First race of the year is always nerve wracking. For some reason, despite having 20 some races under my belt, it still feels as if I've never raced before. I keep double and triple checking my transition set up, run through all the transition entrances and exits, and pace up and down my aisle thinking I'm forgetting to do something. First race of the season jitters. Fritters, for short. :) It was also my first season in a new age group, F25-29, which is one of the prime age groups after F30-34. I had valid reasons to be nervous as the competition gets only stronger and faster from here. My expectations of myself rose with this challenge.
I calmed down after seeing a fellow competitor struggling to pump her tires. I immediately asked if I could help, and friendly talk ensued. She helped hold my bike steady too as I pumped the tires and we wished each other luck. There's no feeling like helping a fellow competitor before the race. :) It just warms my heart and plasters a huge smile on my face.
This time, as opposed to last year, I got my wetsuit on and was at the starting line in time for my wave. No frantic running down the pier and having the announcer ask the other waves to give me room to pass. But I did have a scare this year. My right shoulder (surgery operated one) started hurting 3 minutes before the start. The shooting pains came out of no where; I had trouble lifting my arm above my shoulder. Crap, how am I suppose to swim if it pains me to stroke? I panicked and thought I might not even be able to race! I didn't want it to come to that, so I decided to give the swim a go and see how everything unfolds. Luckily for me, the water was cold, and it iced my shoulder, numbing the pain. I finished my swim at a steady pace in 41:41.
Biking started off 100 times better than last year. My right quad was not spasming, and I felt really fresh and great. I knew the course well as I had done some training rides out in Galveston, so I just sat low in my aero bars and pedaled it out. I was averaging 21 mph on the way out and could have held 20 mph or over on the way back but opted to conserve for a strong push on the run. I finished the bike in 2:46:54, with an average of 20.13 mph, by far my best for a half ever!
That was a great decision as I was booking it on the run. My first mile was 7:50, and the next three miles were under 8:40. I was aiming to crack 6 hours, and to hit my dream goal of 5:30 if possible. I was on pace to shatter the dream goal. I ticked each mile off, trying to sustain the pace and maintain my nutrition plan. Somewhere between mile 6-9, I bonked. I should have seen the signs, I was feeling great physically, my legs still felt fresh but I could not push them to go faster. I was fueling correctly as I trained, but because I was pushing so hard (found out later I averaged 180bpm the entire run), I was burning more calories than I had anticipated/usually did. I immediately downed another gel and within a few minutes, I was back running the pace I wanted.
My final time was 5:35:20. Didn't reach my dream goal, but I had a heck of a race anyways. I beat my time last year by 30 minutes and made a PR by over 20 minutes. So I'd say pretty good day. :) It's an amazing feeling to set a really tough goal and just scrape near it. I was definitely on cloud nine the rest of the day.
My new goal in the half ironman is to break 5 hours and then by this time next year break 4.5 hours and qualify for World Championships. Shooting for the moon? Heck yeah! And if I fail, I'll still land among the stars. :D
