I did not/will not run a marathon this fall. Bummer, but the time spent training….I gave a Half Iron man a shot.
Here’s the story – I went to work on Friday 8/12/11 and began searching for a triathlon to do – nothing serious, just wanted something to work for – I ran 16 miles that morning for “fun”. I found the Square Lake Half Iron Man on 9/11/11 30 days away.
- I needed to rest on that Saturday, so with four weeks to the race, I got on my bike and then ran a few miles.
- For two and a half weeks, all I did was bike, swim and run when I could, then I tapered.
- The biking messed up my hamstring.
- The swimming messed up my knees.
- I concentrated on swimming the breast stroke and on form so the kicks wouldn’t mess up my knees – too bad.
- My hamstring worried me, so for the last week I didn’t run at all.
- Race morning was beautiful, no wind, but the day was hot – Here’s the weather for the day
- I was extremely happy with my swim and bike – I’m not sure what I could have run if the weather was cooler – not what I was expecting to, but faster than what I did.
- Here’s the results…20 of 27 in my age group.
- Here are the photos from the photographer that was out there.
During the race here are the things I don’t want to forget:
The Swim:
- Hendy saying before the start, you can’t win it on the swim, but you sure can loose it.
- Sucked in water twice during swim – once because I looking down at the bottom, admiring how clear the lake was and the second time because I was trying to “warm up” my wet suit – I figured save sometime instead of stopping during the bike
- I kept checking the color of the swim caps around me to make sure I was hanging with my group – and to my surprise, I was.
The Bike
- It was soooo much fun – like I was a little kid again – on one downhill, my watch said 1:50 miles/min – that’s 32.7 mph!
- There was a dead bull snake on the bike course – it freaked me out – I went by it twice
- Erika, Jake and Kyla drove along side of me during the bike as it was an open course (the roads were not closed)
- I said out loud, “Hey 3:33 on mile 33!”, then got passed when I thought I was by myself.
- The last mile was bumpy – the rest of the course was great, but the last mile was bumpy.
- Talking to the photographer as he rode in the back of a van with the trunk up as he snapped photos.
The Run
- Hot Hot Hot
- Mile 1 – 8 minute mile until the hill – ended up at like 8:38.
- After that I went into survival mode
- My watch died after 11.73 miles – and the bike.
- The sailor guy I walked up a hill with – cursed more than Pedey.
- The old dude I tried to keep up with – he wouldn’t let me have any of the path.
- The hot water I got as I came into the park
- Being announced as Daddy as I crossed the finish line
We hung out at the park for the rest of the day. I only cramped up once and luckily it wasn’t when I throwing Jake around in the water.
