3:30 came early in the morning but waking up wasn't a problem. Because of the time difference between my wake up and my start time (3:30 to 8:56), coach and I decided that it would be best for me to consume two smaller meals in the morning in order to time my nutrition right. Breakfast #1 consisted of 1/2 cup oatmeal, a teaspoon of peanut butter and half a banana. Race morning breakfast is always slow for me. By 4:45 we were parked near transition and making our way to body marking. By this point it had started sprinkling on and off. I feared/hoped for Augusta 2010 conditions. It is odd to not want rain but also to request it because you know that you perform well in it.
Transition set up went well. I decided to rack my bike differently this year by the back of my seat which actually allowed my front tire to reach the ground. Score one for the short chick! It also allowed me to place my helmet on my aero bars which was nice for T1. we took the athlete shuttles to the swim start and thus began the long wait. Luckily, with 15 athletes in our group, the Crazy Joes kept occupied.
The Swim- 29:32
15 minutes prior to my start I took a Rocktane and finished the process of putting on my wetsuit. Being about 10ish pounds lighter this year make putting the suit on much easier.
Gen and I have an exact replica of this pic from last year... except in the rain and looking like drowned rats. LOL Pretty but wet rats. Thankgoodness the rain held off of this lovely photo.
Lined up with my wave and off I went.
Sighting still leaves a bit to be desired. I mentioned to my coach that the faster I get, the worse my sighting is. the current again pulled me out toward the middle of the river but St least I was prepared for that this year. Sighting would be ok until I would start to feel comfortable and would add more time in-between my sights and then I would end up all wonky, grrrrrrrr.
Swim exit was good. I swam past all of the people walking in chest deep water right up to the exit and a spectator even yelled "great job" at me for doing so. Felt kind of nice. The run down a long stretch of road to transition was a bit painful.
T1- 4:32
T1 went well. A better rack position would have been nice as I was all the way in the back and the entrance and exit for the bike were located on the far corner which meant running in and out of transition in my bike cleats. If I ever get adventurous enough for a running mount, I might try clipping the bike shoes on before hand. But running in socks would not have been appealing and I am not quiet ready to go sock less. Getting my bike off the rack was much sooner with the new racking method for me. I might just keep this method.
Bike- 3:14:02
This year I was super excited for the bike portion of this event. My cycling has improved so much this past year and I was anxious to see what I could do. About 5 miles into the bike, my cadence sensor decided to quit working. I made the decision on the fly not to stop and fiddle with it and instead opted for going by feel. I am not sure if this hindered me at all. May never know.
Much like last year, I don't remember intricate details on the bike. 56 miles is too much to commit to memory. I do remember it being a very smooth first 2 hours. I passed those that needed to be passed and was passed by the slower male swimmers who started the race before me. There was a core group of women who I played leapfrog with for most of the ride. We each had our strengths as far as uphills and downhills. One would pass for a few miles until the terrain changed and then the other would pass when it matched their strengths. Kind of like a group ride without the drafting. It made for some good encouragement as we each would pass each other over and over again.
My ride started going south at the 2 hour mark. Not because my riding worsened, not because I was tired or fatigued and not because the course got harder. I lost it mentally when I started calculating my bike split in my head and realized that I was not going to beat last years time like I had wanted to. Yes I realize it is the same course on a different day and that conditions (specifically weather) can greatly affect a ride but none of that makes a difference at the moment these thoughts are going through your head. I spent the last hour of my ride mad and trying to figure out what went wrong/differently. If I had to take a guess at it, I would say that it was a combination of wind and heat/humidity. The wind wasn't anything overly obnoxious like some of the crud I have trained in but I think it was sneaky enough to affect you but not to notice it as a hinderance. The heat and humidity started with the on and off showers of the morning and only worsened as the day went on. neither of these things could I control but again, that didn't matter at that moment on my ride. The only thing that mattered was the fact that after all my training, I wasn't faster.
