Last weekend I competed in the Oliver half Ironman. Going into it, I had the best support crew a girl could ask for, Ms. Vicki Boivin - who should have been racing, but was sidelined due to injury. That girl smiled, organized, cooked, cleaned, hugged, cheered and forced the rest of us to focus and relax. Can you say 'best sherpa ever?!'
my hero :)
Saturday, after tracking our speedy teammates online, we did a little swim/bike/run to prep. Everything went smoothly, except the insane check in line! Back at the condo, we relaxed, ate, and ate more. Vicki made an amazing dinner, and Derek and Joe, who was also racing joined us.
joe and I enjoying Vicki's cooking!
Dave arrived around 7 (I was right - everyone else thought it would be another hour!) and headed out for a run, and then settled in to drink our beer and rest up his cheering muscles.;)
Sunday morning we were up up up at 4am! We left the condo around 5 to head over to body marking. If the check in fiasco was any indication, we didn't want to be too late to race!
Me at body marking - brrrrrrr!
After that, it was over to the swim start. I was FREEZING, but got in to warm up. As long as I was moving, I was fine. The swim was a 3 wave start - and I was in the second wave. This initially made me nervous, because I was concerned about crowding. Luckily, there was plenty of room - and it was easy to get out there and find an opening! I felt good - I had a good clip, and was chasing some speedy ladies. Turns out the course was a bit long... The timing mats were also after the wesuit stripping and another 100 yard run, so my time was slower than the actual swim. Oh, well, it was all part of the race, right?! (Oh, and the wetsuit strippers and I were equally novice, so it took an inordinately long time.)
Swim time: 40:03
T1: Another half mile jog barefoot to the transition area - shoes on, glasses and helmet on, and out! Someone tried to ask me a question, but I think I had my race face on!
T1 time: 4:32
Bike: The bike. What can I say? I had trouble settling in at the beginning but after a while felt good, and was cruising along in what, for me, was a decent pace! Went through the first loop feeling good - positive, happy, and pushing a little... And then... two flats. I won't go into a ton of detail here, except that I got a flat front tire, then a flat back tire. It wasn't my favorite moment or bike ride. The good news is that in Canada, the bike barn peeps will change it for you. They came upon me during my first catastrophe, tears and all, and then I found them the second time. Time to reset expectations. It wasn't going to be my best day, but I was going to get through it, and goddamn it, I was going to be smiling! What other choice did I have? My friend and my husband had come all this way (and I had done all these crappy transition runs) to finish this, and it was time to just do it.
I will say this: fueling went great. I took a Gu every 30 minutes on the bike, and drank Perform. A lot of sweetness, but it got me through. (At the end of the race, I had all kinds of Gu running stuck to my leg from storing my empties in my pants hem, but oh, well!)
Bike time: 3:32:37
T2: I had to pee. Like seriously. And I was OVER IT. But, I love running, and even though I wasn't feeling super confident in my run, I was ready to be off my mofo bike. So, time to giddyup.
T2 time: 2:52
Run: I was happy to be running and out there. The first loop went GREAT. I was passing people, encouraging them (why not?!) and having a good time. Around mile 10, I was ready to be done. Right before I saw Ann Sloan, close to mile 12.5ish, I talked to Dave - he had taken a spectator to the hospital after she ran face first into a pole running out to cheer on her friend! Crazy! She needed 7 stitches! So glad he was there to help! He ran with me for a few steps, and then ran to the finish to cheer me on. Ann was having a great race, but declined my invitation to run the rest of the way with me - after her soul crushing announcement that the run course was a half mile long. Yeeeech! Oh well. Nothing to do but press on, and stick to my personal resolution that I would NOT WALK unless I was at an aid station drinking water. I took 2.5 gus on the run. 45 min, an hour 15 and mile 10 I decided to sip on one a bit.
Run time: 2:03:17
Final time: 6:23: 19
All in all not my best day. I have a few thoughts - the bike issues were devastating mentally. I was proud of myself for recalibrating my expectations and managing to stay fairly positive - but it was tough, and I think my run suffered. Also, if I am going to be brutally honest - I feel like I haven't been as consistent as I needed to be in my workouts - particularly in my running. I think this was a mental issue from the beginning. I really like doing more running, which hasn't been possible with my recent focus on the bike. However, I learned a lot from this race, and it was probably the toughest one of my life. Nothing went according to plan, and I still finished. Not quite what I had hoped, but I did it - and I am proud of myself. I was so excited for all my teammates in Oliver (Mac, Paul and Derek) and Honu (countless) for awesome, awe-inspiring performances to aspire to. I know I'll do better next time, and in the meantime, I am still happy and thankful I made it through this race, and that is something to smile about!
