White Lake 1/2 Iron Man is in the books. First, I want to give a shout out to each and every TriGirl and TriBoy who raced this past weekend, it was hot, and everyone gave it their best. So, my race was good, ok and ugly. The good was my swim, which was 8 minutes faster than my last 1.2 mile race swim. I panicked for about 200 yards, and then pulled it together and had a great swim! Happy about that!
The bike was flat with more wind than expected, but I did ok on the bike. I purposely did not push the bike too hard, because I have a habit of crashing and burning on the run...more on that later. I felt good on the bike, except for the dual knives in the base of my neck and of course, my girly parts after about mile 40. I had a really hard time keeping aero after that but just kept moving my legs and getting it done. I think I may have to make some adjustments, maybe try a new seat, because the thought of going 56 more miles with that pain makes me feel like crying.
Oh, the run. To call it a run is kind of not true, but I covered the 13.1 mile distance. It was hot, but that wasn't my issue. I thought when I got off the bike I felt pretty good, and that feeling lasted about a quarter mile. I need to re-evaluate my nutrition, big time, because my stomach was all knotted up and bloated and I just couldn't run. That was disappointing. But that's why I did this race, to identify things I need to adjust before November, so in that sense, it was good.
I really didn't feel too hot because I fashioned my patented "curtain of cool" by draping a cold, wet towel over my head with my hat on top. As stupid as I know I looked, I will do this from now on in hot races because it was like my own little cool cave and I did not get burned on my neck, nor face. I did remove it before the finish line, for the final finish photo, but the rest of the race I was living cooly large! I also did not wear my fuel belt, relying on the water stops. I won't do that again either. I really think I need to know that I can drink whenever I want and I also want to take my own drink stuff so that, too was a good lesson for me to learn. Finally, I really did not have an issue with thinking I wasn't going to finish. I just sucked it up and finished the race and tried to have as much fun as I could. While the end result was 2 minutes slower than my last 1/2 Iron, I did have more fun.
Recap of things I learned:
1. Swimming is fun when I settle down.
2. I should not slack on the bike, because the run is always a crap shoot.
3. Curtain of cool rocks!
4. I need to change my nutrition...this will be the hardest thing I think.
5. I will wear my fuel belt in races.
6. Being happy to be there will get me through even when I am feeling bad.
7. For IMFL training, I need to run after every bike, no matter the distance.
8. A done race is as good as a done run.
6 comments:
Congrats!
Always awesome to share some race/post-race time with you
sq
Congrats and I wish I could've been there with you. My lessons for imfl will be coming quite close to exam time. I hope I have enough time to truly learn what I need to do.
I learned that Shawn can kick ass in the swim and is damn funny during post-race festivities!!! :)
Congrats on a great race and a fantastic step toward IMFL!
c
I thought the towel hat look was pretty cool, actually.
Though the run really did suck, didn't it?
When is that aqua velo????
Shawn it seems like we share some issues. I know I have a lot to work on, maybe we can share training strategies.
Congrats on your finish!
you looked great on the run - I had no idea you were feeling like poo! the towels were key! and you are one step closer to becoming an Ironman! cheers to you on a great race!
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