ZebraMan 1/2 Ironman Race Report

Pics (lots of them!) are here.

I did the swim and the bike with a friend who had to do something else and so I did the run by myself.

We headed to my Y to swim. Most of the ice on driveways and roads had melted, as the temperatures had risen to 50 overnight, and it was raining. The weather forecast called for rain all day, and if it weren't for the rain, we probably could have biked and run outdoors! Well, we could have anyway, but biking would not have been safe, and I'd done enough running in the rain for the year already!

As we walked into the Y, I thought I smelled gas, but it could have been anything. When we got on deck, I took one pic of the lane we were going to swim in, and then I handed my camera to the lifeguard and asked him to snap a few while we were swimming. He exceeded expectations, and was snapping away while we swam. It was fun to see the flash of the camera every now and then, and he must have had fun taking the pics. I've never seen myself swim in so many shots before, and while I think I still suck at it, there are a few things I am doing right. We started swimming at 6:00AM on the nose.

I had decided we would swim 2200 yards, but it wasn't until this morning that I realized that was a little further than 1.2 miles. No worries! We both made a few quick stops en route, and the water was nice and cool, and we had just finished when the lifeguard blew the whistle. I know that Masters doesn't begin until 8:00AM, so I wondered why the whistle had been blown. Well, they told everyone that we had to get out because there was a gas leak in the building! I had been correct in smelling gas when we first got in. But, it wasn't so bad that you couldn't take your shower and stuff.

Swim time: :40

We changed into our biking clothes and headed back to my house to bike. Of course, it was still raining like crazy. I had some music queued up in the CD player, but we decided to start with watching Ironman Hawaii 2008. Once again, I found it difficult to pay attention to the TV, and we mostly ended up talking. When that was finished, we talked about watching either Spinal Tap or Monty Python, and we decided to go with the Monty Python. We watched about 1/2 hour that was in German with English subtitles, but it was still hilarious. My friend then left (I decided he could call it quits at 2:40 clock time because he's so fast), and then I finished up my ride to 56 miles, since I have my speed/cadence pickup on my rear wheel.

My bike time: 2:47

I took my sweet time transitioning to the run because I wanted to get some towels against the wall where I figured I'd get some seepage from all the snow melt and rain (it ended up not being too bad), and I dumped all the pics from the pool onto my laptop, changed clothes and decided what I wanted to drink. I think once I was off the bike that it took about :25 before I was firmly ensconced on a treadmill at the Y, after calling to be sure it was open. As it turned out, there wasn't a gas leak--they said it was "something outside."

On the way in, I ran into a friend who asked me what I was up to today, and I told him a 1/2 Ironman. He asked me what I was training for, and I should have said THIS! But I said I just had some sprint races coming up and that I usually try and do a 1/2 Ironman on my own by Thanksgiving, but that I was behind schedule for a few reasons. He rolled his eyes at me and told me I am crazy, but we both already knew that!

I got lucky in that I got the rightmost treadmill which is near to one of the entrances to the indoor track and also the ramp down to the free weight area, since that is one of the coolest areas in the cardio area, and also I had a personal ceiling fan! I was already pretty hot from biking, and it didn't take very long for me to become extremely disgusting, as I was sweating from every single pore in my body, and also my eyes! I had decided to try and run the same pace as I had a week ago for my 2-hour long run, which would be good if I could maintain it for a 1/2 Ironman. I was happy that my iliopsoas was feeling pretty good, and I rarely needed to stop and stretch it.

Another runner I know came to chat with me right about at 1 hour in. I had told him a week ago that I was doing a 1/2 Ironman, and he asked me again what the distances are. I told him, and then he was like, wait, what have you done already again? Sometimes it takes a few times of telling someone before it all sinks in. So I said slowly that I'd already swum 1.2 miles and biked 56 miles. And he asked again how much running, and I said a half marathon! I love the look on someone's face when they really realize just how far you are talking about, and then especially when you are just doing it on your own, and indoors to boot!

I also saw another runner that I'd seen last week towards the end of my long run who is doing Goofy Challenge. I asked him how many miles he'd done today, and he said 17. He is psycho, as he did it all on the indoor track, which is 12 laps to the mile! I said to him that if it made him feel any better that I was doing a 1/2 Ironman, and he said no, it didn't make him feel better! Truth be told, I'd rather do a 1/2 Ironman than a 17-mile run any day!

The first 7 miles of running felt great, and it wasn't until I was about 1:30 in that my legs were like what the fuck? But I pressed on, knowing that I didn't have much longer to go. When I had one mile to go, I wiped down the treadmill and headed to the track. Last week, when I did the same thing at the end of my long run, my legs were all peppy and snappy. Not so much today! But I still managed to hold pace, and it was nice to be in the cool part of the gym. I set up my camera to snap a few finishing photos, and then headed off to the showers.

My run time: 1:58

Total moving time: 5:25, not bad!

I thought I'd stretch a bit in the sauna, but my core temperature was predictably up, so I couldn't stand it in there and just got dressed and headed home. It was still raining. My preemptive strike against seepage had turned out to be spot on, and I really didn't get very much at all. I drank some Endurox and ate half a prosciutto sandwich and got ready to go to my brother's house for Christmas dinner.

I checked the weather forecast, and they had put out a tornado watch until 7:00PM, and just as I was about to leave, the sky opened up and a deluge came down. But I knew it wouldn't last very long, so I waited for it to ease up, and then I headed to my brother's. I didn't drive through the lake on my street as I had no idea how deep it was. I knew a route there that would avoid low lying areas, but man was there a ton of water everywhere! Almost all the snow (let's call it 2 feet or so) had melted, and it had already rained a couple of inches, so it was truly water, water everywhere!

About a block after I turned onto my brother's street, there was water over the road, and I had no choice but to go through it. My car made a nice wave, and then the battery light promptly went on and I could feel the power steering start to go, but I managed to make it into Mike's driveway. I shut everything down and then restarted the engine to let it run a bit and all was fine. Mike had a lake in his backyard, and he joked that we could have done our swim in it!

I had a really nice family dinner and lots of talking and we exchanged gifts and I ate like a pig, and I just had this nice inner satisfaction that I'd done a 1/2 Ironman. I did need to periodically lie down as I was pretty tired, but punch with vodka, a few beers, and a glass of wine or two helped with the pain management!

I didn't enjoy my own margarita pie until I got back home, since I needed a little time to digest the large meal I'd eaten, but it was really, really good, and I ate two of those little suckers with whipped cream on top!

I slept the sleep of the really sleepy, and this morning I feel a good tired. The rain is gone, my family room is nearly dry, I do not have to workout at all today (but I may swim--er--flop around), I do not have any house guests, I do not have to do any form of shopping, my house is clean--I get to just enjoy a lazy Sunday all by myself! I love hanging out with my friends and family, but I need some alone time, too, and this day is well-deserved! I had one of the best days ever yesterday from the moment I woke up to falling asleep. Friends, family, food, triathlon, presents, laughter--what could be better?