Diamondman Half Ironman

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What a weekend. The race was changed, and so did all my strategies and fears. What I was dreading as the Nightmare of the Season became a highlight I will never forget.

Preamble
As I've said before, I have an intense phobia of lakes. I keep hoping that by doing more tris I will lessen it, perhaps conquer it. But I was terrified of a 1.2M swim, in a POND no less. Shocked

A friend was supposed to do this race with me but bailed on me with a week and a half to go. Luckily my best friend RLAG answered my cries for help, despite her own exhaustion, to come babysit and calm me. I had a high mileage week (50.2M, including a 22M on Tuesday), little sleep, and a 36 hour taper. The antitaper helped keep my mind off the event. My bike mileage has been terrible, but I figured my marathon legs would carry me.

The Day Before
We drive down to Delaware on Saturday. As we get closer, I get more and more nervous. I go pick up my packet and then attend the prerace meeting where I find out I cannot wear headphones or I'll DQ. Wasn't counting on that, but I'll work around it. I'm wearing a black I LOVE NERDS t-shirt which figures into our story later. At 4pm I go to check out the pond. I walk over with an event staff member as I don't know where I'm going (the swim was .4M from T1). He tells me he's going to pull everyone out of the water, as there was a sewage backup into the pond and they don't know how much crap (literally) got into the water. RLAG and I leave, and head for the AmericInn hotel (so much fun to say!) and then dinner at the Texas Roadhouse. We meet several other tri-ers and I mention the swim might be canceled. They said they heard it, too, and that it would be replaced with either a 5K or an 8K. My smile widens. That night I bump into the USAT official who confirms the swim is canceled but doesn't know how long the run will be. For the first time I get sleep before a tri, so thrilled am I with this news.

The Race
8K run / 56M bike / 13.1M run

I eat breakfast at 430 compliments of the hotel. We get to the race at 530 in 57 degree weather, and I attempt to set up my transition area and prep my bike in pitch black. Around 615 the sun comes up so I can prepare. I discover the first run will be an 8K, which really works to my advantage. Its sister, the 5M is not only my best distance, but my most favorite as well. Most triathletes focus on the bike, and cut short the run. I, on the other hand, focus on the run. With my high running mileage I knew the longer the first leg, the more people I'd be able to beat on the second. A lot of people didn't show up for the race once it changed from a half ironman to the world's longest duathlon, which seemed like poor sportsmanship to me. Many others kept complaining that the race had changed, despite the fact it was done for our safety. So much whining; get over it already.

We start off the 8K in waves. My strategy: go out at 85% on the HRM, and take it easy. Despite this I got an 8K PR. I heard cheers of "GO PHILADELPHIA!" from one of the ladies I'd met the night before. I felt great, and chatted with some ladies. They slowed down; I left them. I chatted with a dude. He slowed down; I left him. This set a pattern for the rest of the day. T1 was a little difficult; I couldn't get my left shoe on to save my life.

I left transition ready to go all out. My strategy: all out, shred the legs. See how truly fast I could go on almost no training for a long distance. It was a mostly flat course. A few baby hills, and a killer bridge. First time around I went up the bridge at 12mph, and down it at 35. Shocked

Scared the hell out of me. Around 25M I got bored and wanted off. 5 miles later I realized pfff was right: I need a women-specific seat. I also realized the balls of my feet hurt badly. Hit the turnaround, eager to get back and run again. Around one corner a guy in front of me was weaving horribly. He slowed down drastically, and I tried to stay behind him. He then weaved over the yellow lines into the other lane and slowed even more. Then he started weaving towards me. To avoid getting hit I sped up, still in the proper lane. He fell, rather spectacularly. A cop came to help him. I almost got cited for this, until I explained to the USAT official who came out of NOWHERE that he had blocked my pass twice before the turn, and then crossed the lines and made the turn unsafe for me. Back to the bridge, where this up was steeper than the first. Up it at 11mph thinking IwillnotstopIwillnotstop and IwillnottakethisoffthemiddleringIwillnottakethisoffthemiddlering. Managed to get up and over, coming down at 25mph. A few more miles, a few more turns, I once again hear "GO PHILADELPHIA! LOOKING STRONG!" and T2 was there. I was very eager to get off the bike despite gaining a lot of ground and passing a lot of people. I was screaming at RLAG because my bike leg was so fast. T2 uneventful and rather quick for me.

