for a sub 7 race.
Instead, I ended up with a 7:21:55 finish, last in my AG (except for the 4 DNF's, there were 45 DNF's overall and about 200 people that registered but didn't start).
Aside from that remarkable act of mental deficiency, I had a great race. I stayed focused on the swim during the swim. I stayed focused on the bike during the bike (my splits were pretty close to even,
though I have to check the numbers) and the transitions were comfortable and smooth.
Even with that lapse, I had a great time and I'm looking forward to coming back stronger, faster and above all smarter, for next year. Who knows, maybe it will be a warm-up for a fall Iron Man...
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