My fingers are still a little puffy, so I apologize for any typos.
First of all, I want to thank shorewife for suggesting this race. It was a great one for a first timer. Most of the people I met fell into the following categories: first timers, people training for IM Maryland, or people who did some sort of ridiculously hilly 70.3 earlier in the season and felt like they needed redemption. There were also a ton of repeaters.
So I signed up for this race last fall, then was going to drop out by spring, but one of my swim friends got hit by a car and I felt like I had to do this race, and shook off the lazy. Except then summer 2016 in the northeast happened and it pretty much never dropped below 90. My mileage was wayyyy down, i put on a few lbs, i didnt train like i should have. But i did get much much more comfortable on my bike. And did two OWS tris.
So all was good till the forecast freaked me out, as you guys know. There was a heat advisory during my race - you know, when the national weather service tells you not to go outside. I just checked, the heat index was above 100 for the entire run portion. Ok but lets back up.
When i got there and set up in transition, and pumped up my tires, one of the valve things broke off. The tire was full, but i freaked out. I surveyed all the people around me, they all said it would be fine. It was but i was hella nervous the entire bike. I need to learn how to fix a flat... but anyway...
The swim: this lake was lovely, totally calm. A little warm (it was 82 or 83 i think), there were people in wetsuits, but that seemed nuts to me. The swim course was pretty much a giant rectangle and it didnt look all that intimidating. I got in the water, did a little warming up, i felt good, totally confident. The swim was my leg, yo. So we start, im good. For like 100m. Then i freaked out. So i tried to calm down. Did breast stroke with my head above water for a while. Couldnt calm down. Someone asked if i was ok. I saw pretty much everyone in my wave pass me. About 1/3 of the way into the swim, i decided i couldnt do this for the entire swim. So i forced myself to calm down, and did like 10 strokes free, 5 breast, 12 free, 5 breast, 14 free, 5 breast, 16 free, 5 breast, then suddenly i realized i was just swimming and forgot to site. And then i was good. I was cruising. I caught up to a LOT of people from the wave ahead of me. The last little bit of the rectangle i sprinted in and headed out. Strolled to transition because thats what i do. 37:12 (it took me over a minute to walk to transition lol). Took my dandy old time in t1. I should have been able to get close to 30, if not break it. Whatevs. This was for fun.
The bike course wasnt as pancake flat as i expected - but i definitely wouldnt call it hilly either. It was like a big figure 8 you do twice, starting in the middle. It was a really pretty course, very well marked, mostly residential and farms. Delaware is a little strange, there is a lot of nothing, and then a lot of housing boom subdivisions with no trees. Oh yeah, there are no trees on the bike. None. It's all total sun. For 56 miles. At mile 22/46ish they had bottles of water and gatorade, but by the time i passed it the second time they were out of everything, which apparently they were out of very early on. I had two bottles of 1.5x strength tailwind on me, and refilled one of those bottles of gatorade too. I had enough to last me, but rationed at the end for sure. But the beginning of the bike went very well, i averaged just over 17mph for the first two hours. With about 10 or 12 miles left the sun got very strong and I hit a tremendous wall. Other than one woman i leapfrogged with the entire bike, I didnt see anyone else on the course (this race is tiny). Those last miles were slow. And hot. And my shoulders started to hurt, and i could feel the sunburn on my back. I was never so happy to get off my bike at the end. 3:26:29. Took my time in t2, re-sunscreened, downed an entire bottle of tailwind, ate a pack of chews and some salt chews, soaked my cooling towel, got my fuel belt and was on my way.
