We are back from Spirit of Racine after a long and satisfying day. Th. and I vegged out per usual on Arby's snacks on the drive home and then had pizza for dinner. This is one of the best aspects of being a triathlete. Hey, when you burn 6,000 calories in a day, you can eat pretty much whatever you want!
The race was successful overall. Pretty well-run, good partcipation (1700), and reasonably good weather. The swim proved fairly challenging due to a dense fog and 55 degree temps. The start time was delayed by an hour in the hopes the fog would lift (it didn't). This was a very tough swim in many respects, though it did seem a bit shorter than usual. My wave consisted of 200 women, more or less, swimming in a 30 ft wide area. I had my sleeveless wetsuit and no neoprene cap (lost at IM CDA), so I was essentially hyperventilating again by the time my face hit the water. Within 100 yards or so, I had grown more accustomed to the temperature and made more of an effort to spot for the buoys, which were quite difficult to see in the fog. I noticed frosty condensation on other swimmers' wetsuits due to the contrast in temperatures between their bodies and the frigid water. I did get clobbered several times , and swallowed a ton of water due to a fairly strong current. As it turns out, I had my fastest ever half-IM swim: 33 minutes (*as it turns out, race officials added a minute to my time due to my slow 200 m run to transition. They did the same to Th., only he is a freakin' dolphin and still finished in 3o minutes.*) I exited the water and made an attempt to run on feet that felt like ice blocks. It was quite difficult to peel my wetsuit over my ankles and I was disoriented.
I jogged out of transition at 8:56 ( my swim wave went off at 8:17) and was glad to have shifted into my smaller chain ring as there was a giant hill coming right out of transition. The ride was flat and fast, for the most part, though there were some awful roads (very bumpy, lots of potholes) and 6 or 7 hills. My aero bottle was lost in the carnage of other water bottles, tubes and gels due to an aero mount malfunction - the velcro piece in front fell out. Not a particularly exciting bike ride, but again, it was fast and easy.
T2: 12:00. The sun was out and the day was getting warm, completely contrary to the initial weather forecast that morning. I peeled off my tri top and donned my cap, race belt, and running shoes. As usual, I forgot an item - this time it was my sunglasses. Surprisingly, I felt pretty good at the start of the run, and clipped along at a 9:40ish pace for the first mile or so. My hamstrings were feeling pretty sore and my run fitness is very poor, but I pulled through the run with a "run 4 minutes, walk 2 minutes" strategy. Somehow, I still pulled off a 6:23 time, but only because I pushed hard on the swim and the bike to balance out my slow (yet effortful!) run. Th. managed a PR of 5:39. Jerk. ;-)
I really would like to get back to my original fitness level, but am really going to have to be patient with my running. My injuries are slowly healing, but this requires diligence with regard to my PT. I have been icing and stretching, and doing my weird balance ball exercises. This has helped significantly, but I am not anywhere near able to run a consistent 6 miles yet. Slowly but surely.
Splits: SWIM - 34:08 T1 - 5:41 BIKE - 3:04:50 T2 - 4:15 RUN - 2:34:54 (might as well have been speed-walking!)
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