I woke up Sunday morning at 4 am as the alarm in my hotel room exploded in my ear. I was out of bed like I was shot out of a cannon. This was the morning of my first HIM and the thoughts suddenly flooded my mind. What did I forget? What will go wrong? You all know the questions so I will not bore you with them.
I arrived at the transition area and start to set up my little "office" where I hope to make quick work of what should be some very easy tasks. As I am setting everything up one of the members of the Inside Out Sports group was walking around assisting athletes pumping up their tires. He asked me if I needed air and I gladly agreed. Within seconds he is standing there with a puzzled look on his face and a broken off valve stem in his hand. "I think you need to go see our bike mechanic" he spoke to me. “You’re kidding" I calmly responded. I quickly rushed to the area for the repair and stood in line....and waited.....and waited.....and waited. Finally my bike was ready to go and I was back to setting up my gear...what...now what.....the transition area is closing...ugh.
Well off to the water I went trying my best to keep a positive mindset and I think I managed well. Mens 30-34 was wave 15, exactly one hour after the pro start. The horn blew and my adventure began. Within minutes we had caught up to many of the stragglers from the group in front of us and were quickly in traffic central. I managed to make it out in one piece in 37:31 which I was happy with (happier now that I hear the course was long).
The Bike is my weak leg and the newest to me so I prepared for a rough ride. I must admit it went by very fast and it helps to have lots of people to focus on and pass throughout the entire leg. My biggest fear on the ride was nailing my nutrition, but because of that fear I was so focused on it that I think I got it right. Finished the ride in 2:43:38.
Now on to the run. I think I fell into a trap that any runner turned triathlete could fall into. I figured " I got this running thing down...focus on the swim and the bike in training". Boy was I wrong. Don’t get me wrong...I am happy with my run but it was no where near my potential. I now know I need to focus on running just as much as the other disciplines. I ended the race with a 1:46 half marathon. It was hot, hot, hot.
Total time of 5:13 and overall place of 370.
One of the greatest experiences of my life.
Thanks to all of you for your words of wisdom over the past 8 months while I prepared for this.