SC Half Ironman - The Long Version

Lauren and I left for Greenwood, SC on Saturday which was the day before the race. Greenwood, so I've learned is becoming quite a hotbed for Triathlons. It hosts no fewer than 5 events a year. That night we happened upon what I believe to be the only Italian joint in town, because as soon as I walked in, there were more shaved legs than you'd find at a Miss America pageant. Every table in the joint was dotted with racers wearing their favorite race tees and talking about gear and the Ironman. I'd come to the right place.

Race morning started at 4:15. I had oatmeal and a PB & J sandwich. It's been my breakfast of choice before my long bricks so I wasn't going to waver now. I stepped outside the hotel to find that the temp had dropped to 54 degrees during the night. What the heck? They expected me to swim in this? Lauren just about revolted at that point. Before we left, we picked up a stranded racer at the hotel for a helping of good race kharma. With that under my belt, I knew it'd be a good day.

During my transition area set-up, I had a weird calm about me. Usually before a race, I have this nervous anticipation. This time there was no sense of urgency, no fears of what if this happens. There was just calm. It did bother me a bit because I knew I would need adrenalin at some point to keep me going. But, I took it as a good sign that I would be able to pace myself and make good decisions.

The Swim: Luckily the water turned out to be warmer than the outside air. It was 76 degrees which meant wetsuits would be legal which meant nothing to me. I didn't have one. Everyone else seemingly had come prepared and took full advantage. I swore that if I ever do one of these again, I want one. It's a huge advantage, and I need all the help I can get. Why is that? Oh yeah, it's because I absolutely suck in open water swims. It's not that I get tired or off course. It's more that I get distracted and keep looking to see how far I have to go. Time after time, I put up decent times in the pool, only to come out and put up a 42 minute swim. And that's how I started. It didn't bother me though, because that was the hard part. All I had to do now was ride and run.

T1: Nothing fancy, but a long run from the beach and trouble with my bike shirt put me getting out of T1 in just over 2 minutes. Not great.

The Bike: As usual, here's where I make up my time. I spent the first two miles making myself hoarse from yelling "on your left!" All of the racers who could swim faster than me struggled to find their land legs and peddle their bikes. Don't know how many I passed, but it just rang home the truth about how slow I swim.
I had decided early on that I wasn't going to kill it on the bike this time. During my last 1/2, I burned way too many matches on the bike. This time, I planned on keeping a 20.5 mph average. I had some early alarms go off during miles 5-12 when I was barely keeping my pace above 19 mph. It was then that I remembered looking at an elevation chart of the course and knew that this was a tough stretch. I also recalled that the road flattens out a bit and that better roads lay ahead. By mile 15 I'd pushed my speed up to where I wanted it. Also at mile fifteen, I'd decided I would take in a energy bar. I'd chosen a Hammer Bar because the package was easy to tear open. Note to self, taste the bar before using it in a race. The taste wasn't so bad, it was the consistency that made me want to hurl. I felt like I was 7 years old again and my mom was feeding me corn beef hash. I managed to get one bite down, but that was all I could do. I couldn't take another bite. I knew this would put me in calorie deficiency so I relied on the powergels I had with me.
Throughout the rest of the ride, I continued to pass a lot and get passed by a few. My legs felt nice and strong until about mile 45 when all I wanted was to get off the bike. Because it was at that point that we made one last turn that put us riding into a stiff wind all the way up to the park's entrance. I felt like I was going backwards. It totally zapped whatever momentum I was feeling as I ended my bike. Final time was 2:45.

T2: Left my shoes on the bike. Helmet off, visor and running shoes on and I'm gone. 1:09.

The Run: I looked at my watch. It read a total time of 3:31. My goal was to finish in 5:30 so I knew all I had to do was to put up a two hour half. I was going to try and get under that if at all possible. I felt like I had the energy to do it too. The run consisted of a two loop course. It made it difficult to tell who was in which portion of the race. I decided not to worry about it and just run my race. The first few miles were perfect. I averaged an 8:30 pace up until mile four. I made sure to take in plenty of fluids and a gel when I could. I could feel the legs were starting to tire. I made my first lap at 4:27. I had 6.6 miles to go and I had an hour to do it. My first urge to walk hit just after mile 7. I gave in for a second, but found that a slow jog felt just as good and was twice as fast. At mile 8 I decided to see what I could do, but I found that it wasn't much. I put up a 9 minute mile and realized that I was going down hill quickly. The body was wearing down the legs were exhausted.
I made it to mile 12 and knew I was close (1. to finishing and 2. to collapsing). After what seemed like an eternity, a volunteer said, "good job! only .6 left to go!" I just about quit. I'd run the entire last mile and after 7 minutes she was telling me .6 miles still lay ahead of me??? There were people of ahead of me on either side of the course so I kept going out of pride. I followed the markers another 300 feet or so when I looked to my left and up this steep incline was the finish line, 30 feet away. .6 miles my ass!!! What was she thinking? I stumbled my way up the hill and crossed the line feeling like I'd cheated the course. I felt like at any moment someone was going to tell me I had another loop to do. But alas, I was done and I finished under 5:30 by 30 seconds. Whew!

Three days later, I still a little sore. Sunday night and Monday were rough, but already I feeling the desire to strap on the running shoes and head out for a while. The season is over, and it's been a good one. I've come a long way since last October when I decided to start actually training for Triathlons. Through the help of Transitions Multi Sport, I had a great season and set a PR at every distance for each race I entered. I've met some incredible people in person and on-line. My wife said it best this weekend, when she said commented that the people at races are so nice. She said we all have this common bond we enjoy and want to share this happiness with each other.

I'm not done with training for the year, though you will find me spending more Saturday mornings with my wife and eating chocolate cake and ice cream a little more often. Thanks for reading.