Half-Ironman!!

Sunrise on the lake... it was a bit chilly in the low 60's when we arrived, but that didn't last for long...

Getting close to the water...

Closer still...

Oh heck, let's just get in in our clothes, even though Mom thoughtfully packed our swimsuits

Finishing the swim and feeling good... 1.2 miles down, 71.1 miles to go!

Leaving transition with my bike

My handsome boys in their shades

The tire swing is always their favorite at any park

Finishing up the first lap of the bike leg

Dumping water over my head before starting in the run. I also smeared a sunscreen stick on my face, that unbeknownst to me, left huge chunks of white gunk all over my face

Ahh, here's those swimsuits - much better

The home stretch!!

I'm in a little bit of shock this morning... it's hard to believe that after this race being the focus of so much of my life over the last 9 months that it's over! And I couldn't be happier with how it went... everything that I was worried about beforehand - the high temps that day, whether I would run out of energy on the run, how my knee would feel - none were a problem!

After a 4:15am wake-up call, we headed to the race, which was on a really pretty campsite, with a beach and playgrounds and lots of space for the boys to run around. My swim wave left around 7:50am, a little late, and it was already getting very hot outside, especially when standing in the sun in a full wetsuit. I couldn't wait to get in the water just to cool off a bit! My swim went well - the nice thing about longer swims (this one was 1.2 miles) is that everyone spreads out and goes there own pace, so you don't have to worry about getting kicked and hit in the crowds so much. As I was getting close to the final buoys on the swim, I was cracking myself up thinking, "there's one mile down, only 71 more to go!"

I hopped on the bike and headed out for two 29-mile loops, to make a 58-mile course. The course was fairly flat with just some rolling hills, but nothing too painful. It took me just under 3 hours, but surprisingly, it felt like it went by really fast. When you do a longer triathlon, you try to eat most of your nutrition on the bike, because you are not bouncing around like on the run and you can actually digest things. So, about every 15 miles, I ate something... hammer gel, a cereal bar cut into small pieces and stored in a ziploc bag in my bikini top, etc. I also drank a ton of gatorade because it was very sunny with literally not a cloud in the sky, and temps in the 80's at race time. When I finished the last loop of the bike ride, I felt pretty good - not, perhaps, like I wanted to run a half marathon, but still, pretty fresh.

After the bike, I sprayed on more sunscreen, dumped water on my head, and headed out for the run - 13.1 miles, and only the second time I've ever run that far! Leading up to the race, the main thing I was anxious about was the run. Because my IT Band in my left knee was bothering me so much all winter and spring, I never really got in the volume of runs that I wanted to before this race. And I didn't get to do as much of the speedwork, hill climbs and intervals that I would normally do in the off-season. So, I was worried about how I would feel in the run. Amazingly, I felt super good! After about mile 3, I just felt super energetic and comfortable and just kept telling myself, "don't get too excited here, let's see how you feel after mile 10." But, I actually felt really good up until the last mile, which was in full sunshine on a busy road with two big hills... then I started to feel like, "okay, I'm ready for the finish line." I kept relatively cool by dumping a cup of water on my head at every mile's aid station. And I ate more hammer gel at miles 5 and 10. I didn't set any speed records or anything... I think I averaged just under 9 minute miles, as compared to just under 8 minute miles when I did just the half-marathon in the fall, but it was such a relief to get through that run feeling good and without any pain in my knee. I just feel like the whole-knee thing was a miracle! For about 8 months, that knee was bothering me almost every time I ran, and then amazingly, it somehow heals three weeks before my race! Unbelievable.

During the whole run, knowing that I was going to see Chad and the boys cheering me at the finish really kept me going. I was in feeling tired until I saw them in the chute leading to the finish line, and then my grimace turned to a smile and I ran it out. I just have to give such thanks to Chad (and the boys) for being so supportive of all the training I have been doing all year and for happily getting up at 4:15am on a Saturday to watch me race. I could never, ever do all this training and racing if they weren't behind me. Brandon, my little morning person, was actually thrilled to get up early yesterday. He told Chad on Friday, "Daddy, we get to get up really early tomorrow!!" Then, after being at my race site for around 9 hours in the hot sun, he was sad to be leaving and asked if we could come back to play again there for another race. What a trooper he is! Of course, both he and Parker fell asleep on the car ride home, which is pretty much unheard of for them anymore, so they were pretty wiped out in the end.

As for me, I feel a bit stiff today. And my feet are pretty torn up. Five blisters and three areas where the skin is just rubbed off in a big patch... may not be able to wear shoes much for the next few days. But, besides that, I feel really good and really proud of my race. For anyone interested in the stats, my total time was 5 hours and 42 minutes to complete the race (my goal was under 6 hours, so I felt good about my time). I was the 30th woman overall, out of 163 who raced. I had the 33rd best female swim time, 31st best bike time, and 34th best run time... so pretty consistent in my placement. Including the men, there were 417 total competitors, and I was 126th of those.

And now, on a completely different note, Happy Father's Day to my Chad!! He is such a caring, thoughful, involved and fun father for them... the boys are lucky to have him, as am I! I am making a big breakfast this morning, then I think we'll spend the day at the pool, and then tonight, Chad and I have a babysitter! I think we are going to go out to dinner, although Chad hasn't decided where he'd like to go yet. We haven't been out in, ugh, maybe 6 months!!?? So, this date is long overdue. Hope they don't expect me to wear shoes in the restaurant.