The Dress Rehearsal: Great White North Half-Ironman Race Report
So with all of the training that Richelle has prescribed and that I have enthusiastically completed, I was ready to see what kind of results I'd get at a longer distance event, like a half-ironman. I wanted to treat GWN as a dress rehearsal for IMC, what a perfect opportunity to let it all hang out without worrying about the outcome or possible disaster.
Here are the distances: swim 2km, bike 90km, run 21.3km. I raced GWN two years ago as my first half-iron, and while the 6:45ish finishing time was a good performance on that day, I was also hoping to up the ante and see what the added training would do for me. I was ready for a dress rehearsal, time to try out nutrition, clothing, strategies etc. And see how far I could push the envelope.
This is how the day unfolded...
Lesley-Anne was kind enough to drive us to the lake, rather than take the uber-early bus (thanks LA!). I quickly headed to transition, organized my bike and other stuff, headed for the port-a-potty line, then worked myself into my (new!) wetsuit. Fits like a glove. I dove into the lake for a short warm-up (yucky murky water at the shore, ugh!), back on shore. I totally ignored all the crazies who natter about wheels and nutrition, I found my quiet zone and worked my plan. After exiting the water, while standing around waiting for the start, I was beside Cindy & Scott, who were sporting their Garmin 310XT's. I usually don't start my watch until the bike, as it is big and bulky and tends to get trapped in my wetsuit. Scott pointed out that because I have the quick release band, I can easily palm and twist off the Garmin. In a split second decision (and primarily because this is my dress-rehearsal race), I ran over to my bike and activated the Auto Multisport function. A huge THANKS to Scott and Cindy for their words of wisdom; this is what I love about our Team, we're good support and share info and experiences in a very open manner, it's awesome. The Garmin was a big success, I like having the extra data from the swim portion, transition info, love it.
Time to hit the water! My race plan called for getting into the mix of it all, taking some bumps and swimming with my peer group. Yep, I was certainly in unfamiliar territory! Lots of bumps, a kick to the chin, someone swam over my back, quite the washing machine! It ironed itself out after the first 400m, I kept swimming thru it all, long strokes, felt like a fish! Wonderful! The first lap was over quickly, sub 20min, then on to the 2nd lap. Not as bumpy, somehow I slowed down a bit, but still a huge improvement over 2009.
2009 swim time: +45min
2011 swim time: 40min
T1 was smooth, I probably could have gone faster, but it was smooth. I heard Angie at the mount line, I saw Danielle M, we gave a little cheer, then I pedaled up the hill.
I don't remember much about my bike ride, other than it was hillier course than I recalled from 2009. I remember trying to cram in my allotted nutrition, but I started to feel nauseous; I was unsure whether it was the nutrition or the exertion level, so I took little sips and prayed they would sustain me until the run portion of the race. The hills really sapped my speed, I lost ground to a lot of competitors on the hills, why oh why am I so slow on the hills, I train on hills, I mountain bike, I'm consistent on the hills with a good turnover rate, for the love of all things holy, why do hills slam into me like a freight train??? Something to work on, I'm sure.... anyhow, I stayed pretty focused, only momentary lapses, and the out and back course was helpful in determining where other teammates were on the course, cheering for them, encouraging them, receiving some cheers back. Nice.
2009 bike time: 3:16
2011 bike time: 3:04
T2 also went smoothly. Again, I could have been a bit quicker, but it felt like I was missing something, so I did a triple check before running out the gate. No harm done.
The half-marathon that they throw at us after swimming and biking is no picnic. Your legs are tired, and running 21.3km's is not what tired legs want to do. I generally pound thru the first 10km and hope that I can hang on; it's between 10-14km that I lose focus, I allow the nagging aches and pains to consume me, and I walk. Today was no exception, I desparately wanted to walk and walk and walk. I was tired, I needed motivation. That's when the TTL people starting appearing, as it was the out-and-back section of the course. TTL rocks, I am so thankful that we give each other a smile, a high five, a "go girl", whatever. It picked me up and pushed me forward, a gentle push to move me ahead. I also thought back to my race planning, and reminded myself that if an 8-year old can run 1km in 5:28, I needed to get it in gear. So I did.
In the past, the run portion of the race seems to have been my achilles heel: tummy trouble, nutrition issues, foot issues. I was determined not to let any of these slow me down. Yes, my foot started to hurt, yes, I grabbed the wrong nutrition bottle this morning so after the first sip I knew I would be doomed if I continued sipping, and yes, my tummy was still nauseous. The important part is how I solved these race-day in-the-moment issues.
1) ignore the foot: pain is temporary. Try to wiggle my feet a bit so that it stretches out, just keep going. I need to go back to see Sarah P again for more ideas for IMC. Post-race I iced it, stretched it, rolled it, and now my foot is back to normal.
2) time to look for alternative nutrition. The aid stations are serving flat cola and oranges, let's see what happens. I took mini sips of flat cola, it seemed to stay down and didn't jiggle in my tummy, in fact the sugar content was yummy, and little sips successfully got me through the run from min 61-110. Then I sampled a couple of orange wedges. Wow, they tasted amazing! And they seemed to work even better than the cola! Who knew?!
3) I decided that being nauseous was a by-product of my exertion level. Richelle had encouraged me to go hard on the bike and still hold steady on the run (similar to Wasa). Well, my bike was certainly a strong ride, and when I hit the run my HR was hovering around 160, where it stayed the entire run, even elevating a bit towards the end. I'm pretty certain that this high exertion level caused my nausea. And since I didn't actually vomit, I think it indicates that I was on the fine line of racing to my limit and totally blowing up.
Turns out the run portion of my race may no longer be my achilles heel:
2009 run time: 2:45ish
2011 run time: 2:22
Total 2009 time: 6:45ish
Total 2011 time: 6:07
Overall, I'm super excited about my results, my performance, my teammates, everything! This dress rehearsal was a huge success!
Now I'm ready for training camp, and I know that when August 28th rolls around, I'll be ready for that, too!
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