Barb's Race - First 1/2 Iron Man

Well, it's officially done. And what an amazingly fun time. I was probably a little too casual about the whole thing (I got there about 20 minutes before it started), and didn't get sunglasses till the night before, but it was a lot of fun. Somehow, I'm just not the type to think it all thru entirely the night before. At any rate, I can't believe how much fun it was.

So, first of all, I went to the Windsor High school on Friday to get my packet, and set up my bike to run transition.

Then, I got up at 6 AM on Saturday morning, checked my sugar (207), took 1 unit, ate a breakfast of almond milk, raspberries, and hemp seeds (covered by 3 units), walked my dog, and was out the door (with my bike in the back seat) by 7. I got to Windsor around 7:35, and had a hard time finding a place to park. I was a little nervous, since I was cutting it pretty close. I brought way too much stuff to the swim start line (transition 1). I tested right after I set up my stuff, and per Ed's really good nutrition planning and advice, ate two small clif bars, covered by 1 unit, took my 4 units of Lantus, a swig of gatorade, hit the bathroom, and got into the water.

SWIM (1.2 miles) - I got in the water and started at 8:10 AM. I kept to the right hand side, since there were less people and swam up. I probably could have left the wetsuit off, but thanks to Blair's good advice, I hiked up the sleeves and legs to allow for more limb movement. I started my watch, and took off up stream. The water was the perfect temperature, a little cool, but definitely not cold. Some people were waiting along the river, kayakers were on the side, and it was pretty peaceful. My arms kind of hurt. I didn't take it very hard, barely kicked I think, and went back and forth between really concentrating on my stroke, and pushing all the way back with my arms, and piercing the water in front. I also tried to glide and make my strokes last a while. I checked my watch at some point. I was kind of shooting for about 40 minutes, and was pretty close (:39:34). I got out, ran to my bike, and fumbled around. My sugar was 109 I think. Here is where I made a mistake. I got worried that it was going to go up, so I took in a handful of good and plenty's, a small clif bar, AND a gel. In retrospect too much! I seemed to take too long here (:07:17!!). Ran with my bike, and then clipped in to bike up the hill

BIKE (56 miles): This was by far the most fun. I rode pretty conservatively for the first 15 miles or so. I was sipping on a mix of hammer fuel powder and something else. My water bottle had 80 grams of carbs in it, and my plan was to sip half of it during the first 28 miles, and the other half for the second half. The other bottle had water plus Nuun in it, and since then I've found out that Nuun has artificial sweeteners, so I won't be having any more of that. At any rate, I was sipping on the bottle, and kind of holding back on the flats (15 - 17 mph about). At around mile like 20 I think, I started to feel thirsty and a little tired. I decided to test as I rode (right after I was past a station, which again wasn't too smart. 400. Great. So I kept riding and took 2 units of Humalog. And within 15 minutes, I started to feel pretty good. I kept going. Around mile 32 or 35, I told myself "okay, 20 or so more to go, and I'm starting to feel great. After Chalk hill, I took off, I went up to around 21/22 mph, and started passing people. It felt great. I was totally grinning downhill (and even hit 37 mpg, which used to scare the heck out of me.) I really wanted to break 3 hours, but did 3:06:58. I managed to swap my nuun filled nasty bottle for a water bottle at the last aid station and was psyched to down all of the water. I kept sipping a little on the carbo loaded bottle. So, I wasn't sure how smart I was being by going hard on the bike, but I calculated that going 18 mph versus 17 mph on a 56 mile ride would save me like 15 minutes! That seemed a lot easier than cranking my running pace up. So, I ended the bike, and spent :04:56 in T2. That was a little better, but not great.

THE RUN (13.1 MILES) - Blood sugar then was 109 I think. It felt good. I had a little sample size clif bar, and a gel, and started out (and some water). It was hot, and I was a little tired. I'm not sure how fast (or slow) I was going. The run course was hilly! I heard it was a little hillier and different than the 70.3 two weeks before. At any rate, I kept looking at my watch thinking, hmm, I might be able to break 6 hours, but I'm not sure. And the mile markers weren't great. The first out and back was a total of 8.7 miles. Around the hill before the turn around, I started feeling pretty good. I tested about 30 minutes into the run and was like 129, which made me realize I had to consume the same amount of carbs for the next thirty minutes to maintain a good BS. So, on the way back, around what was probably mile 5 or so, I realized that I still had 8.1 miles to go, but I had about 90 minutes to do it. So, even if I did 10 minute miles, I could still make it under 6 hours - that was really exciting! The run back was better than the run out, but around mile 6 or so, I got tired. I had my second gel, and then was out of stuff with me. So I alternated between warm water and warm gatorade at the aid stations. And I grabbed (and ate) 4 clif shot blocks. And then I passed Andrew (who by the way, was 5th overall!!! and first in his age group on the full vineman - what a stud - glad to have him training me). Then, once I got back, and went out for the final 4.4 miles, I was feeling pretty good. Got back, and finished the run at 1:53:52, with an overall finish of the whole thing of 5:52:39. Unfortunately I didn't have anyone waiting for me at the finish line, but I felt good. And BS was like 159. Here are the results: http://www.j-chipusa.com/results.php?eventid=3093&resid=1380

I feel so grateful for all the help I got on this. From Ed's awesome nutrition life saving advice, to Andrew's training and encouragement, Holly's tips on what has worked for her, to my neighbor's giving me some great sunglasses, and fitting me to my bike, and giving me gear, to encouragement and tips - thank you all!

What an amazing fun adventure. I am really looking forward to more!