Great Buckeye Challenge Race Report

I won't bore you with too many details. :)

A couple of words to describe the race yesterday - BRUTAL, hot, not fun, but definitely worth every step!

The day started out with a 1.2 mile swim. I've become slower and slower at the swim and I've accepted that. Seeing the quarter mile run UPHILL to the transition didn't make me want to even get out of the water. And to top all my happy feelings off, I knew the day was supposed to top out around 90 degrees, and my wave was the last to go. In good ole' Ohio racing fashion, we started about 20 minutes late and my wave went off close to 9am. It was going to be a long day. I had a few goggle problems at first, but got into my slow and steady groove. I felt really good throughout the swim, although my time was nothing to write home about. Swim time with the run to transition = 51:19

Had a good t1 with no major problems. In and out in 1:50

The bike was a tough 56. We're used to flat road and by flat I mean NO INCLINE WHAT-SO-EVER! This bike was hilly. We'd ridden it before though so knew what we were in for. The hills seemed even bigger the second time around too! (Gotta love 2 loop courses!) It was starting to get hot by the last 10 miles, enough that I knew it was going to be a tough run, but I felt good. I had some problems with my back right off the bat, but I think it could have been from my positioning in the swim maybe? I dunno, but my hamstring and lower back are killing me today. Anyway, the bike felt good. I was able to drink a bunch, eat and keep my speed consistent. I was hoping to average 17.5 mph with the hills and came out with an 18.1 average. Success! Total Bike time - 3:02:33

Took my time at t2 - knew that I needed some Potassium, put my socks on, put on a visor and walked out to the mat. time = 2:27

Ah the run. I don't know what it is about me and half Ironman runs. I've not had much luck. I started out slow, but there was no relief from the sun and heat. By now it was nearly 1:00pm. There wasn't a cloud to shade the sun. There weren't a ton of trees. The course was a 2 lap out and back. People were walking everywhere! I shuffled along until mile 2.5 where I saw Tom (he was at about 4.25 miles). He was walking which isn't like him at all. He was having a hard time breathing I knew that he was getting ready to hit a water station so I told him to walk there and get help. I kept shuffling along, but my pace was getting slower and slower. All I could think about was Tom and how he was doing. I hear sirens of an ambulance and convinced myself that it was him they were taking away. I started walking. At the water stops, I was taking water, ice, anything that they could give me. I wasn't peeing, but I was still drinking. Where was it all going? :) I met up with Tom again around mile 6.75. He had continued walking and felt better. We walked together for a little while and then started jogging. At one point we crossed a road that was manned by a police officer. As we were coming up to it we noticed that the officer was not there. He was tending to a girl that was out cold in the grass. We ran over to help him because we both had ice in cups. She started coming to and the cop called a squad. She didn't know where she was. Her eyes kept rolling back into her head. That's the kind of day it was. Tom ended up being able to run again, I kept walking. Around mile 10 I gave in and started shuffling again. I was going to get through this come hell or high water! And I did just that.

I finished, with a run time of 2:43:10 and an overall time of 6:41:18. Not anywhere near the 6:15:00 I was aiming for, but looking at the results today from the website, I think there were a lot of people who were not anywhere near their goal times. I was alright with things. It was incredibly hard. I finished 14 minutes faster than the last half Ironman and didn't need medical attention this time (which is always a good sign).

I learned a lot about my mental capacity yesterday and what my body is really capable of. I could have given up. I could have walked the entire 13.1, but I knew that's not what I'd do in the Ironman and I've always been taught to train the way you want to perform. So I have another half in 30 days. Maybe then I'll hit my goal time of 6:15. Until then, I'll keep training like I mean it!