Mock me

I have done a 1/2 ironman.

It wasn't official. I didn't have a timing chip. I didn't have someone rip off my wetsuit. I didn't have course support on my ride. I didn't have others to race against.

But I have completed a 1/2 ironman.

I leave for Japan on Thursday for two weeks. Very poor timing for my training, as this is the time when most people do an official 1/2, to get into the swing of things, to understand the flow, to understand just how hard it is. I return from Japan just as I am beginning my last ramp up before my taper. Not enough time to recover from a 1/2 in July. And there were none scheduled conveniently in June, that worked into my work calendar.

And so I did what I have always done when I run into a challenge. I suck it up and just do it.

I treated Sunday like a real race day. Prepped the night before. Ate pre-race food, hydrated well on Saturday, went to bed early. I woke up Sunday at 630, with the goal of hitting the water at 730, which is very close to an actual start. It was a little cool and overcast, but the weather was predicted to warm up and get sunny. Kirk woke up with me and went to the lake to help me transition from swim to bike. I set up my T1 just like a race day. My T2 was set up at home. All Kirk had to do was put it outside about the time I would be getting back from my ride.

I love swimming. By far the easiest of the three sports. I swam right on pace, just over 30 minutes for a 1.04 mile swim. I accidentally shorted my swim. It was supposed to be 1.2. My garmin tells me that I swam fairly straight though, which is an improvement since I first started swimming open water. I used to swim like I had too much to drink.The water temp was good. I felt good, long smooth strokes with a nice glide.

My T1 was not bad. Small things I can do to make it faster, but overall not bad.

I really enjoy riding my bike. I set out on my ride, a bit cold because of being wet and no sun, but I was dressed just right for the whole ride. I had to bring all of my nutrition with me, including Perpetuem powder for my bottle when I refilled. I hear race day is a little different, they will have nutrition support, but it's up to you, the racer, to really have and know what you need. I decided to ride a combination of loops that I do routinely, as I knew that the combo would get me close to the 56 miles I needed, and it had some rollers, as opposed to a total flat course. I went north first, to get the trail portion over with before it can get really busy. Smooth sailing. I head down to Lake Washington to do the very familiar South Lake Washington plus Mercer Island loop. I was quite amazed that I had amazing luck hitting my lights all the way through the neighborhoods and down to the main part of my ride. And then I hit Lake Washington Boulevard (LWB).

Note to self: When planning a mock 1/2 ironman, double check all race calendars for road closures. LWB was closed for a run. This added an unexpected hill I had to climb-BONUS HILL! And then to ride on the sidewalk, seriously slowing my pace. While I realized this will affect my time, it was okay, it wasn't that far. Once I got to the end of the run course, I jumped back up on the road, opened it up and tried to make up a little time that I had lost. I was winding my way down to the end and getting ready to make the right turn at Seward Park and climb up.....WHAT THE HELL! Another organized run. Oh, it gets better-The Furry 5K. As is in 2000 people....and their dogs.

Shit.

Navigate, navigate, "On your left, please retract the leash", avoid the dog poo, "On your left...No, your other left, not your right", and I can make the turn. Thankfully the rest of the ride was uneventful. Again I had magical luck with the lights and didn't really have to deal with any traffic issues. The only concern was the mind wandering at about mile 45 or so. This can happen a bit when you ride alone. At least for me it does. No one to talk to (other than the usual self ranting I do), no music to listen to, just pedaling. I start to do weird math in my head, figuring out how many minutes it will take me to finish, what's my total time going to be, how's my slowness on the hills affecting my pace, etc. As I do this, I slowly lose focus and find myself coasting. WAKE UP! RACE DAY!

I hit the house and Kirk has my T2 stuff ready for me. T2 was awesome. quick, smooth, just like I practice and plan for.

Running is.....hard. I started my run and was pleasantly surprised at how well I felt. At about mile 1, my body let me know that I really should have peed at the house. Once that issue was resolved, I continued one without incident. Until about mile 6. Stomach cramp, followed by extreme tired. I ended up about 30-40 minutes off pace. Initially I was thinking that my legs were going to cooperate, but they didn't. Awkward runner! Awkward runner! It hurt. My heart rate never really got too high, so it wasn't cardio stuff, it was my legs, my hips, my feet, my butt. I ended up walking a good portion of the last 1/2 of that stupid 13.1 mile run.

As I got to my house, I stopped my watch and looked at the time. Just under 7 hours. meh. I was hoping for better. This is the problem with occasionally being competitive. Easy to be disappointed in the moment right after you complete something really hard.

70 miles. One day. All powered by my body. Upon reflection, and the mental distance that two days can give you, I must admit that it's pretty damn impressive.

And now I prepare to leave for Japan for two weeks. I have done my 1/2 ironman. My training will be about intensity, not duration, while abroad. Maybe a longer run one or two days, and a longer swim here or there, but not what I have been doing.

When I return, things get really interesting.