Week 23

June 15, 2016

Day 148

OFF

Day 149

Exercise: Swim

Time: 40 minutes

Distance: pool

I realized today how much easier it is to swim in a pool than in open water. I think swimming is my strongest of the three, but I'm still nervous about the open water on Sunday. 

Day 150

Exercise: Bike/Run

Time: 1 hour/30 minutes

Distance: 15 miles/3 miles

Here's the thing, I've talked about nipple chaffing before. There's just no getting around it, and while I hate to bring it up, it's been a pressing issue. In order to prevent/minimize it from occurring on race day I went to a running store today to see if they had anything that could help. Unfortunately, when I walked in the store I was immediately met by a female employee who was eager to help me find what I needed. So, yeah...

I didn't want her help with this particular problem, so I lied and told her I was looking for socks. After 10 minutes of talking about/trying on socks that I didn't want/need, she finally left me alone to look around the rest of the store. I eventually found what I was looking for and turned to go to the register to make a quick escape. Unfortunately, my female associate friend was now working the checkout. I didn't want her to know I had completely wasted her time helping me find a pair of socks, so I had no option but to buy a nice pair of socks on top of the only thing I actually needed. I am not proud of this series of events.

Moral of the story: don't lie or you'll end up buying something you don't need.

Day 151

Exercise: Run

Time: 20 minutes

Distance: 2 miles

One last low-key workout before I take the next couple of days off to prepare for race day.

Day 152

OFF

Nervous.

Day 153

OFF

More nervous.

Day 154 - Race Day

Exercise: Swim/Bike/Run

Time: 35min/3 hours 40 minutes/3 hours 18 minutes

Distance: 1.2miles/56miles/13.1miles

I've decided the easiest way to tell the story of what happened during the race is to give a play by play of my thoughts as they happened on the course. Here it is:

Mile 0.5 - I have successfully avoided getting kicked in the face thanks to some sage advice from an older gentleman swimming in the same wave as me. I feel great so far. The water is a little saltier than I thought it would be.

Mile .75 - Just got hit in the face by a wave. Swallowed a lot of water. Coughing. Sputtering. Not drowning yet.

Mile 1.2 - I made it out of the water. One third of the way done with the race. I'm pleasantly surprised by how uneventful the swim was.

Transition 1 - Piece of cake. Really thankful for the nice pair of socks I bought on accident. They were much easier to put on than my normal tube socks would have been.

Mile 1.5 - I think I'm winning.

Mile 2 - I'm not winning.

Mile 3 - I've been passed by 50 people on the bike so far

Mile 5 - 100 people

Mile 10 - There's a lady in front of me who is 50 years old (I can tell because everyone's age is written in Sharpie on their calves). I'm having a hard time keeping up with her.

Mile 12 - I thought a car was passing me, but turns out it was just another person on a bike. Am I going that slow?

Mile 13 - I tried to go faster, but I'm tired now. Slowing back down to a manageable speed.

Mile 20 - I'm officially numb to people passing me every couple of seconds. At some point I have to realize that I need to focus solely on my race and not worry about what everyone else around me is doing. I'm ahead of the pace I set for myself and that's enough for me.

Mile 26 - Should I pee myself? Is it worth it? It's going to be sticky and I'm gong to have to smell it for the rest of the ride, but still...

Mile 27 - This decision is about to be made for me whether I want it to be or not.

Mile 28 - Aid station!! I've never been so happy to see a port-o-potty in my life.

Mile 35 - I legitimately think over 1,000 people have passed me.

Mile 40 - I no longer want to be on my bike.

Mile 50 - Two guys just passed me and they were having a casual conversation. What type of human beings are these people? I can barely breath let alone speak.

Mile 56 - Don't fall trying to dismount. Don't fall trying to dismount. Don't fall trying to dismount.

Mile 57.2 - Swim and bike are done. All that's left is the run. I got this.

Transition 2 - As I change shoes, the guy who won the race is just now crossing the finish line. Wow.

Mile 58 - I am 30 minutes ahead of my pace, so I'm just straight cheesing during this first mile.

Mile 59 - They have so many snacks at the aid station!! This is the best!

Mile 60 - I didn't need to eat a full banana and a cliff bar. Regrets.

Mile 61 - My pace is a little slower than I want it to be, but that's OK. I'm still ahead of schedule. Just need to keep going.

Mile 62 - I'm really tired. Starting to take longer at the aid stations to drink water and gatorade. No more snacks though.

Mile 63 - I'm almost halfway through the run. I'm going slow, but I'm still going so that's good news.

Mile 64 - Annnnnnd I'm dead. I don't know what just happened, but I can't make my legs move faster. I officially have nothing left in the tank.

Mile 65 - Mind over body. I can push through this.

Mile 66 - I can't push through this.

Mile 67 - I'm walking more than I'm running now. My back hurts so bad. I think it's broken.

Mile 68 - I've made friends with a 61 year old lady who is keeping the same pace as me. She's really worried we're not going to make the cutoff time. I'm really worried about how hard I'm working to keep up with her.

Mile 69 - I just asked someone at the aid station if they would carry me the rest of the way. They thought I was joking. My 61 year old friend has officially left me in the dust.

Mile 70.05 - I'm pretty much only walking at this point, but I'm going to run this last quarter mile if it kills me.

Mile 70.1 - It's going to kill me.

Mile 70.2 - I can see my parents in the crowd. I'm so happy they're here.

Mile 70.3 - I made it. I can't tell if I'm crying because I'm in so much pain or because I'm so happy to be done. I want to lie down and never get back up.

So there's the whole race as seen through my eyes. It was significantly harder than I thought it would be, and I missed my target time by almost 45 minutes, but I'm proud to say I finished. Today was just a long workout to get prepared for the full Ironman in October. I'm not ready yet, but I will be.