I am writing this on the OTHER side of the finish line of a 70.3 mile race. I can't even begin to tell you how good that feels. Saturday was the Beach 2 Battleship half iron distance race (there was also an iron distance event for the truly crazy people). I completed it in 7 hours 44 minutes and 44 seconds. Not a groundbreaking time by any means, but certainly within the realms of respectibility and as my only goal was the finish, I'm perfectly fine with it. In fact, I'm pretty esctatic. I keep having to tell myself over and over that I did it. I actually did it. I felt pretty good afterwards too. I mean, obviously, I was tired. A little stiff and sore. But I felt pretty good. I was able to sit and relax and watch football with my boyfriend, who gave up watching the first half of the UGA-Florida game (well, he was streaming it on his phone) to be at my race for my finish- if that's not love, I don't know what is. Anyway, what follows is my official race report of my first half iron distance race.
Pre-start: All the half distance athletes gathered at the half start for the usual pre-race activities (National Anthem, etc.). It was very cold and windy, with a gray, overcast sky. We were all shivering in our wetsuits, dreading getting in the water. However, the announcer kept assuring us the water was warmer than the air (he was right, but it was still tough getting in). I was fortunate enough to meet a fellow Trifueler, Amphibious Triton (I feel bad that I didn't catch his real name) before the start.
Swim: The swim was a picnic. Especially compared to my last Oly swim, where I had a tough time. The swim took place in a channel, with an incoming tide, so the current was crazy fast. The buoys had drifted some by the time my wave went, so we went off course a bit. Not too bad though, and my time was still pretty fast (for me). My goal for the swim was to stay relaxed and calm, after my last Oly swim. I had no problems accomplishing that, and beat my expected time by about 15 minutes (all the current :) ). It was cold getting out, but they had hot showers set up on the run to Transition which was super awesome. Swim: 35:52
T1: It was a long run to T1, although that doesn't really explain my extraordinarily long T1 time. Mostly, it was long because I made the decision to change into bike shorts, and a dry top. Which I'm extrememly glad I did. T1: 15:48
Bike: This was the toughest leg for me. The bike is my weakest part to begin with, and this was a tough bike, and I hadn't trained the way I should have going into it. Terrain wasn't the difficult part, it was pretty much flat. A few bridges consisted of the only up/downhill sections. However, it was windy. Very, very windy. It was also cold, and wet for the first 2/3 of the bike. My mental state for that first 2/3 was bad. I was so miserable. However, there are two bright points I took from the bike. One, no matter how dark my outlook was, I never once wanted to actually quit. I questioned my sanity more than once, but I think that's a part of the sport. The other thing, is that I figured out the best way to know when to eat/drink while on the bike. This may be obvious for some, but it was definitely an "AHA!" moment for me. Basically, whenever I started feeling like I couldn't do it, and that I was the most miserable person ever, meant that my blood sugar was dropping and it was time to eat. As soon as I took a gel, or a Honey Stinger Waffle (best thing ever if you've never tried them), I felt better. I might've still been cold and questioning my sanity, but I didn't hate life anymore.
Then, after all that, around mile 37, the sun came out, and the course took a turn so that FINALLY, the wind was at my back. Suddenly, I was hitting 19, 20 mph without any effort, my fingers were warming up slightly, and I was heading back toward T2. The next 19 miles flew by. Before I knew it, I could see the Battleship. At that point, my only thought became, "How the hell do I stop my bike, unclip and get off without falling?" I was seriously concerned. I was so frozen and stiff, I wasn't sure if I could do. I did manage to not fall, though I probably looked a little shaky. Bike: 3:58:21
T2: The wonderful volunteers took my bike and racked it for me, and handed me my T2 bag. My friend Becky, was doing the run leg of the race as part of a relay (my parents were legs 1 and 2- so proud of them too!). Becky kindly sacrificed not only her time, but the whole team's time to wait for me to come in, since the relay teams had started in a much earlier wave. Their T2 time was over an hour, not out of nessecity, but because Becky was determined to wait for me. T2: 4:20
Run: Becky stuck with me during the whole run, walking when I needed a break, encouraging me when I needed it, and basically keeping me moving forward. I'm pretty sure I could have finished without Becky, but I know for sure that I would have been much slower, and miserable. I actually felt pretty good for the majority of the run. Having someone to run with certainly helped the time go by. The aid stations were every mile, which really helped break up the race too. Running through downtown Wilmington by the river was a blast, tons of people cheering us on. The volunteers were great throughout the run. The best part was seeing my parents and boyfriend, and another friend three times during the run. Once at T2, once through downtown, and then again through downtown on the way back in. Well, ok, maybe the best part was actually crossing the finish line. I thought I was going to cry, I was so happy to have finished. I didn't, mostly just because I felt dazed. Run: 2:50:25
Before the race, I really didn't want to set any time goals for myself. Due to work, and other life events, the month of October was really bad training wise. I basically ran a half marathon on Oct. 2, and then ran once two weeks later. I was traveling, doing field work, helping my boyfriend with the house he just bought. Because of all that, my only goal was to finish. To do that, my individual goals were to stay relaxed on the swim, take in proper hydration and nutrition on the bike, and just survive the run. However, I did have some super secret time goals that I barely even admitted to myself. I wanted to be at or under 4 hours for the bike, and under 3 hours for the run. Which I actually did. So, I'm pretty happy. Another 70.3 is definitely in my future, although, because of the time commitment for training, I think I'm going to limit the long course races to every other year, and then pick a cool location for a vacation. B2B was a great race, I recommend it to anyone. The logistics are complicated, but the race is well run and everything went smoothly. It's a cool town, and we got free tickets to tour the battleship North Carolina, which was a lot of fun. I'd do it again, but I kind of want to find a different vacation locale for next time. But who knows? We'll see.
