Sunday, November 9, 2008
7:00 AM, Conroe, Texas
http://www.eztoregister.com/results/Ironstar08.htm
My Goals:
- Swim
- Wanted: under 40 minutes
- Did: 33:53.3
- Bike:
- Wanted: under 3 hours
- Did: 3:01:29.5
- Run:
- Wanted: under 2 hours
- Did: 1:50:17.7
- T1:
- Wanted: under 9 Minutes
- Did: 7:54.5
- T2:
- Wanted: under 9 minutes
- Did: 6:05.3
- Overall:
- Wanted: under 6 hours
- Did: 5:39:40.4
- Age Group: 5th of 14
- Swim (Age Group): 3rd
- Bike (Age Group): 5th
- Run (Age Group): 4th
not so mini mini-van that was big enough for all three bikes and a bunch of bags. It was a short two and a half hour trip to the packet pickup at the La Torretta Del Lago Resort. The resort was undergoing heavy construction but it's going to be a really nice place when it's all finished up. It did have some crazy mind-altering carpet though (check out the photos)!There were less than 500 people entered into this race, I think, so the packet pick-up expo was pretty small. We didn't have to wait in any lines, to get our packets, and we were in-n-out fast (which was good since we were all getting motion sickness just from staring at the carpet)! After the expo we went to Target because I needed to pickup a throw away pair of flip-flops. It was a 1/4 mile walk from our transition area to the swim start (over construction areas no less) so I needed something to walk in since they were not guaranteeing that our shoes would still be there when we finished.
After picking up some shoes we went to the hotel, in Montgomery, and unloaded all of our gear. By this point it was already getting late so we hurried off to an Italian restaurant.
Race Nutrition:
Personally, I've found pizza to be the perfect meal the night
before the race. Lots of carbs, protein and fat... what more could I ask for? Maybe it's not in the perfect proportions but it seems to work for me and I digest it easily. I ordered a veggie pizza and some soup. Race morning I had a pancake and two cliff bars. After the swim I downed a pack of shot bloks. While on the bike I took a bottle of perpetuum that contained 7 scoops which works out to about 910 calories. I also took a salt tablet during the bike and had my camel back on and filled with water. After the bike I ate another pack of shot bloks and took another salt tablet. During the run I had a GU every 6 miles and took a bunch more salt tablets for reasons I will explain below.Race Morning:
I managed a good 5-6 hours of sleep, the night before, which was surprising because I wasn't worried or nervous at all and I fell asleep easily. We awoke at about 5:00am, p
acked our gear and drove down to the race. The parking for the race was 1/2 mile away from the transition area so it was a bit of workout lugging all of our crap down there (plus I wore a pair of uncomfortable flip-flops like a moron).At the transition area, I got all my stuff organized fast and before I knew it, it was time to head down to the swim start. We walked the 1/4 mile down to the start and even when I was in the water about to begin, I didn't have an ounce of nervousness. I think this is because I'm becoming more confident in my physical abilities. It never once crossed my mind that I wouldn't be able to finish or that I would have trouble finishing it. I see myself at the finish line, happy and in good spirits. The only thing that slightly worries me is getting the finish times I want but that doesn't make me nervous, it gets me motivated.
Swim:
This was the best swim I've ever had during a race! Normally I have a few minutes of panic or trouble breathing until I can get a rhythm going but this time I fell into a groove right away. I was in the "zone" and felt very relaxed the entire time. In fact, looking back, I wish I would have pushed myself harder during this portion since my breathing and heart rate felt like it was running at an idle instead of a pedal to the floor racing speed! The other reason I did good on the swim had a lot to do with my new wetsuit. It was my first race with a wetsuit and boy does it make a difference! I'll definitely try to make more use of it next season!
T1:
I cut myself a lot of slack when it came to transitions. When I left the transition area I wanted to feel comfortable and ready to tackle the next leg of the race and as long as that took less than 9 minutes I would be happy with it. After the swim I had a major crap attack so I ran to the porta-potty. By the time I had finished and got all my bike gear ready to go, almost 8 minutes had passed. I beat my goal and I felt great so all was well!
Bike:
I was a bit worried about the bike since I had just got a new tri bike and had only ridden it 4-5 times. I wasn't sure how comfortable it would be but it worked out great and I didn't have any position related pains the entire time! It was a cool day and a perfect temperature for riding! The ride was very scenic, winding through pine forests and as an added bonus it was mostly flat with a few small rollers! I saw Amy at around mile 18 and we chatted for awhile. Around mile 46 I developed a bad case of mental boredom and lost a lot of motivation and my pace slowed down considerably. After 3-4 miles though i became bored of being bored and gave myself a pep-talk and was able to get out of my funk. The remaining miles went by fast and before I knew it I was off the bike and into T2!
T2:
I really need to learn how to do a moving dismount off of the bike... I didn't fall but my dismount was none too grace full. After fighting my way off the bike I put all my run gear on and went to the porta-potty again! I was out faster this time, at 6 minutes, and I felt good and ready to run.
Run:
My legs felt surprisingly strong after the bike and I took off down the road feeling full of energy. Even though I felt great, I decided to pace myself and keep a 8 1/2 - 9 minute pace going. If I still felt good after mile 6 I was planning to ramp up the speed. Around mile four, my left leg went numb which was a relief in a way because I was developing a few muscle cramps but it was also pretty scary since I had never had that happen before. I ran on my numb leg for two miles and then decided I should stop at the next aid station. At the aid station I took two salt tablets and stretched my leg out for about two minutes. Almost as soon as I began stretching the numbness went away.
I got moving again at a cautious pace just in case the numbness should return. After a few minutes I was still feeling great and decided to pick up my pace but with the promise to grab a drink at each aid station in hopes of avoiding further numbness or muscle cramps. At this point, in the race, I zoned out and the next six miles went by very fast. I met Patrick along the way and he was looking strong and feeling good! By mile 12 the cool air was losing the battle against the blazing sun and the heat started to get to me. It was a long, hard and hot (that's what she said?) 1.1 remaining miles to the finish that felt further than the previous six I had done. Finally I saw the finish line and sprinted for it like a... well, like a person that wanted to be finished with a long ass race!
It felt great to finish my first half-ironman! I quickly grabbed two water bottles and my eye spotted a mountain of pizza boxes off in the distance! I scarfed down three pieces of pizza and headed back over to the finish line to watch for Patrick and Amy. Patrick finished in 6:00:54 and Amy finished in 6:21! It was incredibly fun race and I'm glad that I did my first half-ironman here since the venue and the smaller number of participants helped to make the whole experience more enjoyable! Special thanks to Patrick and Amy for asking me to go and for making the trip so much fun! Hopefully we'll get to race here again next year!
P.S. Don't carry a camera with you when running 13.1 miles! Not fully thinking things through, like I normally do, I thought it would be a genius move to run with my camera in my pocket and take pictures of Patrick and Amy as they crossed the finish line. The finish line was a long ways away from the transition area (they had to shuttle us back) so carrying my camera seemed like the only option if I wanted to take pictures. Well, as most people with common sense know, when you race you sweat a lot and you lose salt through your sweat. When I reached the finish line I took out my camera only to discover that it was covered in salt! Every little crevice was crusted over with salt! I was able to snap one final picture but then it died on me. I tried fixing it once I got home but it was already too far gone... it was a great camera. R.I.P.
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