PrairieMan Half-Ironman

So yesterday was my first Half-Ironman of the season with one more to go. Needless to say I was freaking out on my way to Dallas feeling that I was not as prepared as I should be. I thought to myself just use this as a training session in preparation for the Longhorn 70.3 next month and my Ironman events next year. I tried to convince myself of that but I was still nervous.

On Saturday morning I started feeling a little sick but I thought it was just my allergies. I learned later that day that I was getting a cold. While I was arriving in the Dallas area there was a sign that said that it was an Ozone Action Day and that you should limit your outdoor activities. I remember thinking that I was dead meat. Not only am I sick but the sun will probably melt me. When I arrived at the hotel I got my things together and just rested for the evening.

I woke up at 4 am on Sunday and I immediately ate my pre-race meal of Cap'n Crunch cereal. That's right Cap'n Crunch, it works for me. I left about 5 am for the race. I was real nervous and my cold had me feeling worse than Saturday but I was determined to give it my all. Prior to the Half-Ironman was the Sprint Race. While the Sprint was going on the Half-Iron participants were having a meeting with the self proclaimed rude race director. The cool thing about the Sprint was that first 3 people out of the water were ladies. It got a big cheer. The funny thing was when the first man got out of the water someone yelled out that's nice the first man is out of the water. It got a big laugh.

After the meeting it was time for the race. My nerves were still a little shaky but I knew I could make it around the swim. The swim was very tough for me. The water was very choppy and you felt like you were getting thrown all over the place. This made it very hard to breath and to sight. You either couldn't see where you were going or you were drinking water when you wanted to breathe. After I made the final turn on the swim my goggles started to fog up and I could not see where I was going. I had to keep stopping to get an idea of where the finish was. After I made it out of the water it was on to the bike. As soon as I got on the bike my quadriceps were on fire. It took me about an hour for my legs to feel good. When I do a race I try to find a person that I can pace off of to keep me on track and to keep my mind focused on the task at hand. I found this person about 6 miles into the ride and her name was Stacey. She was a very funny gal that was in the same wave as me. (All the men and women in all the age groups started together) When I pulled up near her she yelled out "that looks like Batman passing me". She said "that looks like Batman's bike" and I responded "I've heard that once or twice". I stayed with her for the majority of the bike with her passing me towards the end of the bike loop. Now the run. When I arrived at the race it was 66 degrees when got off the bike my computer read 96 degrees. Yay! After I racked my bike I switched out the Fuel Belt bottles that I froze the night before with the ones Norma had in my ice chest. The ones I froze were already thawed and very hot. I got out on the run and I'm not feeling to well. My cold was getting the better of me but I still had my legs. As I started running I thought this shouldn't be too bad if I can keep this pace and if I stick to my nutrition and hydration plan. Part of my plan was to take my electrolyte tablets at mile 3 as I did on my previous Half-Iron. The only problem was that it gave me a very upset stomach that bothered me for rest of the race. As I plugged along I caught up to a familiar face that I saw on the bike course. It was Stacey and she called back "is that you Batman"? I said "yes" and we ran together for a while even properly introducing ourselves at one point. At the point that we did the turn back to the finish (mile 6 I think) my left calf began cramping. This is the same calf I strained the previous week so I was a little concerned. I told myself if you stop running you will never make it to the finish. I kept plugging away and tried to put my upset stomach, hurt calf and the heat out of my mind as I ran to the finish line. Now the one thing I want to say about this race was my goal was just to finish. I was not thinking of a time except that I would probably finish in 7 hours. I set out to take it easy and just finish. With that said, I kept looking at my watch and one point realizing that I should be able set a new PR for myself at this distance. So as I pulled into the finish I was very excited to have a time of 5:55:49. This is 27 minutes better than my previous Half-Iron time.

As I limped around the race area satisfied with my race Norma informs me that she was bitten by a dog. The dog got her pretty good in the face. I didn't know spectators could get hurt =(. She survived and the dog was ejected but there were no hurt feelings. All in all it was good day. My cold is still kicking my butt and I'm a little sore but I am looking forward to the next race.