Ahhh, the half. I love the half. My legs still felt great, but my throat and lungs a bit off due to breathing hard on the bike. The first few miles were on asphalt, but then we turned to run along the canal. Sand path riddled with rocks. Only one hill to speak of, but the rocks were a pain. My strategy: run on the asphalt, take walking breaks at the water stations and when my heart rate went too high (above 85%). I had to concentrate a lot on the run to avoid rocks, but overall I felt great and strong. I was tired, and hungry, but I kept going. This is where I see the beauty of triathletes. So many I'd chatted with that morning, the day before, and those who recognized me as the I LOVE NERDS girl because of my uniquely colored burgundy hair kept cheering for me. "GO NERD LOVER!", "GO PHILADELPHIA!" (another 4 times!), stuff like that. Many high fives, pats on the back, screams of "YOU CAN DO IT!" I surprisingly got the most support from the people I passed. One man in red who'd passed me during the 8K who now looked like death said, "You're going to finish this, right? Promise me you're going to finish. Pass me and go finish." I kept gaining ground, and picking off more people. I walked 25-30 minutes of the half to hydrate (the temp had climbed to the 80s) and to slow my heart rate when I needed to. The great thing about triathletes? They see no shame in walking during the run. My GPS measure the final run not at 13.1, but at 13.6 (and my final official race time was 36 seconds more than my watch time) - oh well. I can see some margin of error, but that huge a discrepancy points to an inaccurately measured course. No matter, I love to run. The final quarter mile I could hear the loudspeakers, the music, the roar of the crowd. I picked up my pace. As I sprinted the final quarter mile I thought of how much of a challenge the race had been, yet how much fun. I'd managed to come from behind, pass a LOT of people, despite dismal bike training and being slow as molasses on foot. I crossed the finish line meeting my goal of a sub-7 and with a smile on my face. I was tired, but elated and felt great. And with a new name: DUATHLETE.

The only thing that could've made this race more enjoyable would have been my beloved headphones. If they had dus like this, instead of the itty bitty 5K/few miles on bike/5K variety I'd do them in a heart beat. Loved this race. I truly did. A unique experience that could not have been more perfectly custom tailored to my strengths. And I am so proud of this race: I kicked ass and managed to climb 78 places throughout its duration. I walked a bit during the half, but ended up with a fantastic time nonetheless. I felt strong and confident throughout the entire race, smiled and laughed often, and according to the man in the chute, I had one of the best, strongest finished he'd seen all day. Very Happy

Final: 6:48:36. 379/426. 8K 50:36, 10:26 pace (420/426). T1 2:54. 56M bike 3:15:24 @ 17.2mph (389/426), T2 1:01, half 2:38:42, 12:07 pace (342/426). I took splits, but they're sporadic and hard to decipher due to few course mile markers anywhere.

Final Thoughts
With this race, tri season is over. I started with the Behemoth, not knowing what I was getting into. I did 2 sprints, an oly, and ended up doing this duathlon. I feel somewhat cheated not doing a half IM, but realize that I didn't really need it to feel complete. IMLP will more than compensate, I think. I learned despite intense fears of lakes, I can somehow manage to finish in decent times for the swim. I learned I have a natural ability on the bike, and that perhaps next season I should capitalize on it to see how far I can truly go with it. I learned that I love running most of all, and that in triathlons my run paces are not too shabby despite all the work I do just to get to the run. I don't like getting timed to change, or all the prep work, or all the bags you have to drag to races. I complained a lot about training for them, and the sacrifices I had to make. I resented time away from running because I needed to build a good bike base. But every once in a while, triathlons offer a nice challenge. Especially when you do them for fun. Last night I hung up my bike, where I will probably leave it until February. Who knows what next year will bring, but I'm now focusing on the marathons and my first true love: running.

Next stop: racing next Sunday with Khalid, Jen Rhines, and po-po at the world's greatest half marathon, PDR.

Hipster Doofus

What a report. You have every honkin' reason in the world to be proud of what you accomplished! You ROCK!

thumbs up

crazy cat lady

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w00t!

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Great report!! you lucked out big time on that swim! I'm with you, I'd love to do a duathlon like that!!!

Member

Woohoo! Good job. thumbs up

The Pinball

no poo swimming evah.

great job on the run-bikelong-runreallylong!

Excelent

Congrats on finishing. Good luck next week at the PDR

Master of Prissface

Nice job, kiddio......and cool that RLAG was along to cheer too! dance

Member

Nice job... way to stick out the heat.

This doesn't add up though. 8K 50:36, 10:26 pace

Congrats on anice job and most important, it sounds like you had a great time.

Sheldon

my boys could swim

great job kid!

to ya.

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Excellent job my lady! Good thing you didn't do your practice swim in poo like Bob did! I would have been one of those complaining about the swim being canceled. I don't like change. But you dealt with it beautifully. Nice way to end the season. I'm so happy that you enjoyed yourself!

POTFH

Great job Elkid!

Glad to see that you adapted and overcame when you were presented with challenges.

Good Luck at PDR!

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