Sorry, this is long so I had to use 2 posts. I didn't want to retype it and shorten it.
This is to be my second half ever; I was confident enough that I will finish. My first half was last month at Gulf Coast and I did well, so I think I was still riding high from that. My nerves seemed under control. That always helps, one less thing to be worried about.
Pre-Race:
The water temp was hovering around 77-78 for several days. I have not found a suit or tri suit that works for me so I was crossing my fingers that the temp would drop so I could wear my wetsuit. At check in on Saturday the official temp was 77-“oh no, I might be swimming in my tri shorts and sports bra! Its ok, it’s just another training race� I keep telling myself. My friend, Jim, and I get checked in; take a walk to the water-its perfectly calm, “YES!!� and go to find our coach; Tony Myers, who is also the bike course director. My training ride with him 3 weeks ago on the course gave me another reason to not be so nervous. I check in my bike and there were only a couple of other bikes there. We arrived really early since it was only an hour drive from Atlanta. We head to the little expo and then go to meet up with some friends for dinner who are racing and a couple of others who are doing the relay. “Why do the relay when you can do the whole thing?!� is what I keep telling them. Wimps!
Race Morning:
I arrive to find that the transition area is not set up like most races. All races I have done are divided up with men on one side and women on the other. I get to my rack and I see a guy (good looking IronMan) next to me! I double check my number and the rack number and I still think I am in the right place. He sensed the confusion and said, “Yes, you’re in the right place.� We chat for a bit and he tells me a little about IM Florida and then he says-“are you wearing a wetsuit? Its 76 degrees.� Horray! I run back to the car to get my wetsuit then I proceed to body marking. Jim and I have brought our own markers so we don’t have to wait in line and to take advantage of all the poor, good looking people in need! I arrive and announce “ANYONE NEED TO BE MARKED?!� Immediately some guys come up want to be marked. (Mental note: This is a great idea-I will do this every race!) I body mark a couple of people and go to get my chip. Then it is almost 7am so I go back to my bike and finish up my transition and double check my set up. Everything looks good so I head towards the water to meet my friends (Steamy and Capt. Ron) doing the relay and put on my wetsuit. We joke about our times, who is going to beat who, etc. We are very competitive-or I am and I make them compete with me even though I lose.
The Race:
The swim-1.2 miles: I chatted with Wendy at the start, it took my mind off the race, I’m glad I wasn’t getting nervous. Feeling confident on my toughness and drafting abilities I put myself in the middle of the washing machine start. I felt good about my decision because I am tough and will give a kick if someone deserves it. I wanted to go out strong, I might not be the fastest but I can hold my own and I like to draft off someone a little faster than me so I will push myself. This was working until 2 girls in front of me didn’t know how to sight. Every 3-4 breaths the one on the left (girl #1) would zig zag and correct herself and run into the girl to the right (girl #2). So annoying! I slowed to go to her left and get around them. She then zig’d left too-Ugh! I let up again and waited for her to go crooked again. She finally went left again and I decided to split the 2 and risk going up the middle. This was good until girl #1 decided to zag back to the right. At the same time girl #2 went left. My waist was getting attacked. A good kick to ward them off and I was on my way. Annoyed and aggravated it made me swim faster to get away from them. Everything was good as I was nearing the end of the first lap. 14min 31sec-as I run on the beach to reenter the water! “What?! Can this be? I am going WAY to fast, I am going to feel like crap at the end of the swim!� (My goal/estimated time for the swim was 40min). I take a much more relaxed pace on my second lap because I was scared I was going to go too hard based on my first lap time. This lap was pretty uneventful except as I was taking a breath halfway through the swim, I see a guy (I passed some guys from the previous wave! Whoo hoo!) swim dead into a buoy!! He actually bounces back, he must have it pretty hard. I let out a little chuckle. I thought about this for several minutes and enjoyed it. I finish and my watch says 30min even. Wow! I was reveling. This is going to be a great day!
T1-run almost a ¼ mile to my bike (or it seems), up a hill to the transition area. It was pretty far. Took off wetsuit, put on jersey, grab my sandwich and on my way. I felt like I was in there for almost 7 or 8 minutes and was aggravated when I got on the bike. Actual time: 3:57. Not bad for me after all. Still thinking about the swim…How can I take 10 minutes off my swim when I’ve only swam 3 times the past month??
