I like reading race reports. This one is long, but it's for a long race...my first half-Ironman distance triathlon :)
Race:
Wildflower Long Course Triathlon
Date: 5/1/2010
Course conditions: Not nearly as hot as it could have been. 80-85deg, sunny, some wind, some chop in the water.
Nerves: Very high in the week leading up to the race. Heck, high in the MONTHS leading up to the race. I figured I was in way over my head. Day of? Scared, but focused. THREE port-a-potty trips prior to the swim. Started on empty, as usual. Stupid stomach.
Wave start: Pros, then men, youngest - oldest, then women, youngest - oldest. My 30-34 age group started at 9:15am. So I knew I'd be biking and running in the heat.
Participants (finishers):
Overall: 1,727
Men: 1,268
Women: 459
Women 30-34: 104
My stats:
Overall rank: 634
Gender rank: 81
Age Group rank: 19
Swim: 1.2 mile lake swim, rectangle pattern. Comfortable (w/full wetsuit) temp. Well marked. Started towards the back on the inside. Minimal kicking/hitting, but I was in a crowd most of the time. I was overall pretty happy with my sighting and my pace seemed steady. The return was pretty choppy and I definitely swallowed some lake. Yuck. As I understand from later waves - and even the next day - it continued to get worse.
Expected time - 45:00
Actual time - 40:33, pace 2:05 (I'm guessing that's 100 yds)
Overall rank: 1017
T1: 4:44
I have no idea what took me so long, but I know I wasn't rushing like I do during sprint or Olympic distance races.
Bike: 56 miles. Up. Flat. Up. Up. Up. Up. Up. Down. Some headwind on the second half. I'm surprised at how little of this I remember. I spent over two hours out there... what the heck was I thinking about? Anyway, I ended up riding mostly with 45+ y/o men, played leapfrog with a couple folks. Did not have aerobars on my bike. Might have used them during the flat section, but I'm comfortable in my drops and figured I didn't need to add something new to my already (fairly) new bike. Tried to hold back my speed a little to save energy for the run. Loved hearing cheers from my fellow SF Tri Club racers and spectators, as well as a handful of other friends out there. Encountered some stomach cramps, especially in the last 10 miles (luckily, after Nasty Grade & Polar Heart Rate hills) because I mixed my Cytomax too strongly. I kind of felt them starting earlier and ended up exchanging bottles twice and just got water, in effort to calm my stomach down.
Nutrition: 1.5 bottles Cytomax, 1.5 bottles water, 1 Clif Mojo bar, 0.5 Clif bar, 1 Clif Blox stick, 2 (?) Clif Gels. (Clif, if you find this, pleeeeeeeeeease be my sponsor.)
Expected: 2:30
Stretch Goal: 2:20
Actual: 3:21:53, 16.6 mph
Overall rank: 847
T1: 3:05
Totally passed up my transition area and had to go back to find it. Sprayed on some sunscreen. Stomach is pissed off at this point, did not drink any more sports drink or have a gel here like I normally would.
Run: 13.1 Up. Up. Up. Up. Up. Up. Down. Sun. Over half of it was on trails, some which were very rocky. Found a coach from my gym and ran with him for a mile or two, shouted out to a couple of SF Tri Club members... pretty early on, another woman tell me to go chase after "pink shirt girl," who was in my age group (I did, about mile 8 or so and told her I had been chasing her. I meant it nicely - like she was fast, but unfortunately she had slowed down a lot and I don't think it came across too well. Oops.) Spectators make a big difference and helped to push me along. Unfortunately, some of the more challenging sections aren't really cheerleader friendly, so I had to just get focused and keep going. Managed to keep running the whole time, which I understand is kind of uncommon on this course. There's one uphill in particular where everyone just started to walk. I passed quite a few people there, despite my slow, laborious jog. Found that three of them did end up passing me after, but the vast majority did not. I remember wondering about this hill during my training weekend. Better to walk (hike, really) or run slowly? Regardless, I was scared to walk, because I thought that I wouldn't start to run again! My hips and knees were a little sore, but no major pain. Oh, except for about 2/3 of the run when I thought maybe I had asthma, I was breathing so hard.
Had a nice sprint finish. I had been running mostly with men, but then suddenly spotted a woman right behind me. She could have been in my age group, for crying out loud, so I took off. Have no idea where that energy came from. Oh right, I'm competitive. Mostly with myself, but I was not about to let her pass me at the very end like that.
Nutrition: Eventually, my stomach calmed down, though never enough to have a lot of Gatorade (on the course) or Clif Blox (in my pocket). I had Gatorade at 2 aid stations + water, 2 orange slices, 2 Clif Gels.
Goal: 2:00
Actual: 2:02:14, 9:19 min/mile
Overall rank: 473
Total:
Goal: 6:30
Stretch goal: 6:15
Finish: 6:12:29
After: Okay. Tired. Really out of it. Minor periods of lucidity and high energy. Thirsty. Really effing thirsty. Quads and hamstrings and hips very, very angry. Later... some more stomach cramping. And then later... enjoyed some beers and they were delicious.
