Did my first half ironman distance race today.  I ended up doing much better then expected considering my lack of recent running.

The swim was in lake Michigan.  They claim the water temp was 62 but I think they measured in a warm spot.  Yesterday it was 58.  Anyway, the weather was great and the water calm.  It was a point to point swim and the walk along the beach was the worst part.  My foots been bothering me so barefoot on the sand did not help.  The swim was a little short.  I was in the first wave after the pros and finished in 25:52 which included a 200m run to the timing mat.  I should of been 30-31 minutes if it was 1.2 miles.  Everyone else said it was short too.  Still happy with the time placed 186 overall in the swim.

The bike was decent.  There were some washboard type roads and a bunch of water bottles got launched.  I saw one get launched 2 bikes in front of me and had to dodge it and then I saw a whole under the seat mount water bottle cage fly off.  Got to tighten all your bolts before riding those roads.  I was keeping an easy effort but was flying (for me).  Finished in 2:51:19 for a 19.6 average but 774 place, yeah I got passed a lot. Never passed anyone that got out of the water before me.  

The run was surprisingly good.  I got off the bike and felt great.  First 2 miles were 7:45 which I knew I couldn't hold since that is faster then my standalone HM time when I'm well trained for the run.  I've been having foot issues and haven't run much more then 10 miles in over a year so I wasn't expecting much.  I ended up leveling off around 8:40 until mile 11.  That's when I started to wobble.  I could keep up my pace but I started to think I might pass out if I kept the effort up.  In all my running races I've never felt wobbly so I decided to walk a little.  Probably ended up losing 6 minutes or so.  Finished the run in 1:57:16 and 570 place.

Overall time was 5:21:11. I'm extremely happy with that time for my first HIM. Now I need to get my foot healthy again so I can run decent mileage and spend a lot more time on the bike so maybe someday I can actually pass someone on the bike.

I think it probably was a nutrition problem.  They had HEED on the course which I don't like so I was on just water and 1 gu during the run.  I had another gu in my pocket but my stomach was sloshing from all the water and I thought a gu and more water might make me cramp.  I grabbed some pretzels at an aid station which made me feel a little better and helped me push through to the end.  On the bike I had a cliff bar, 1 gu, gatorade and water.  I had a pretty typical breakfast of bananas and a couple bagels then I had a gu 20 minutes before the start.

Everyone calls the bike course flat but it didn't look flat to me.  I drove it the night before and was surprised at how not flat it was.  I guess I'm just used to my Chicago area routes where an overpass counts as a killer hill.

Smokin!!

 

DB