Bike-56 miles: Here we go…
Felt pretty good starting the bike. Realized about mile 2 that I forgot to fill my Aero bottle with water! Stupid mistake #1. I think I drank enough lake water to compensate though. In all the pre race rush, I just forgot to fill it. Maybe I shouldn’t have been talking to IronMan guy next to me. My plan was to take it pretty easy until aid station 1 at mile 15. I ate my peanut butter sandwich and had some Gatorade. When I got to the first aid station, the volunteers were sweeping. No one was handing anything out. “Where’s the water or Gatorade?!� I yell. “We’re out.� A guy hands me half a bottle of water from the ground. Great. I feel bad for the people behind me. I knew there was still a fair amount because there were a lot of people in the water when I was done. I took my first gel (Crank) with my half bottle of water. My plan was a gel at each of the 3 aid stations and a marathon bar or two mixed in. Somewhere around mile 20 a woman rode up next to me and we started chatting. The race was thin back here in the back, I had been getting past left and right, so we weren’t worried about penalties. I noticed she only had an empty aero bottle. She asked me if I got water at the station because she didn’t and I said barely. I felt bad for her so I gave her one of my bottles of Gatorade I had packed on my bike. I thought to myself that the Karma gods would repay me by having a good race or someone would help me out later. I was happy I could help. I asked her about her swim time, she was 10 min faster than expected too. She says “I think it was mismarked-someone said something to me in T1 about it� My gosh, she is right!! That has to be! By the second aid station I was dreading another gel. I hate them and they make me want to vomit. I ended up taking 3 Cranks, one PB sandwich, and 2 marathon bars along with Gatorade and water. I wasn’t feeling good from 40 onward-the roadkill looked more appetizing than what was in my Bento Box. I saw 2 dead snakes, 2 armadillos (do they have those in GA?), several squirrels, and 2 cats and a bunny-I think. Of course they all had to be on the side of the road we were riding on and the smell was wonderful! I kept thinking about my relatives back in Cajun Country, in the swamps. And to my cousin from there who is in Iraq right now. If he can deal with the heat and his work there, I can do this for fun! I had some moments with him and was trying to not get upset. Don’t cry! This is fun...I just wished he could suffer here with me. I am lucky I get to do this I keep telling myself, he’s here in spirit. “Time to get focused Haley, you can do it, you like this stuff!� Back to the race-I kept thinking how much I hate the bike and I couldn’t wait to run! I love to run…lets hurry up on the bike so we can run I kept telling myself. I see Coach Tony about mile 45, I think, directing bikers to a turn, and it was nice to see a familiar face. “PICK IT UP GIRL!! You’re not beating Jim, you better catch him in the run, I know you can!� That put a smile on my face just to see him and he too knows a little competition pushes me. I wish there were spectators on the bike. But somehow I just couldn’t go any faster on the bike. I was not happy with my bike time. 20 minutes slower than my goal time. Not happy at the end, and started to think about how I would kick butt on the run like I did in Gulf Coast a month ago. (At least I can beat Jim in the run! I know this is possible, that makes me work a little harder and Steamy is waiting for me at the end with my finish beer!) I was so excited when I was done. I really hate the bike. 4hours 00min. 21 seconds. Horrible.
"Failure only occurs when the attempt is not made." Tom O'Mahony, Ironman
“My name is Haley and I have a BIG problem with anything related to triathlons”
Sorry, this is long so I had to use 2 posts. I didn't want to retype it and shorten it.
This is to be my second half ever; I was confident enough that I will finish. My first half was last month at Gulf Coast and I did well, so I think I was still riding high from that. My nerves seemed under control. That always helps, one less thing to be worried about.
Pre-Race:
The water temp was hovering around 77-78 for several days. I have not found a suit or tri suit that works for me so I was crossing my fingers that the temp would drop so I could wear my wetsuit. At check in on Saturday the official temp was 77-“oh no, I might be swimming in my tri shorts and sports bra! Its ok, it’s just another training race� I keep telling myself. My friend, Jim, and I get checked in; take a walk to the water-its perfectly calm, “YES!!� and go to find our coach; Tony Myers, who is also the bike course director. My training ride with him 3 weeks ago on the course gave me another reason to not be so nervous. I check in my bike and there were only a couple of other bikes there. We arrived really early since it was only an hour drive from Atlanta. We head to the little expo and then go to meet up with some friends for dinner who are racing and a couple of others who are doing the relay. “Why do the relay when you can do the whole thing?!� is what I keep telling them. Wimps!
Race Morning:
I arrive to find that the transition area is not set up like most races. All races I have done are divided up with men on one side and women on the other. I get to my rack and I see a guy (good looking IronMan) next to me! I double check my number and the rack number and I still think I am in the right place. He sensed the confusion and said, “Yes, you’re in the right place.� We chat for a bit and he tells me a little about IM Florida and then he says-“are you wearing a wetsuit? Its 76 degrees.� Horray! I run back to the car to get my wetsuit then I proceed to body marking. Jim and I have brought our own markers so we don’t have to wait in line and to take advantage of all the poor, good looking people in need! I arrive and announce “ANYONE NEED TO BE MARKED?!� Immediately some guys come up want to be marked. (Mental note: This is a great idea-I will do this every race!) I body mark a couple of people and go to get my chip. Then it is almost 7am so I go back to my bike and finish up my transition and double check my set up. Everything looks good so I head towards the water to meet my friends (Steamy and Capt. Ron) doing the relay and put on my wetsuit. We joke about our times, who is going to beat who, etc. We are very competitive-or I am and I make them compete with me even though I lose.
