HO-LY COW! Time for some 'honesty time' - first off, I really thought that a half iron-man wouldn't be all that hard. No, really. I mean c'mon if you can run a marathon you can do a silly swim and bike and then a half marathon. I could do it in my sleep! Well, let's just say that I got slapped upside the head by the Half Ironman today. Brent had invited me along to this course preview and I knew it would be well worth the effort to get there and do it. So, I hired a sitter to watch the kids and invited George (who is with the Newtons and also doing the half) to come along as well. I was warned the bike would be a good 20mph average, and I knew I typically rode at 17ish, so it shouldn't be THAT hard to keep up...right? (slap) George met me at my house, but something went wrong in communication and he didn't have swim or run stuff. So, we took a 15ish min detour to his house to get his stuff. I knew we'd be late, but figured we wouldn't need to bs at the start and so we could just jump right in the water. Which MAY have happened if yours truly had realized that the exit was PROVO Center Street and NOT OREM Center Street. Another detour. Thanks to a friendly runner we got turned around and headed in the right direction. We ended up 25 minutes late. Threw the wets suits on and headed out on the swim until the last person from the group (after they'd turned) came past us and we turned as well. I think we got maybe 800-1100M in on the swim. Then came the bike. Holy Cow! This is where the underestimating came. In my rush I hadn't brought the fuel I'd packed on my bike and I bonked hard. About 5 miles out from the turn around I started feeling nauseated and tired. I needed something. Which after 90 minutes of hard, consistent effort is about right! duh Rachel! I pawned a Gu off a wonderful, amazing lady and we started back. My butt was D.O.N.E. however, the only way to get back was to ride on...so I did. At 1 hour I'd averaged 18.7mph, at 2 hours I'd averaged 18.25mph, and then I crashed again. This time coach Keena came to my rescue and shoved some Gu Chomps in my hand. A welcome treat! The last 10 miles of the ride were just crazy. I'd stayed with one lady for probably the last 15 of the ride and we had good chats and then got lost together on the way back and had to pull out our written directions and follow them backwards! Grateful I had them!! I'd lost George when I'd caught up to and stayed with this lady, but luckily he had a partner in crime as well that he got lost with :) My final average was 17.8mph which is still not too bad, but I know we slowed down and stopped a LOT more than we should've those last 6ish miles because of being lost. So, I'm gonna say I did a solid 18mph ride. Which, for my first LONG bike ride is pretty darn good. In some confusion of transitioning to the run I fell over on my bike when I was stopped and scraped up my knee and leg - SO embarrassing! I rode my bike back to the car in shame and waited for George to come in from the ride, so we could get just 6 miles of running. A quick change (and LOTS of water) later we were off on a nice hot 11AM 6 mile run. I was SO grateful for the shady parkway!! And lucky that it wasn't horribly hot like a couple weeks ago. I was surprised that the first mile came in at 8:45 and George was keeping up well! At our turn around on the parkway I waited just a bit for George (he had the battery in his watch changed and they didn't waterproof it! So, after the swim his watch was waterlogged and so I didn't want to abandon him) and then we made a quick bathroom stop. All the water from the bike needed to be released. Then we finished off the run and I was VERY surprised to see the AP at 8:17. Wow, it certainly didn't feel that fast! splits: 8:35, 8:15, 8:17, 8:17, 8:04, 8:16 - hmm, most consistent run in my life EVER! Then we were done...and D.O.N.E! This Half IM is going to be a lot harder than I had anticipated. I know I will finish, but 6 hours of pushing yourself physically is hard work. I know that sounds dumb, but it really is that hard! You don't know how hard it is until you've actually gone out and done it. I'm telling you - I underestimated the half IM! Take my advice and don't do it! :) It is a monster...not to be messed with. Okay, mess with it, just don't underestimate it. I'd say it is like someone who has only ever run 16 miles saying "oh yeah, I could do a marathon and qualify for Boston." I need to have my bike 'fixed' - well, just adjusted to ME. A new seat, for sure! and I need to fuel better on the bike. I think if I anticipate the fueling instead of using reaction fueling (when I've hit a wall), I will do better on the bike. Also, the heat...ugghh, running in the heat. I'll need ice at every stop :) and I think I may take my water bottle...I was told they don't have a lot of aid stations. I am just SO SO SO grateful that Brent allowed me to come today. It was an eye opener and I have learned a LOT that will help me tremendously over the next month to prepare. Thanks Brent!!!
| 
