On Thursday morning, we packed up the car and we were off to Munice, IN. This was the first time that we didn't turn back a few times in the neighborhood because one of us forgot something.. maybe this is a good sign. We had an uneventful drive. When we got into Anderson, IN (all of the hotels were booked in April in Muncie). The hotel was amazing! The hotel changed their breakfast to 4:30 am for race day and we all were given a care package at check-in. The next morning we went to the convention center and got our race packet. Race packet pick-up is pretty much the same for all ironman events. The Expo was really good. I walked around and I was able to sample new products. Just a Disclaimer: My opinions on the products are my opinions only and I have not been endorsed by the companies. I was able to try out Huma Gels and Core Power Nutritional drink. I will have to say, I LOVED both products. The Huma Gels tasted like real fruit jelly or preserves, just not as sweet. They tasted very similar to the squeezable applesauce. All I can say is YUM! The Core Power drink was so good. I love the honey milk. I am not a milk drinker and I liked this a lot. I actually drank some after the half and felt really good.. After we picked up our packet, we went to the race venue. This was the first time that I actually rode my bike for 10 minutes and then went for a run. I am glad I did. I got a feel for the roads. The weather the day before was gorgeous! The temperature was in the low 80s and the weather on race day was going to be a low of 66 and a high of 85.. The water temp was 76.0 degrees.. Yes... this was going to be a wetsuit legal race!! Whoo hoo!! I was so excited! I could have a great swim!
The next morning, we got up at 4:45 am. All three of us were doing something with the race. Don and I were going to race and Donnie was going to be a lifeguard on the swim course. I was so happy that he could do this! What a relief to a mom to know that the race officials would ensure my son was looked after.. I know he is 16 but I still worry. He was a great help on race day.. We had breakfast and headed out to the race venue, which was over 30 minutes away... About 15 miles later, I look at Don and said " I forgot to pack my wetsuit!" Panic started to set in. I have never swam a half without a wetsuit. What was I going to do??? I had planned my last few swims with the idea that I would be swimming with a wetsuit... Ughhh!!! I had no one to blame but myself.. Just before I took off in my wave, I told myself, that I would be fine and to just swim and think of Dori... This time, we took off in time and we were off. I was in a wave start and it wasn't as bad as last year's wave start at Hy Vee. The water was great! I was actually warmer than the pool at St. Georges. I put my head down and sang my song.. "Row, Row, Row your boat (breathe) gently down the stream (breathe), merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily (breathe), life is but a dream (breathe)" Each word was a stroke for me. I kept on swimming and made the first turn and then made the second turn. As I was swimming, I took a breath to my right and saw Donnie on the surfboard. That was so cool to see him. He told be good luck and that he loved me.. I don't know if I will ever have that experience again.. I continued to swim toward shore but it was really hard to sight.. we had the sun in our eyes, so I kept hoping that I was swimming straight.. After awhile, the guys behind me started to try to swim over me, kick me and pull my legs. I was getting a little mad when all of a sudden, I get a tap on my shoulder... In the water, there was Don. He caught up to me, spotted me and gave me "I love you" before he swam on.. Now I know that is an experience that I won't ever get to experience. I got to the shore and I encountered my first hill. I had to run up a hill to get to T1..so off I go.
Getting on the bike, I got to my bike and started to take off. As I was about to exit, there were volunteers slathering sunscreen.. I had learned my lesson, I forgot to put on sunscreen, so I asked the volunteers to slather on the sunscreen. I am so glad I did. The bike was amazing.. The course was relatively flat and they even closed down a major highway. My average speed was 16.9 in the first half and 17 mph on the second half. I met my goal for the bike. I was on my way to finishing under 7.5 hours. Knowing that the run had rolling hills, I made sure I kept up on my hydration and electrolytes. I came in on the bike into T2 and got ready for the run. Off I went, I tried to make sure I didn't take off too fast because I was going downhill.. So, I held back a little.. only a little because I had a goal of running faster.. There were water stops every mile on the course. It felt like I was running into the next aid station after finally getting into a groove. I was doing great on the first half. I pushed up the hills, like I had learned and gave 100% effort. I didn't beat myself up if my speed was 14 min/mile. I just kept telling myself keep on running, keep on running.. At the turnaround point, the run started to get hot! The sun was beating down and I was trying to keep cool. I am so glad I brought an endurocool towel. That was a lifesaver and the cold sponges. I was wearing down but I kept on running.. There were times that I would want to walk but I didn't. I actually tried to walk only through the water stops and then shuffled.. As I was coming up the last hill, I felt like I was the Bionic Woman running.. my arms were moving but my legs were going REALLY SLOW... you could almost hear "NANANANANANAA".. I got to the top of the hill and ran down the shoot to the finish line! What a feeling to see the time under 8 hours 30 mins on the overhead clock! I knew I had finished under 7.5 hours and I had a smile on my face..
Looking back on this race, it was one of my best races ever! I saw my son on the course as a lifeguard! I saw my husband on the swim, bike and run! This was a great race! I know we were lucky to have great weather for the race but I, also, know that all of my hard work has finally paid off. Lesley helped me with keeping me motivated and just always being there when I needed her and working Billy on the computrainer just gave me the strenght to maintain my speed on the bike.. This was a great race and I know my triathlons will keep getting better..I have one more mini sprint this year and I will be concentrating on the road runner race series..
Speedy Turtle is starting to get faster!!
Happy Training!
Eling
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