10/20/13 - Soma Half Ironman

This race was my first real test on how I'm going to do at Ironman.  Going into yesterday, I had a lot of anxiety, self doubt and the fear of failure.  I constantly wondered if I had done enough.  I was about to find out!

Soma Half Ironman - Swim = 1.2 Miles, Bike = 56 Miles, Run = 13.1 Miles

The transition area closed at 6:15am, so I got to the start at 5:15am.  I'm typically not this early to races (see previous post regarding getting to races on time... I blame this on Penny!).  I had enough time to get everything ready and even had a few minutes to socialize!  It was great seeing Jim and Mitzi and Jackie before the start :) 

Prior to the swim start, while standing in the corral, I was quite emotional and was just trying  to keep it all together.  As soon as I jumped into the water, it was game on!  All of my self doubt was washed away.  I immediately got myself acclimated to the water, put some water down the front of my wetsuit and got my face and head wet.  I warmed up my stoke as I swam to the start line and then floated until the start.  I had a much better swim than my last attempt at 2000m.  When I came out of the water, I felt fresh!  I have to thank Coach Diane and the rest of the Master's Swim crew at Lifetime Fitness!

After the swim, I quickly got into my shoes and put my helmet on and started off for the bike course.  I really did not care for this course.  The course was 3 loops and there were so many turns and u turns.  My friend Elaine was volunteering as a pointer, so it was really nice to see her out there!  I actually did crash once on a U Turn.  There was one u turn in particular that gave me trouble.  On the first loop, the guy in front of me crashed, and then I crashed on the second loop.  On the third loop, I just took it really easy, unclipped one of my shoes and made it through cleanly.  After my crash, I slowed down a little and finished in one piece!  I saw my friends, Amanda and Chris, on the third loop which was awesome!  It is very helpful to have people out there supporting me and cheering me on!  As I entered the transition, I was very thankful to get off the bike!  LOL  Even with the crash and all the tight turns, I was still below my goal!  (Amanda took this picture of my transition area while I was on the bike.)

After the bike, I put on my running shoes and visor and took off!  The first mile was rough...the bottom of my feet hurt and I just couldn't seem to find a good stride.  Plus, something I hadn't really noticed earlier stared bothering me.  I decided to wear my Team Refuel kit to try it out because this is what I'll be wearing for Ironman.  I'm really glad that I did this.  When I first got the kit a few months ago, I tried it on right away and it was a little bit to small.  I knew that I would probably tone up and lose a few pounds, so I tried it on a few days ago and it seemed to fit fine!  In fact, the top is a little bit big around my chest and shoulders.  Well, I didn't notice it on the bike portion, but when I started running my top kept riding up and I had to keep pulling it down :(  It was soooo uncomfortable and it had chafed my arms from being a little to big.  Well, I can't really go up a size so it fits my hips because my current size is already to big in some areas (story of my life!).  The next size up would fit my hips but would be HUGE everywhere else.  I'm glad I figured this out now.  Luckily, I saw Chris and Amanda at about 3 miles in and asked that they find me a shirt.  They met up with me again around the 6 mile point and I was able to change my top!  LOL! 

At about mile 7.5 or so, I met Kristin!  We had first met on the bike course when she passed me and complimented my bike (she too has a Giant Trinity!).  Somehow I must have passed her again, because she caught up to me on the run, so we started talking and we ended up running the rest of the race together!  It was great!  We walked the aid stations and ran everything else.  It was so nice to have someone to talk to...plus she did Ironman AZ last year!  She gave me a lot of advice and really helped me out :)  We finished our run strong and finished together!!!  Amanda, Chris, Bryan, Jackie, Coach Diane and the rest of the Master's Swim crew were waiting for me at the finish!

My goal was to finish between 7 and 7 1/2 hours....  my official time was 6:54:06!!! 
Swim:  55:32
T1:  1:57
Bike:  3:25:13
T2:  2:45
Run:  2:28:40
I was so excited!  This experience helped me get the confidence I need to become an Ironman!  All of the self doubt and low confidence is a thing of the past!  I know now that I can do this :)

While I was racing, one of my best friends, Kristie, was in labor! She gave birth shortly after I finished to a beautiful little girl, Vivianna Elise!  I went straight to the hospital after the race to visit :)

 

10/13/13 - Splash & Dash (2000m swim and 5K Run)

This morning I did my longest open water swim and I learned a lot!  My goal was to finish the swim portion in under 55 minutes.  I ended up arriving a little later than I wanted to because I took a wrong turn on my way to the event.  This put me behind schedule a bit.  For those of you that know me, I typically show up last minute to a road running race!  I HAVE to stop doing this.  I was rushed to put on my wetsuit and I don't think I did a very good job at putting it on (I did not put glide on my neck, so I gave myself a nice hickey!  See pic below....lol).  I also didn't give myself very much time to get into the water and to get acclimated to the temperature.  Once the swim started, I got really claustrophobic in my wetsuit and felt my heart rate get out of control.  I was breathing really hard and started panicking.  I knew that I needed to get this under control right away, so I rolled over on my back until my heart rate went down and my breathing became more normal.  Then I got going!  My sighting went a lot better today than during the Tempe Tri a few weeks ago.  I actually felt really strong and felt myself getting stronger the longer I was out there.  My official swim time was 58:03.  I didn't meet my goal, but I learned a lot and foresee next weekends Half Ironman swim going a lot better! 

After the swim, I transitioned to the run.  I had a hard time getting off my wetsuit, so I was in transition a little longer than I would have liked. 

The run went really well.  The official times haven't been posted yet, but I think the 5K was right around 28:30 or so.  I keep my pace even for the entire 3 miles and felt strong!

Here's a few things to note for my next race:
1.  Get there plenty early enough to get transition ready and get my wetsuit on (15 minutes is not enough time!)
2.  Be sure to put glide on my body.... lesson learned from all the chafing I got today!
3.  Get into the water early and swim a little to warm up
4.  DON'T freak out!
5.  Have Fun!!

I think Coach Diane will be proud of me for this swim.  I didn't have a great time, but I learned so much which was the purpose of this swim!  5 minutes into the swim I was worried that I may be a DNF, but as soon as that thought came into my head, I pushed it out and was determined to turn things around.  This puts me one step closer to being ready for Ironman.