First Half Ironman (Chisago Race Report)

What a day...First Half Ironman finshed with alot of mixed feelings and emotions...

The day started at 415 am, and I was at Chisago City right around 6am. The transisition area was a bit hectic with lots of bikes piled one on top of the other. After getting my body marked I was barely able to get a good warm up in...I wasn't sure what to expect in this race and with other things going on last week I wasn't totally focused on the race, but I was excited to be there and see what I could do.

The swim was good, finished in 33 minutes with some change. Transisition was okay, this was the first time I decided to wear socks because I was afraid I would get blisters on the run, so that was a bit slower. The bike was really good, I felt good, but really had no idea what I was doing...I just remember the advice I got to always feel like I could go harder and no go out too fast. My goal was to keep my pace around 20mph, which I did, and ended up with a 2:33 bike, 21.7 average, I was happy with that. The run was BRUTAL, along with the heat and possibly not re-fueling right on the bike I felt absolutely horrible, or maybe that was what suffered with other things on the mind the previous week. Either way, the run is what made the Half Ironman, extremely hard. By far the toughest and the worse I could remember feeling...But I did make it though, no walking, with a 1:41 time, which I wasn't too upset with. My overall time was 4:50.47, 12th overall for women . I was very pleased with how I did, just wish I would have felt better on the run, just a bit better would have been a nice memory for the first Half. Next time though, might have to make myself eat more. Only had three guls of prapetume and three shot blocks, probably not too smart. Nothing on the run except lots and lots of water and some gatorade.

I was amazed with all the talented athletes that I saw at this race. The competition among women (and men of course) the was there as always, and is definetly something to live up to!

Key take away: Experience and practice.

First Post!

I've never blogged before but think this will be a great way to keep track of my races, workouts, and such....Here is to first experiences, just hope I have time to update for my own sake!