10 Things I Remember about the Half Ironman

I started a race report a few days after finishing the half ironman but just the pre-race section was easily the first chapter of a novel and I realized it would take me forever to write about the whole race. So instead, the ten things I remember nearly four months later…

1. My husband – the most amazing supporter. He drove an hour round trip back to the hotel when I realized I forgot by T2 bag to drop off when we went to pick up my number with no complaints. He drove my mom and sis around during the race. And he biked ahead of me on the run, meeting me every mile to slather me with more sunblock. I am very lucky.

2. My mom and baby sis in town to spectate at their first triathlon. And Tal being so worried I would be upset with my race and inspired that I wasn’t.

3. A satisfying swim – the longest I’ve ever done. 1.2 miles in 38:59.

4. A tree falling across the road on the bike course, just minutes before I arrived, when they were still allowing us to walk our bikes under the fallen tree, precariously tangled with power lines.

5. The panic of a woosh-woosh of a flat tire and the relief to find it was a race sticker I had run over and not a flat (I’ve never changed a flat on my own!).

6. The most fun I’ve ever had on a bike ride. So great to race on roads that I knew very well surprise myself with an average speed of 17.9mph and a time of 3:08. Set me up for an easy run – a 2:07 would result in a sub-6 hour time.

7. A decent pace set for the first few miles of the run, followed by slower running, jogging, shuffling, scuffling, and walking.

8. HEAT and asphalt. Over 100 degrees, no shade, black roads, pure hell. The aid stations couldn't keep up with the demand. I had plenty of fluids but have concluded that I should have had salt tablets and that I simply do not do heat.

9. A mental and emotional state I’ve never experienced in a race before. Just finish (I have felt that before) and happiness about “just” finishing (I have never felt that before – I am usually angry). At some point in the run I realized I could push myself and risk passing out and not finishing at all, or I could just take every step forward, as slow as it may be, to get to the finish line and know I wouldn’t be a DNF in my first half ironman.

10. Satisfaction and no disappointment. I don’t think there was much I could do avoid that trainwreck of a run (slower than the slowest split in my slowest full marathon). I’m left with a whole lot of unfinished business and can’t wait to do another one!

Pictures here!