40:58 T1 2:14 3:07:07 T2 1:43 2:06:02 Started off laying in bed not being able to sleep. It popped into my head at 11:30 that I didn't have a timing chip and I couldn't stop thinking about it. It probably said in emails(I need to figure out why I never receive race emails) that we would get them in the morning and when I got up i looked on the website and it did say. All that worrying for nothing. Woke up and had some coffee(it served its purpose nicely) and calories and made some pb and honey toast to eat on the way. Did all the pre race stuff and got set up. Sat around for awhile and listened to music. I feel like a Negative Nancy, but when the pre race meeting finally started about 15 min late they spent about 15 min giving away prizes and telling stories about competitors. Really? Just get to the point and let us get on with it! Especially when there is a late start! Just me ranting :0) SWIM- They finally started the heats for the swim. I ate a banana at this point. I opted for a wetsuit for the first time and I liked it except I felt like I was being choked and it caused my breathing to be a little weird. Swim went smoothly, though, other than that, excepts goggles leaked a little. I had to flip once to my back to clear them. Kept my stroke even and consistent. Getting out of the water was good(no dizziness or weak legs) other than being slippery but they had people there to help you past the slime which was nice. BIKE- First of all- WOW! THIS COURSE IS REALLY GORGEOUS! Hopped on the bike and was off for the 56 miles. I forgot the sandwich i was going to eat at this point. Oops. But i did have a gel in tranistion. Almost right away my right calf started bothering me. It made me nervous and I started over compensating with my left leg. It slowed me down some. Took a gel about 45 min in. Got to the turn around and was dissapointed to not see any porta potties and flat open fields with nowhere to hide. I didn't care though. I had to go bad! It just kept coming too! But damn! It felt good. Ate a sandwich here. Drank about every 10 min. I could tell I was making my lungs really tired on the second half of the ride. I tried to breath as deep and slow as I could but it was difficult at times. My legs felt decent though. RUN- Got back to the transition area and my brain was not working that well. Went out the wrong side on the run and it didn't even register that people were yelling at me for about 20 sec. Oops. I was in my head and just trying to not over think this run I still had to do. My lungs were so tired and my breathing not so good. I REALLY had to concentrate on taking deep steady breaths. Good thing my legs still felt ok. Got through the first half of the run and right on que I saw Josse there to help me through the second half. It was a happy day! And seeing cole and his happy face gave me a 2nd wind. I also had a little bird riding his bike next to me, making a posse, and I like it :0) She had water and Gatorade I had made up last night and some extra gels. I was going through gels very quickly in this second loop so I'm glad she had them! Not positive, but pretty sure I had a negative split run. I was so exhausted but sped up the last few miles and pushed it to the end. This was a very good learning experience and can say I will most likely do it again. I had a few people ask me if the ironman is next. I highly doubt that! Unless I become rich and have all the time in the world to train. For the most part I was happy with the race set up. What a huge undertaking! But there were some things that bothered me. I thought there needed to be more porta potties along the course, the pre race meeting needed to be more efficient and bouyie set up should have started a lot earlier than it did, they needed mile markers on the run, some parts on the run were confusing and I think should have been manned, they should have offered more gels at aid stations.. To name a few. One thing I really liked- I thought the police presence was spot on. They did a good job. After thoughts- I have a lot to learn still about this sport and am excited to learn and race smarter. I lost about 6 lbs I really didn't have to lose during this training but I still feel strong so I don't know how bad that was for me. | 