Coffee and Raccoon Lake...what more could you need? |
Race
morning 5 am rolled around and I was wide awake. The Radisson was about
a ¼ mile walk to the transition area, so it was pretty perfect
positioning. My wave didn’t go off til 8:24, so I didn’t leave the
hotel til close to 6. All I had to do was walk over, put a few things in
transition, and make sure my bike was working. After that I had a while
to wait…and wait…and wait. I ran into Jake, Kraig, and Danny in
transition, and Robert who qualified for Worlds at Branson with me. I made
the walk down to the start to wait some more. I talked to my new friend Alex from Kentucky and I found out this was his first half ironman. He
looked much calmer than I did at my first! We sat
and talked for a while, and then
decided to go for a warm up swim. The water was a lovely 61 degrees.
Swim- 42:14
So finally at 8:24 it was our time to go. I lined up in the first 3rd
row on the far left. I figured I could get some clean water to start
and the water was pushing us to the right anyway. I don’t remember what
the sound was to start, I was just thinking, “Fart in your wetsuit, it
will you’re your back half float. Just keep swimming, just keep
swimming. Get out decent and find some feet.” Well the first part of the
swim was more of a jog, dolphin dive, high knees run—I felt like I was
doing form drills. The start was frustrating as I felt like I would swim
forward 5 feet, but get pushed back 6 feet by the waves. Somehow I
finally made it to a place to start swimming. All I know is I hadn’t
made it to the first buoy and
I was already thinking, “It’s going to be a while before you exit the
water.” When I finally made it to the first buoy I was not thrilled that
I had to swim a long, straight line. Somehow I found myself leading a
pack of 4 guys…wait, I wanted tp be the one drafting. My navigations
skills are already pretty bad, and the waves were a lot bigger than I
was expecting. I started feeling sick to my stomach (I had never had
this happen during a swim before). I got to buoy three and I threw up
from feeling “sea sick”—sorry to those behind me. At this point I knew
it was going to be a long swim. I felt like I was being tossed around in
a washing machine and I was not thinking happy thoughts at this time. I
made it 4 or 5 more buoys and I threw up again. It was at this point
that I swore I was never coming back to Racine (more on that later). I
knew I was having an awful swim. We made the final turn to head back to
shore and the choppy water was no
easier to navigate than on the way out. I exited the water feeling like crap, probably low on calories, and full of lake water.
My favorite part of the swim was exiting the water to get to T1. It is
a nice 150m beach run, followed by a sidewalk run. At least I can make
up a few seconds on the swimmers here...
I didn’t use the wetsuit strippers because it’s easier to just do it
myself. It was really easy to find my bike, because it was one of few
left on the rack haha.
The
bike leg was actually pretty uneventful—just the way I like it. I got
on my bike knowing I had a poor swim, but I can still have a great bike
split. Coach and I came up with a power plan, but it quickly went out
the window. I was very excited to be on my bike and wanted to pass a lot
of people. I honestly don’t think I looked down at my power meter in
the first 10 miles of the bike (shhh, don’t tell coach), because I was
too busy trying not to get hit by other rides on the course. The bike
course was very crowded and I spent a lot of time in the left lane. It
really stinks when you see some pro men and women making the last 5
miles or so of their ride as you are starting your first few
miles—they’re almost done and your day is
just beginning. Some of the roads were great, some of the road were
crap. I spent some of the ride thinking, “My poor brain, it’s already
been shaken around enough.” There were some parts of the ride that
people were riding 3-4 wide and not moving fast enough. I know you’re
not supposed to go to the left lane to pass, but…you shouldn’t be riding
3-4 wide either. Around mile 40 on the bike I started to get bored. I
had taken in enough beautiful sights, I was having fun, but I was ready
to start running. This is why I probably will not do an Ironman for
quite some time… Then around mile 45 I was super excited to be riding
again as I knew I had 11 miles left to go. Unfortunately the roads were
starting to be even more crowded as they were splitting lanes for
bikers. Although the road conditions were poor and crowded, the
awesome spectators and volunteers made up for it. I decided that Racine
isn’t so bad and I would like to come back. (Different thought than the
swim haha) I was off the bike in 2:31xx for a new HIM bike split PR
by17 minutes and I didn’t even have to pee on the bike. That put a nice
smile on my face going into T2.