It ended up that I actually did go faster by 30 seconds. However, overall I can say the ride was much easier than my training. I don't remember hills from last year but I do remember the course from this year and I know that I trained more hills than those found on the course. Great confidence booster!
T2- 2:09
Again, if I would of had a closer rack in transition, I wouldn't of had to run through the muck in my cleats. On the plus side I was close to the run out but those shoes are much easier to run in lol.
I was greeted in transition by Crazy Joe member Lynn, who screamed her head off for me while waiting for her relay team member to return on the bike. Thanks Lynn.
Racked my bike grabbed my fuel belt and off I went. I had my visor threaded through my fuel belt so that I could grab and go which was really convenient and effective. As I ran out, the third member of the relay team, Diana, was screaming for me while waiting to take off on the run. Having friends rocks! (Lynn did the Swim, Gen did the Bike and Diana did the run)
Run- 2:52:43
Coming into Augusta, I had some really awesome run training. I had a series of workouts during the last month that just totally rocked my socks. However, I have never run more than 7 miles without using an interval training method and I honestly had no clue how I would handle Augusta. Coach and I talked it over and agreed that I am capable of something in the 11:30-12:15 range for the run portion of a half iron. Goal was to run 8 minutes and walk 10 seconds with extra walk time in each aid station.
Mother nature had a different plan for me. The only mile I did in that time range was mile 1 which felt like utter crap. Run went something like this;
Miles 1-3: utter crap. Three of the most craptastic miles ever. Heat was ridiculous,I was sweating like a pig and it took all I had to keep my mind focused on running.
Lovely Crazy Joe Randy who just finished IM Louisville, trying to cheer me up on the run.
Miles 4-6: Best miles of the race. I was actually able to hold to 8 minute runs and 15 second walks with sort walks at the aid stations. I finally felt like the run was clicking and that I was going to pull out of this crappy race despite my horrible bike performance.
Mile 7-13.1: Worse than my craptastic first 3 miles. Mother nature decided to bring on a thunder storm and for those of you who don't know me, I am petrified of thunder and lightening. The thunder would come and I would freak out. Mentally I was shot at this point and with my mind racing in a million different directions, I couldn't stay focused on putting one foot in front of the other. I contemplated quitting until I realize that it wouldn't get me to shelter any sooner. So the only way to keep myself on track was to count my steps. 6 miles of counting my steps, hustling when I could and walking when my mind gave up. The second half of this race sucked it up.
I finally reached the finish line in 6:42:58 , just 30 seconds faster than last year. A whole year of training for 30 seconds. I was so relieved to be at the finish line but I was pissed at my result. Not because I wasn't prepared or didn't have the appropriate guidance and coaching, I was pissed because I has failed myself. And thank you mother nature for stopping the thunder right as I crossed the finish line, you and I will have some words later.
This is exactly how I felt after finishing
Finally Smiling in the Finish Chute
A crappy day but overall an amazing race for many of the Crazy Joes.
Overall Results
Swim- 29:32
T1- 4:32
Bike- 3:14:02
T2- 2:09
Run- 2:52:43
Total Time- 6:42:58
Celebrating with some Crazy Joes getting ready to take down my transition
Now that I have had time to process things, I am still mad at the result but motivated to prove to myself that I am capable of a much better performance. Pretty much everyone in our group had a rotten day. The weather was sneaky on race day and affected all of us. I didn't realize it at the time, i just viewed it as hot, normal Georgia weather but clearly there was much more to the specific conditions. I am happy that my body allowed me to compete in another event of this distance and that my recovery was an extremely smooth process. I am still taking this easy just to give myself some down time but I can't wait to see what the future holds.
Anyone want to recommend a colder half ironman? I think I might do better then, lol.
Some Crazy Joes at the Expo on Friday
Fun pic from bike check in on Saturday
We have a similar pic from last year.
0 comments:
Post a Comment