A week ago, I finally completed my 70.3. The venue was Cambridge, Maryland, which is along the eastern shore. I walked into this race grossly undertrained, having only been out on my bike three times at a maximum distance of 38 miles. I also had no training week longer than seven hours, and most hovered in the five-to-six-hour range.
Because of my thunderstorm problem, I swore that if there was no threat of these, I would not complain about any other type of weather condition. So I won’t complain that it was 96 degrees with blasting sunshine on race day.
The day began with the swim that started at 8:00 am. Because the water temperature was under 76.1 degrees (by about a tenth of a degree), we were permitted to wear our wetsuits. I thought it was the wetsuit that made me feel so good about the first part of the swim. Then I made the turn to come back into the finish and I realized it wasn’t the wetsuit. I had been swimming with the current. Now the current was trying to push me back toward Delaware. And it seemed like it was succeeding. Based on the items in my sight line, I swam in place for at least 10 minutes, except for a few brief periods in which I was moving backwards. I finally figured out a way to actually move closer to the finish line and very slowly made my way there.
After spending too much time in transition peeling myself out of the wetsuit and coating myself in sunscreen, I took off on the bike. But first, a few words about the bike. I love my bike. I did a whole post about my beautiful Scott road bike. It’s a solid, serious machine. My sweet little road bike, however, had to share rack space at Eagleman with nothing but super high-end triathlon specific bikes with wheelsets alone worth at least $3,000. So while I was out on the road, making great time on my ride, I kept hearing the telltale “foof foof foof” of a Zipp wheel that lets you know one of these sleek bastards is coming up to pass you on your left.
The first two hours of the bike were great. At the two-hour mark, I was already at 39 miles. I was also officially on my longest ride since October. And then I fell apart. The headwinds hurt. My body hurt. I was thirsty and my feet were burning because of the hot ground. And it kept getting hotter and hotter. That’s just a notation, not a complaint. The last 17 miles took me an hour and 13 minutes, but I pulled back into transition just a little past 12 noon.
I dawdled in transition and didn’t start running until 12:15. The run course at Eagleman is basically a long, straight out and back. Your visual stimulation is farmland, and not the interesting kind of farmland with cows and horses, but lots and lots of fields. It is on asphalt, and is 13.1 miles without a hint of shade. And it was 96 degrees. Not that I’m complaining. I almost managed to run the first mile. A bit short of the mile marker, I had to start walking. The first water station came up shortly after, and I greedily grabbed two cups of water, two cups of gatorade and a cup of ice. This is when I realized I was in trouble. I tried to start running a few times, but just didn’t have it in me. The good news is I’m so frequently late in getting places that I can walk really, really fast. And that’s what I did – I walked. I finished the half marathon in 3 hours and 47 seconds. That is 40 minutes slower than the half marathon in the Poconos and an hour and two minutes slower than my personal record (set this year) at this distance.
I finished the race with a time of 7 hours and 17 minutes. This was a little slower than what I hoped for, but I was just happy to complete it at all. The race left me with the feeling that I can do this again and beat this time, and that eventually, I can do a full Ironman with the right training.
But it wasn’t the big race. My most important race of 2012 is coming up this weekend. It’s a triathlon. It’s not a half Ironman or a full Ironman. Instead it’s a shorter distance, an Olympic (.9-mile swim, 24-mile ride, 6.2-mile run). Why so important? Because this is the one for which I am raising money for the American Cancer Society. For this one, I am again on the DetermiNation team. Ironmen races and marathons are nice, but unless they are funding cancer research, providing lodging for people undergoing treatment, providing rides to chemo and support groups and all sorts of necessary services, providing advocacy for cancer patients and more government research and funding, then they are really just for fun. There is no athletic event that will mean more to me than crossing the finish line on behalf of the ACS, because of all they have done and continue to do to help my sister, the millions like her, the millions more who love people like her, and the billions more who should never get cancer in the first place.
