September 24, 2017
Half Ironman #3
As race weekend approached, my desire to run or bike, was pretty low. Since it was taper week, I wasn't very worried about it. I did my last brick Wednesday night. I had a great ride, even though it got cut a little short due to heavy rain. On my 2 mile run, I fell, after my foot hit a bit of raised concrete on the sidewalk. Really!?!?! I can't believe this was happening a few days before the race! Even though I fell on my left side, skinned knee pretty bad, and hit my bad arm, I didn't hurt the area that was fractured. I figured that this was it for the week, besides my short swim in the Savannah River on Friday.
Wendy, Gina and I headed up to Augusta on Thursday morning. We arrived in the early evening, got checked in and unpacked then headed to dinner. The next morning, we met up with Sean, then headed to the expo, after a quick stop at Target. The expo was even smaller then last year. I was pretty good, only bought a Women for Tri visor, a race pin for my backpack and a race logo'd cotton tank top. That would get more use then the zoot one I bought last year. We hung out for the race info meeting, then headed to lunch at the Boll Weevil. The lunch was ok, but the desert was wonderful! I got the Mint Chocolate Cheese Cake. I saved most of it for after the race. It started pouring while we were eating lunch, and was still raining, with lightning, when we left, so we headed back to the hotel. After an hour, we got our swim outfits on, then headed down to the river for a swim. We all swam down to the bridge then got out. I was happy it was looking like we wouldn't be wearing wetsuits race day. The suit was really tight on my back, which was uncomfortable. Saturday, we relaxed a lot, dropped off our bikes, drove the bike course, went back to the expo for a quick walk through, then headed to dinner and then bed. It was going to be an early morning!
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| Bikes are checked in! |
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| Transition crazyness on race morning. |
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| On the bus, headed to the swim start! |
Race Morning: We headed out the door at 5:15 am. We got downtown, parked, then headed to the bus transport. As we figured, the race was going to be non wetsuit legal. Worked for me! I knew I could do it and I'm a more confident swimmer now. We got all our gear set up in transition, then took the bus to the race start area. We hung out in the church, next to the swim start, then headed over as the national anthem was playing. It was about another hour before my wave went. I was so ready to get going! Finally, it was time for me to get in my group. We made the walk down the plank and onto the dock. I jumped in the water and held on to the dock, waiting for the blow horn telling us to go.
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| Wave 16 on our way to the dock. |
The Swim: I had a great swim! I felt pretty comfortable out there. I tried to stay near the right buoy line, as that is were the current was said to be faster. I did zig zag a bit, but for the most part, I took the swim at an easy pace. The cold water was bothering my arm a bit, but it wasn't painful. I ended up with a faster swim over last year! Swim time: 34:58
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| A PR for me in the swim! |
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| Bike course and elevation |
The Bike: I felt great heading out on the bike. I was cruising at a pretty quick pace as we headed over the bridge into South Carolina. (I had one of my fastest 5 mile splits! 14:42, 20.3mph!) About 10 miles in, either the wind picked up, or we turned into a head wind. My pace started to slow. Plus, the hills really started. I had a little weird thing happen with my heart (beating crazy fast), so I pulled back on my effort. With that, and the headwind, I kinda gave up on trying to crush the bike portion of the race. Since I was so happy to even be doing this race, my main goal was just to finish. And not to crash!! I got up some fast speeds going down hill, which was fun. One of the best things about the bike course, was seeing some of my friends out there! I got to see Gina, Michelle, Jackie, Wendy and Roxy. I managed to toss a water bottle and grab a new one, while rolling through the second transition. I really needed a porta pottie break, but this station was on a slight incline. I really didn't want to get back on my bike on an uphill! So, I waited until I got to the last aid stop, at mile 47ish. This was a very emotional spot. The side of the road was lined with photos of men and women killed in combat. As I rolled past the volunteers, I grabbed half a banana, ate most of it before racking my bike and making a quick pit stop in the porta pottie. Just after this, Roxy passed me for the last time (we had been passing each other a few times). She was looking strong. The last 9 miles took forever! I was ready to be off my bike. Plus, I had a couple of little dizzy moments. I didn't need that while riding 16-17 mph! So happy to roll into transition. I racked my bike, took off bike shoes, helmet and gloves. Put on visor, shoes and race belt. I took off my velcro arm brace and grabbed a fresh wrap for my arm. I asked one of the volunteers, who were working the sunscreen booth, to wrap my arm for me. Then I was off on the run! Bike time: 3:16:02 ( a few seconds slower then last year. If I had put some extra effort in, I would have beat last year's time!)
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| Smiling, even though I wasn't having fun. |
The Run: It sucked! It was hot. I got very light headed around 3 miles in. Since I really didn't want to pass out, I just walked. Anytime I thought I might start to run again, I felt dizzy. I was also very thirsty. The water stop between the second one and the third one is around 1.5 miles apart. I needed it about a mile before I got to it. After I got there, and walked through, I was feeling thirsty again pretty quick. It was probably the heat, but I started to mentally check out. I just wanted to finish and I really didn't care anymore what time I finished in. I was prepared to continue to walk the rest of the race! Roxy caught up to me at around mile 6. I ran with her for a few minutes, then needed to walk again. I kept up this walk and little bit of running routine for the entire rest of the race. Around mile 12, I actually started to feel a bit better, so I started to run more. I came up on Kimmi and another woman, so I ran/walked with them for a couple of minutes before I continued on. I was ready to be done! I was so happy to make that final turn on to Broad St! I enjoyed running down the red carpet and across the finish line! Run Time: 2:48:54
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| Early on in the run. When I was still feeling good. :) |
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| I did it! My 3rd 70.3! |