My plan for the run was to just go and see what happens. I dont run well if it's over 70 or so, and it was 100. Shade doesnt help so much then. So i left transition jogging, and then they had a table set up with cold water, gatorade and ice, which is lovely, but it shouldve been closer to trnasition, it sort of killed my momentum. Jogged again. I figured id just try to maintain 930-10s and walk absolutely whenever i needed to. I made it a half mile. Everyone was walking..it was an out and back course, and i passed people coming back by around my mile 3, about half of the leaders walked at least a little as far as i could see. I would run for a few minutes, usually till i saw a water stop - the water was COLD, it was heavenly. Id have water, dump it on my head, had gatorade, then id be off. At the beginning they had ice too. I also had tailwind and salt chews in my fuel belt. Id dunk my cooling towel in their ice water. I really tried to make the best of this and stay as comfortable as possible. At one point i realized my left sock was a lost cause having fallen in my shoe, and well, i have a lovely blister now. My pinky toes are blisters too now, my shoes were soaked and every part of me was swollen. Anyway, i ran as much as i could, but im not going to lie, i walked more than half of if. At the halfway point (where a kid volunteer was eating mcdonalds, damn those fries smelled so good - i mightve told a 13 year old boy scout to go to hell), my garmin said 1:29 something. Fun times. I figured as long as I could average at least 15mm on the way back id have a 3hr half marathon, and id be close to 7 hrs. I never had a time goal, conservatively i knew i should break 7, but if all went well i shouldve come in near 630. So whatever. The heat index was 103, time goals no longer exist, its about finishing alive. Somewhere after the halfway point the battery died on my garmin. Wtf?! It was fully charged that morning. Whatever. I ran/walked, mostly walked, the rest. Kept drinking, taking salt chews. I noticed at one point that my fingers were little bloated sausages. I couldnt even see my knuckles, it was weird. Talked to a lot of people, saw tons of people still going out. Saw people throwing up. A few people told me they were sick and couldnt keep any nutrition down. I spent the last mile talking to this very nice woman, it was also her first, we speedwalked together, and then i jogged in the last 2/10s of a mile or so. The course was all trail, some more technical than other parts but nothing too bad, not as much shade as they promised, mostly flat, lots of corn. There was no clock as far as i could tell at the end (apparently it faced the spectators), but based on the time i knew i was over 7. My official time was 7:10:18. They seemed to close the course at 8 hours. My friend who came with me said a lot of people came in from the bike, packed it in and left. The woman i leapfrogged with on the bike i passed around mile 2 of the run, i saw her at the end, she got sick, im not sure if she finished or not.
Im so glad i did this, i cant decide if i want to do another one - i really need to get my running back om track. But whatevs, I did it. Im not dead, just puffy as hell, sunburned and sore EVERYWHERE.
Thank you guys ALL, SO MUCH for all your help, answering my stupid questions and just for your support i love you guys!!!! Never in a million years did i think i could do this.
I am so impressed that you had the mental toughness to power through in those insanely tough conditions. You could have sat on the sidelines and cried about it, but you got shit done. Congrats on finishing!
The middle of the day run is the absolute most brutal part of long course triathlon. Very impressed by your mental toughness and positive attitude! Way to stick it out! Happy recovery!
Post by bostonmichelle on Sept 11, 2016 8:25:40 GMT -5
You did amazing in those horrible conditions. Congratulations on finishing and staying alive. I hope your swelling goes down and your sunburns and blisters heal quickly.
I'm so impressed! I can't fathom a 70.3 at all, let alone in those conditions. Hell, I was drenched with sweat walking around my neighborhood yesterday. You are so strong! Congrats again!
Post by mysticmuffin on Sept 11, 2016 8:52:52 GMT -5
You are an incredible badass for powering through what sounds like hell on earth. The mental fortitude to keep going despite the conditions. Bravo! Congrats on 70.3 now go rest up those sausage fingers.
I simply can't imagine. 80* was hot for my 70.3, 100* is unfathomable. Congratulations on toughing it out. I'm glad that you took care of yourself and we're able to finish. You are a half ironman!
buffaloeggs.blogspot.com 2016 Races: Hop Hop Half Marathon 2:05:09 Pac Crest Half Ironman 7:13:40 9/10 Aluminum Man Oly Tri 11/27 Space Coast Half Marathon
It was miserable out yesterday. I thought of you while I was running in the morning and sweating buckets. I'm so proud of you for sticking it out and finishing even though it meant walking a bunch. Major congrats!
al320, I thought of you today when I was in hot yoga. I walked into the room and thought, Jesus it's hot in here. This is what al320 raced in for half the day yesterday?!
Woman, I am SO proud of you. So fucking proud of you. You had horrific conditions, but you got out there and did it anyway. You didn't pack it in off the bike and you stuck it out on a crazy run course. And yeah - delaware is boring. So much of nothing, and then random subdivisions, and then more corn.
What a tough weather day. Yuck. I am so happy you made it through ok. Major congratulations!!! I'll bet you'll have a nice PR if you decide to try this again.