In and out…that’s the name of the game
I look so happy to see people I know! |
Run- 1:19:55
I
had no idea what place I was in coming off the bike, but I knew I was
not on the podium for my AG. Coach told me to start out conservative and
try to build the pace from there…if you call 5:51 conservative then I
hit the nail on the head! Ha. Well, I just went with what felt easy and a
mile in I realized I was running a bit too quickly. The pace felt easy,
but I knew that would set me up for a big PR run. Well, I kept clipping
the off sub 6’s like clockwork. The spectators were awesome, the
zoo…not so much. As I was finishing my 1st loop I heard somebody say, “Dark Horse?! That’s Steve Johnson! Well, that isn’t Steve, but…” and I couldn’t hear the rest of the conversation. What? You don’t think I look
like Steve? The run course was getting very crowded on my 2nd
loop and I had to start making some decisions. Run on the far left of
the run lane, or in the grass on the right side. I had planned on taking
a gel at mile 6 along with electrolyte pills and water. I took the gel
before the aid station, and it was pretty backed up. I now had to decide
if I was going to try to sneak in and get some water or just pass it
up. To wait for water would mean probably 15-20 seconds, honestly, or
pass it up and wait for the next one. My mind was screaming “Stop! Take
the water!” but my body just kept running…right on past the aid station.
Stupid. I quickly started to regret that as my mouth was dry, I just
took a gel, and it was warming up. The next aid station could not come
soon enough. I ran a 6:xx mile and thought, “Hold on Nancy, this is
where it starts to hurt.” The next aid station was super crowded also,
and I meant to get
water, but I got cola…sh*t. At this point I was sick to my stomach and
really not a happy camper because I made another stupid/tired mistake. I
saw my buddy Jake on the run course and he informed me that there were a
few guys in my AG just making the turn around. I knew I saw them on
their way back in as I was on my way out—they looked like they were
hurting, but I don’t think I was looking too hot either. I told myself
just to go after those three and then get in. I put in a nice surge to
get by them and “pass with authority.” (picture me saying that to
myself). With about 2 miles to go I started to get in my happy place
again. I just tried to pretend I was on another training run with Evan,
or a long run with my Greenville teammates. I knew there were many more
guys up there and it was going to be a dogfight for the podium. One of
my fellow competitors yelled, “Your skinny ass is making this look
easy—it’s not fair!” And I just
thought, “Yes, I have a skinny ass!” With a mile to go I saw a sign
that said FREE BEER AT THE FINISH LINE. That was the little boost I
needed to get me going. I had not been passed by anybody on the bike,
and if I could just finish this mile, I wouldn’t be passed by anybody on
the run. With a half mile to go I said, “Okay Coree, there are a lot of
people here watching...don’t crap your speedo and get across that
line.” The spectators were awesome and I was feeling good again. I knew I
had maybe 3 minutes of running left to do. With maybe 400m to go I
picked off another guy in my AG. With 200m to go I picked off 2 more. I
didn’t see anybody else that looked even close to my age with 100m to
go—time to celebrate. There were a bunch of kids wanting high fives, so I
ran down the side of the finisher chute giving high fives!
I
crossed the line and went to lean down to get a rock out of me shoe and
they thought I was passing out. I had about 5 medical people rush over
to me to hold me up and ask me how I’m feeling and carry me to the
medical tent and pack me full of ice. They were super nice people, but I
wasn’t going to pass out, I just wanted to sit down for a second and
get the rock out of my shoe. I then started crying in the medical tent—I
was a mess. I was excited, mentally tired, my feet hurt, thirsty, and it just set a nice 17 minute PR. So then the people in there are asking me what's wrong and the only thing I could say was, "I just want my candy bar and it's probably melting in the car right now." ...maybe it was a good thing they made me sit there for a while.
What I don't want to happen in a race. LOL |
Overall, I am very happy with the race. There are a few things I need to work on, a few mistakes I need to NOT make, and some good things to take away and use next time. As usual, I would like to thank Coach Steve for helping me improve, one day at a time. And thanks to my family and friends--I couldn't do it without all the support from y'all.