After completeing my first year of triathlon and then going on to complete my first half marathon in the San Antonio Rock 'n Roll marathaton I was more than ready to tackle the uncoming season. I continued to work on my run (since that has proven to be my weak point!!) It was also the year to start increasing my distances. I would still do my favorite sprint races but I added some Olympic distance races, all for the purpose of completing my first 70.3.
I chose the Austin 70.3 race because it is close to home and at the end of the season. I figured I could use the whole summer to prepare for it. I was able to meet up with a training group during the middle of the week to run and I feel that that really helped me improve. For my first race of the season I actually took 2nd in my age group and knocked 11 minutes off my time from the previous year. I was estatic!! You would have thought that I won the lottery or something. My first medal!! After that, for each race I would set a goal and work to try to achieve that goal. I came pretty close the all the goals I set except for some small exceptions.
My first Olympic race was set for Memorial Day in Austin and I felt like I had put in some good, hard training for it. I was feeling more comfortable in my wetsuit in open water and my bike was getting faster and my running was consistent. Aside from feeling strong on the bike, my swim felt miserably long and by mile 3 of the run I was wondering why I signed up for "this stupid race". But all those thoughts were pushed aside when I crossed the finish line and chugged the cold water bottle that was given to me. My official finish time was 3:36. Not necessarily the result I was looking for but, hey, I finished. Later that night we learned that the swim course was mismarked by 300 meters and the run was 1/2 mile longer than it should have been!! For the 20th anniverssary for this race you would have thought that they would know how to mark the course, right?? Anyway, that made me feel marginally better about my slow time.
I threw in a couple more sprint races before my next Olympic race and did pretty well in those. Usually coming in around 5th in my age group which really made me feel good, considering the girls in my group are super fast!! And then the race that will haunt me for the rest of my life - The Small Texan Tri in Boerne. It's at the end of July and in Texas that means it's HOT!!! But hey, I train at Boerne lake every weekend and ride the race course, piece of cake!! Wrong!! As I take off on the swim I realize I am quickly being left behind. My swim just isn't going as well as it should be. I get out of the water and run into transition to see that there's only a couple other bikes left on the racks. This is not a good sign since the bike is not going to be strong point because it's a very hilly course and my best time on it on a good day is about 2 hours. So I get going on the bike and it's just as bad as I thought it was going to be but I finish it and set out on the run. By now so many people are finished that I can't seem to find the start of the run course. Luckily a spectator saw that I was desperately trying to find the start, pointed me in the right direction. By now it is super hot. I'm watching people pass me as they head for the finish line and I'm telling myself that I've only got an hour to go. The run course turned out to be as hilly as the bike course. I followed the strategy of walking up the hills and running the flats and downhills. I hit the turn around and as I am making my way back I start counting the people that are behind me (not that hard to do since I thought I was the last one on the course!) I think I got the number up to 8 people. Total time to complete my hell race: 4:02!! I will be doing this one again and trying to redeem myselft next year!!! My only saving grace was that there was one other person in my age group behind me so I did not come in last in my age group. I gotta find the hope somewhere!!
Now my training turned toward my half-iron and one more Olympic race on Labor Day. That race turned out to be one of the highlights of the season for me. The weather was nicer and the course was marked correctly this time. I had a better handle on my nutritional needs and I felt really strong on this race. My finish time was - 3:06. I was very pleased with that! October was quickly approaching and I was trying to get as much training in as I was able to. I work full-time in the day and go to school in the evenings four days a week, so finding time to train is not always easy. But because of this I know that I'm not going to be as fast as some of my other friends who are able to follow their training plans to a T and I'm okay with that. For now, racing and finishing is enough for me. It actually works as a great stress reliever and I takes my mind off school, which is always a good thing!
Half-ironman weekend came and I was super excited, nervous, and everything else. My main concern was not making the cut-off time on the bike. I don't know why, but that was what I was worried about. I hadn't gotten as many long rides as I should have during training so I was worried 56 miles would kill me. I shouldn't have worried, I finished the bike in 3:35, way under the 4:30 I had given myself to finish! And I hit my other goal of finishing under 3 hours on the 1/2 marathon at 2:45 and had a total time of 7:16! Almost smack dab in the middle of the 7 and 7:30 time I wanted to finish in. I felt great after the race and was so excited to cross that finish line that I wanted to make sure that I had crossed every timing mat before I stopped running that one of the volunteers had to tell me it was okay to stop running :)
I am now able to say that I am a "finisher" of a Half-Ironman!!
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