***Warning, this is rather long*********

On August 9th, I did the Utah half ironman, in Provo, Ut. I convinced my friend, Caitlin, to do it with me, and she signed up at the very last second. She was a little worried, because she hadn't been training at all, and hadn't been running for a month because of some torn tendons.

The race started at 6:45, and we, of course, got there around 6:20, and barely had enough time to change, set up my transition area, check in, and mentally prepare. If I had it all to do over again, I would definitely have gotten there much earlier. I hated being so rushed! As it was I barely got to the water in time.

The race was small, so there were only 2 waves, the men and the women. The women started 5 minutes after the men. I'm too cheap to spend the money on a triathlon specific wetsuit, so I borrowed my sister-in-law's wetsuit. I was a little worried that I had never used a tri wetsuit, and wasn't sure how the transition would go. That wetsuit was the greatest thing ever! Through the whole swim, I could feel my legs floating behind me. It was almost effortless! The route was two laps, and on the second lap, I recognized my friend, Caitlin, who I had come with. I was pretty happy about that, since she was a swim-teamer in high school, and is a really fast swimmer.

The swim went by really quickly, and before I knew it, I was out of the water running to my bike. I had no problems getting the wetsuit off quickly, like I had been worried about. I hopped on my bike, and away I went! My goal for the race was to stay around 15mph, pretty slow for me. I figured I'd have a decent bike time, and save my legs for the run. Well, that didn't happen. The route was nice and flat, and I just couldn't hold back that much! I stayed around 19mph for most of the race. There was a slight headwind for part of the ride, which was kind of crappy, but the course was beautiful. We followed the edge of the lake, and I jealously watched all the waterskiiers. I only packed 2 gels on the bike, and had bar and a few more gels in the special needs bags that they would give us at the turnaround. Well, when I got to the turnaround, I was feeling great, and really didn't want to stop. I figured I'd be alright with 2 gels, and just eat one when I finished the run. Big mistake!! At about mile 46, I hit a wall. The course was weaving through town, and it felt like we were just going in circles. I was suddenly so sick of biking, and actually couldn't wait to run, just for the change of pace. I finally reached the transition area, hopped off my bike, and could barely walk! I felt like I'd been sitting on a horse! I hobbled to the bike rack, slowly put my running stuff on, and hobbled out. Not the greatest start for a run.

As I was leaving the transition area, I had to go to the bathroom so bad! I asked one of the volunteers if there were toilets on the course, and he said there were. After about 10 min, I still hadn't seen a toilet. I started asking runnners that were coming back if they had seen any toilets, and they hadn't. I finally gave up looking for a toilet, and peed next to a bush. The beginning of the run wasn't so bad, once my legs came back. The thing I noticed though was that there weren't any mile markers!! There was never a running route map published on the event web site, and so I had no idea where the course was going. If you've never been to Utah, it gets HOT!! Like consistently over 100 in the afternoons. I think the race organizers were worried about the heat, and when they planned the course tried to maximize the shade. It was a nice thought, but as a result the course was 3 out-and-back legs, basically turning around as soon as the shade ended. The first 2 out and backs weren't so bad. I was feeling a little tired, but not too bad. In the middle of the second out-and-back, a volunteer said "way to go, you're halfway done!!" If i was capable of doing math while running, i would've recognized right away that she was wrong, because that would've meant i was running much faster than I ever do. However, that sounded so nice, that I believed her, and figured I only had another hour left. After the second out-and-back, I thought the race was pretty much over. I felt pretty good, and was happy about that. As I got closer to the finish line, I heard a different volunteer directing people. He told me "now, you just run out 3 miles, and back 3 miles, and then you're done." What??!? I really still had 6 more miles. No wonder I felt so good!! From that point on, I was toast. My legs suddenly felt SO heavy, and my energy was zapped. That last leg was seriously endless. Without mile markers, I had no idea how far I had run. I was planning on pacing myself and running a 10-minute mile, but i had no way of gauging how fast I was going! Those were the longest 6 miles of my life. By the time I got to the turnaround, i was barely running. As I started the final leg, I convinced myself to pick up the pace. I pretended like I was just out for a 3 mile run, and it was no big deal. That worked for about 25 minutes, and I was able to run at a reasonable pace, but then I hit another wall, and slowed down to just faster than a walk. My stomach was feeling a little uneasy, and there were no bathrooms, so at the aid stations I would just alternate between Heed and water. At the 3 mile point, I swallowed some gel, and that may have given me my final boost. The lowest point of the run was near the end. I hear people yelling and laughing, and thought I was so close to the finish line. As I got closer, I realized that it was a youth camp, and was still probably a mile away. That was tough.

I finally staggered to the finish line. My husband, parents, and inlaws were all there to cheer me on. My nieces and nephews had flowers that they gave me, and we all ran across the finish line together. I didn't think I'd ever see that finish line! I was SO relieved to be done.

Afterwards, I swore I'd never do another half Ironman. I dedicated my whole summer to training, and I barely survived. Now, I think I would attempt another, but just not that specific half. I think the race was so hard, partially because I never knew where I was, or how much distance I had left. Mentally, it was SO hard.

• Final times:
• swim: 00:41:48.100
• T1: 00:03:50.100
• bike: 03:03:40.500 (18.3 mph)
• T2: 00:02:20.600
• Run: 02:21:35.000 (10:48 min/mile)
• overall time: 06:10:53.7

I ended up placing second in my age group. My friend, Caitlin, who hadn't trained at all placed first, and beat me by 20 minutes! In my other 2 races, I cared about how I placed, but for this, I was just SO happy to finish!

So, sorry about the long post. I have one question for anybody who actually made it to this point. I trained so hard all summer, consistently putting in around 10 hours a week. Yet, I still suffered on the run. I don't know if I put in too few hours, or didn't push myself hard enough in my training sessions. It is a little frustrating to dedicate so much time to something, and barely survive. If I do another half, I don't want to have the same experience. Maybe I overdid it on the bike, and should've gone slower. Any suggestions?

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