The Race:
The swim-1.2 miles: I chatted with Wendy at the start, it took my mind off the race, I’m glad I wasn’t getting nervous. Feeling confident on my toughness and drafting abilities I put myself in the middle of the washing machine start. I felt good about my decision because I am tough and will give a kick if someone deserves it. I wanted to go out strong, I might not be the fastest but I can hold my own and I like to draft off someone a little faster than me so I will push myself. This was working until 2 girls in front of me didn’t know how to sight. Every 3-4 breaths the one on the left (girl #1) would zig zag and correct herself and run into the girl to the right (girl #2). So annoying! I slowed to go to her left and get around them. She then zig’d left too-Ugh! I let up again and waited for her to go crooked again. She finally went left again and I decided to split the 2 and risk going up the middle. This was good until girl #1 decided to zag back to the right. At the same time girl #2 went left. My waist was getting attacked. A good kick to ward them off and I was on my way. Annoyed and aggravated it made me swim faster to get away from them. Everything was good as I was nearing the end of the first lap. 14min 31sec-as I run on the beach to reenter the water! “What?! Can this be? I am going WAY to fast, I am going to feel like crap at the end of the swim!� (My goal/estimated time for the swim was 40min). I take a much more relaxed pace on my second lap because I was scared I was going to go too hard based on my first lap time. This lap was pretty uneventful except as I was taking a breath halfway through the swim, I see a guy (I passed some guys from the previous wave! Whoo hoo!) swim dead into a buoy!! He actually bounces back, he must have it pretty hard. I let out a little chuckle. I thought about this for several minutes and enjoyed it. I finish and my watch says 30min even. Wow! I was reveling. This is going to be a great day!
T1-run almost a ¼ mile to my bike (or it seems), up a hill to the transition area. It was pretty far. Took off wetsuit, put on jersey, grab my sandwich and on my way. I felt like I was in there for almost 7 or 8 minutes and was aggravated when I got on the bike. Actual time: 3:57. Not bad for me after all. Still thinking about the swim…How can I take 10 minutes off my swim when I’ve only swam 3 times the past month??
Bike-56 miles: Here we go…
Felt pretty good starting the bike. Realized about mile 2 that I forgot to fill my Aero bottle with water! Stupid mistake #1. I think I drank enough lake water to compensate though. In all the pre race rush, I just forgot to fill it. Maybe I shouldn’t have been talking to IronMan guy next to me. My plan was to take it pretty easy until aid station 1 at mile 15. I ate my peanut butter sandwich and had some Gatorade. When I got to the first aid station, the volunteers were sweeping. No one was handing anything out. “Where’s the water or Gatorade?!� I yell. “We’re out.� A guy hands me half a bottle of water from the ground. Great. I feel bad for the people behind me. I knew there was still a fair amount because there were a lot of people in the water when I was done. I took my first gel (Crank) with my half bottle of water. My plan was a gel at each of the 3 aid stations and a marathon bar or two mixed in. Somewhere around mile 20 a woman rode up next to me and we started chatting. The race was thin back here in the back, I had been getting past left and right, so we weren’t worried about penalties. I noticed she only had an empty aero bottle. She asked me if I got water at the station because she didn’t and I said barely. I felt bad for her so I gave her one of my bottles of Gatorade I had packed on my bike. I thought to myself that the Karma gods would repay me by having a good race or someone would help me out later. I was happy I could help. I asked her about her swim time, she was 10 min faster than expected too. She says “I think it was mismarked-someone said something to me in T1 about it� My gosh, she is right!! That has to be! By the second aid station I was dreading another gel. I hate them and they make me want to vomit. I ended up taking 3 Cranks, one PB sandwich, and 2 marathon bars along with Gatorade and water. I wasn’t feeling good from 40 onward-the roadkill looked more appetizing than what was in my Bento Box. I saw 2 dead snakes, 2 armadillos (do they have those in GA?), several squirrels, and 2 cats and a bunny-I think. Of course they all had to be on the side of the road we were riding on and the smell was wonderful! I kept thinking about my relatives back in Cajun Country, in the swamps. And to my cousin from there who is in Iraq right now. If he can deal with the heat and his work there, I can do this for fun! I had some moments with him and was trying to not get upset. Don’t cry! This is fun...I just wished he could suffer here with me. I am lucky I get to do this I keep telling myself, he’s here in spirit. “Time to get focused Haley, you can do it, you like this stuff!� Back to the race-I kept thinking how much I hate the bike and I couldn’t wait to run! I love to run…lets hurry up on the bike so we can run I kept telling myself. I see Coach Tony about mile 45, I think, directing bikers to a turn, and it was nice to see a familiar face. “PICK IT UP GIRL!! You’re not beating Jim, you better catch him in the run, I know you can!� That put a smile on my face just to see him and he too knows a little competition pushes me. I wish there were spectators on the bike. But somehow I just couldn’t go any faster on the bike. I was not happy with my bike time. 20 minutes slower than my goal time. Not happy at the end, and started to think about how I would kick butt on the run like I did in Gulf Coast a month ago. (At least I can beat Jim in the run! I know this is possible, that makes me work a little harder and Steamy is waiting for me at the end with my finish beer!) I was so excited when I was done. I really hate the bike. 4hours 00min. 21 seconds. Horrible.
"Failure only occurs when the attempt is not made." Tom O'Mahony, Ironman
“My name is Haley and I have a BIG problem with anything related to triathlons”