So, yes, I did my 70.3, and it hurt and it was challenging and it was a big accomplishment. Even if I do a full Ironman this year, however, it’s this Sunday’s Philly Tri that is my apex of 2012.
Because of my thunderstorm problem, I swore that if there was no threat of these, I would not complain about any other type of weather condition. So I won’t complain that it was 96 degrees with blasting sunshine on race day.
The day began with the swim that started at 8:00 am. Because the water temperature was under 76.1 degrees (by about a tenth of a degree), we were permitted to wear our wetsuits. I thought it was the wetsuit that made me feel so good about the first part of the swim. Then I made the turn to come back into the finish and I realized it wasn’t the wetsuit. I had been swimming with the current. Now the current was trying to push me back toward Delaware. And it seemed like it was succeeding. Based on the items in my sight line, I swam in place for at least 10 minutes, except for a few brief periods in which I was moving backwards. I finally figured out a way to actually move closer to the finish line and very slowly made my way there.
After spending too much time in transition peeling myself out of the wetsuit and coating myself in sunscreen, I took off on the bike. But first, a few words about the bike. I love my bike. I did a whole post about my beautiful Scott road bike. It’s a solid, serious machine. My sweet little road bike, however, had to share rack space at Eagleman with nothing but super high-end triathlon specific bikes with wheelsets alone worth at least $3,000. So while I was out on the road, making great time on my ride, I kept hearing the telltale “foof foof foof” of a Zipp wheel that lets you know one of these sleek bastards is coming up to pass you on your left.
The first two hours of the bike were great. At the two-hour mark, I was already at 39 miles. I was also officially on my longest ride since October. And then I fell apart. The headwinds hurt. My body hurt. I was thirsty and my feet were burning because of the hot ground. And it kept getting hotter and hotter. That’s just a notation, not a complaint. The last 17 miles took me an hour and 13 minutes, but I pulled back into transition just a little past 12 noon.
I dawdled in transition and didn’t start running until 12:15. The run course at Eagleman is basically a long, straight out and back. Your visual stimulation is farmland, and not the interesting kind of farmland with cows and horses, but lots and lots of fields. It is on asphalt, and is 13.1 miles without a hint of shade. And it was 96 degrees. Not that I’m complaining. I almost managed to run the first mile. A bit short of the mile marker, I had to start walking. The first water station came up shortly after, and I greedily grabbed two cups of water, two cups of gatorade and a cup of ice. This is when I realized I was in trouble. I tried to start running a few times, but just didn’t have it in me. The good news is I’m so frequently late in getting places that I can walk really, really fast. And that’s what I did – I walked. I finished the half marathon in 3 hours and 47 seconds. That is 40 minutes slower than the half marathon in the Poconos and an hour and two minutes slower than my personal record (set this year) at this distance.
I finished the race with a time of 7 hours and 17 minutes. This was a little slower than what I hoped for, but I was just happy to complete it at all. The race left me with the feeling that I can do this again and beat this time, and that eventually, I can do a full Ironman with the right training.
But it wasn’t the big race. My most important race of 2012 is coming up this weekend. It’s a triathlon. It’s not a half Ironman or a full Ironman. Instead it’s a shorter distance, an Olympic (.9-mile swim, 24-mile ride, 6.2-mile run). Why so important? Because this is the one for which I am raising money for the American Cancer Society. For this one, I am again on the DetermiNation team. Ironmen races and marathons are nice, but unless they are funding cancer research, providing lodging for people undergoing treatment, providing rides to chemo and support groups and all sorts of necessary services, providing advocacy for cancer patients and more government research and funding, then they are really just for fun. There is no athletic event that will mean more to me than crossing the finish line on behalf of the ACS, because of all they have done and continue to do to help my sister, the millions like her, the millions more who love people like her, and the billions more who should never get cancer in the first place.
So, yes, I did my 70.3, and it hurt and it was challenging and it was a big accomplishment. Even if I do a full Ironman this year, however, it’s this Sunday’s Philly Tri that is my apex of 2012.
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