Leading up to this race, I mostly felt very calm - I knew my training was there, I knew that if I raced smart I would finish, and I was pretty damn determined to do that. But after packet pickup and bike racking we drove the run course - a change of plans, we wanted to bike it but didn't realize that once we brought our bikes into transition we couldn't take them back out. Oops! Driving the first 3 miles was perfect, just what I wanted, but driving the back 3.5 really got into my head. It's three long, mostly straight stretches of road without shade in predicted 88 degree temps - not exactly my prime setting. Saturday night I was pretty freaked out, but somehow by race morning found my Zen. A bad race was simply not an option.
Race morning I got up, prepped all my stuff, decided to go with 2 servings of Hammer Gel for my T-minus 3 hours breakfast, and got dressed. Found out the race would be wetsuit legal, which was nice - especially for the in-water start. The ride to the race was quiet, everyone was pretty well in their own heads. Got to transition and set everything up, hit the porta-john and re-checked everything in transition. Headed out to wait the 1:15 until my wave start … thank goodness for my psych-up mix on my iPod. The time passed a lot quicker than I expected it would, and pretty soon it was time to get my wetsuit on and queue up for the start. I was nervous and calm at the same time, ready to finally start this event that I'd been thinking about, planning for, and training for forever.
1.2 mile Swim - 34:21
The water was calm, perfectly cool, and I swear the tide was with us. I worked the entire time to find a good, comfortable rhythm that wasn't pushing too hard, and I think I mostly did that. It went by quicker than I expected - in previous swims I couldn't wait for the finish, and this time the buoys clicked by with surprising pace. The greatest part was not worrying about the other women trying to jockey for position and get out front - I kept thinking, let them fight for their Kona slot or age group rank, I'm just going to race my race, and it was such a relief not to be time focused. Overall I think my swim was good, but I did veer off course a bit on the 3rd leg. Not sure how that happened, I was with a crowd for almost the entire swim, but I didn't freak out over it and pretty soon I was back on course.
T1 - 5:16
So on one hand I have no idea what took so long, but when I start to think about it it's pretty obvious. For starters, given my foot I was walking not running or jogging through transition. And to be honest, I wasn't walking all that quickly. No time goal - no sense of urgency. Found my bike, ripped off my wetsuit, dried off a bit. Sunscreen. At least one Enduralyte, maybe three. Socks and shoes. Lube. Race belt. Helmet and glasses. Heading for bike out.
56 mile Bike - 3:03:07
The amazing thing about this bike was that I felt good the entire time. Granted, I was trying to find the sweet spot on my saddle from the first minute, and my shoulders were a little tight from the get-go, but neither became problematic. I found a comfortable zone 2 90rpm pace and basically held it the entire time. Never got tired, and the minutes and miles never slowed down on me. Got passed plenty, but I passed a number of people too, and I stuck to my race plan and held zone 2 so I knew I had something for the run. I did Perpetuem every 15 minutes, 3 Enduralytes every hour, and stopped at mile 22 and 42 for water. I went through a lot of water - probably 32 oz x close to 3, which explains why I desperately needed a Porta-John at mile 42 and was so bummed that they didn't have it. Other than hoping I wouldn't pee on the bike and trying to decided when I would pee, the ride was a smooth as I could've hoped for. Definitely helped that the dreaded headwinds weren't so bad, really not much to speak of at all.
T2 - 9:29
OK, so here again I really don't know what took so long - except that I do. Potty stop. Rack bike and take off helmet. Sit down, take off shoes and socks. (I really do need tri shoes.) Grab syringe, prep foot, inject, repeat. (My theory was right, I was so pumped on adrenaline that the shots were a complete non-issue.) Arm coolers, which took a little untangling. 3 Enduralytes. Hat. Shoes and socks. Wet and snap the cooling towel. Finally, time to run.
13.1 mile Run - 2:13:37
I definitely started off a little fast - which in some ways was good. It was good to feel good. It was great that I couldn't feel my neuroma at all - I was running with a mid foot strike and was absolutely pushing off with my left foot, and while nothing felt numb I didn't feel those awful stabs of pain so I assume the marcaine was working. After about a mile or two I settled into a more reasonable pace, and I made a point of stopping at each aid station. I got water and Gatorade, for fluids, electrolytes and calories - sometimes one or the other and sometimes both. And I got ice for my hat, which really was brilliant. The cooling towel and arm coolers also helped a lot, and between all that the heat really didn't pose too much of an issue (surprising, since apparently it was 91 with 88% humidity). So I just clicked off the miles one by one, and didn't walk until I got to each aid station - exactly my plan. I was careful to hold back for pretty much the whole way, which I do think helped a lot especially on the back half of the course. And while I was running about a 10' pace, I was passing LOTS of people.
Passing a lot more people than I was getting passed (probably all the fast runners started ahead of me or passed me on the bike). But really, everywhere you looked people were walking. Lots and lots of people were walking. But I wasn't!!!! And it really wasn't that big a battle to keep running. I just did it. Honestly, part of my didn't know I had it in me, and part of me is not surprised - but either way I'm so damn proud of myself. The back half was a little tougher mentally, but I counted up to mile 10 then down the last 3.1. I definitely slowed the last 5k, still conserving so I could go the distance, and was starting to feel it in my legs. But once I hit mile 12 I ramped it up a bit, then even more at 12.6.
By the time I rounded the corner to the finish the adrenaline started to really kick in, and according to Chris I had a Daisy-style sprint to the finish. I was so damn excited it was ridiculous - I was cursing and nearly crying and somewhat in disbelief that I hadn't actually done it, but I had known all along that I was going to do it - that I was doing it - so it was also the inevitable but amazing conclusion to the race.
Total time - 6:05:50, 1017 overall, 267 women, 54/107 age group
I went into this thinking that my swim would be 0:40, my bike would be 3:00-3:15, and my run 2:15 to 3:00 depending on whether I executed or blew up. I thought 6:30 was a reasonable time, 7:00 would've been a bad day and 6:00 would be the race of a lifetime. To get so close to 6:00 was absurd. To have executed my race plan so well, and to have run the run - my biggest goal - makes me feel fantastic. No regrets. I am just thrilled with my race! Could I have pushed a little harder on the bike and still had enough for the run? Possibly. Could I have pushed a little harder mid-run, or even at the 5k mark? Possibly. Could I have gone faster in transition and broken 6? Quite possibly. But for my first race, not knowing what to expect and having no time goals, I couldn't be happier. I don't know that I'll do Eagleman again - I love that it's flat, but without the adrenaline rush of my first ½ I'm not sure I could really battle the heat the same way - but I can see myself doing another ½, just not anytime soon …