GREAT ILLINI HALF IRON DISTANCE RACE REPORT
In preparation for the half-Iron, my thought process was this was a training day for my Full. I wanted to try and test out everything that I planned to do in November. My goals were very simple:
- Test for my full
- not drown
- finish vertical, breathing, and smiling
- do it in under 8 hours.
Pre-Race
TriSharkie and I drove down on Friday. As we followed the directions to get there, we noticed a theme which was mile after mile of corn fields. We got to packet pick up and I was relieved to see this would be a very low key, relaxed, and non-intimidating race. I turned around when I heard laughter and found Running Jayhawk who is preparing for IMAZ. After grabbing our packets, we headed to the hotel which was a comedy of errors and alot of laughs until we got to the right room. (Not 117).
Although it seemed short, I slept good until the alarm went off at 4am. I got up and ate my oatmeal with whey protein, yogurt, and a banana. We packed up and headed into the darkness. It was a good thing that we had scouted things out the night before. The parking field was lit up be one huge spotlight. TriSharkie and I headed for transition to setup. It was still dark and not lighted. It was challenging to set up.
As it began to get light around 6am, it was cloudy and overcast. When I checked the weather before leaving Chicago, it was supposed to be sunny and in the 70s. I heard the guy next to me talk about possible storms. Just then Jayhawk came up and began setting up next to us in transition. She was so relaxed and full of laughter. Next thing I knew, there were a few announcements and a notice that we will start in 5 minutes.
SWIM
For the first time ever, 
I was not freaking out about the swim. The water was very dark and murky but 77 degrees. I wore my sleeveless wetsuit. There were 2 loops keeping the buoys to your right. The men were the first wave followed 3 minutes later by us ladies. Going through the first loop, I found swimmers around me and that I was passing several men. This has never happened before. Not the I was going fast but I was going in the right direction. My sighting was right on for the first time. I felt great the entire swim and at times actually had a nice rhythm. As I was coming of of the water, my watch recorded 59:02. I was thrilled. Very slow for many but amazing for me.
T1
I was very slow but determined to make sure everything was ready for the bike. I put body glide in my socks and they slid on great. Mental Note---do again.
BIKE
I continued to feel relaxed heading out on the bike. My nutrition was Infinit which I mixed the night before. The course was 2 loops which were very flat through the corn fields. The were several out and back sections where you could see the other riders. The weather continued to be overcast, cool, and no wind. Perfect for the bike. Besides the fact that my chain came off at mile 29 and 41, I was thrilled. I did see TriSharkie and JayHawk several times and they looked great! My time was 3:24 (16.4 mph). Happy Dance.
T2
Again slow but determined to not miss anything. Quick Pit stop then off I go.
RUN
The weather continued to be overcast. The course was a 2 loop out anf back. I did not think tha
t I would like this but I did enjoy seeing the other runners and not feeling alone. I used my Galloway pace timer and did a 5 minute run: 1 minute walk. My nutrition was Gu. During the first loop , it began to rain. It kept the temperature cool. I continued my slow and steady pace the entire time. I was passed by many of those that I had passed on the bike. At the turn around to the second loop, I made another pit stop. It began raining harder. As I rounded that last corner with .5mile to go, my garmin read 7:21. Holy Sh*t ! I was going to break 7:30. WooHoo. My run time was 2:56:38 (13:29/mile).
I crossed the finish to big hugs from Sharkie and Jayhawk. My time was 7:27:02. My first 70.3 !!!! Also huge congrats to Sharkie who finished in 6:25(PR).
Waddling while vertical,breathing, with a huge smile........................
12 comments:
Again, congratulations! It seems like everything just went into place for you. That swim HAD to feel great, especially passing up people! The icing on the cake was exceeding your goal by a huge margin! You must be floating about now!
What a GREAT race!!!! Hot damn you killed it! Congratulations!!
GREAT job!!1 WooooHoooo!!
Nice work! Your B2B training is clearly paying off!
Great report! Great race. I knew you would do well and will do well in November.
Way to go!!!!!
Wow, that was AWESOME! Way to go!!! Congrats on setting and achieving your goals, you did great.
You looked GREAT out there, girl! Strong, focused, and you had your game face on. B2B had better watch out for you!
CONGRATS Waddler! This is awesome!
This is SO FANTASTIC!! So happy for you.
The swim experience is awesome...nearly an hour in the water, stress free and moving in the right direction.
The run is good...impressed you held a 5/1 for the full half.
You were wise to take it slow and methodically through T1 and T2.
Major step forward...happy for you!
Congrats!! Doing a half iron as training for a full iron is what I've been considering doing for a half iron I've got coming up soon. Glad to hear you pulled yours off well!
Hi, I did that race with you & saw you out on the course with your garmin - I heard it going off for your intervals (I usually do my long bike rides/runs with my 305, but decided against using it in Mattoon, for some reason). I agree with all other posters - you did fantastic! I wish I could have kept up on the run. I tried a run 10 walk 1 approach & I just fizzled after about mile 8. I have work to do. Good luck with your training & your event in November!
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