Pushing My Limits: Half Ironman

Elizabeth Gaylor, you are now a Half Ironman! Wahooo, I did it! :)

My Official Time--> 5:53:55!!!

Now that that's off my chest...

I don't really even know where to begin with this race report. I feel like there is so much to say and so many details I want to document. When I began this journey over 4 months ago, I never imagined I would do so well and enjoy the actual race so much. At the time when I clicked "Register", I was 30 pounds heavier than I am now, I was in lots of pain from headaches, neck aches, hip and glut problems, and running seemed to be my enemy. And so I have to give credit where credit is due: Hiring a nutrition coach was one of the best decisions I have ever made; she is AWESOME, and I seriously would not have been able to do what I did without her. She also introduced me to a sports chiropractor who helped me TREMENDOUSLY with various issues throughout all my training. Dani and Missy, thank you both SO SO much!

Getting there and the pre-race jitters

Kimberly (my training buddy) and I drove up to Augusta Saturday with my car loaded with so much stuff that you'd think we were moving there. Everyone had to check-in the day before and rack their bikes in transition by 7p.m. The whole drive up I was feeling a mixture of things which ranged from "Yay, I'm going on an adventure" to "Oh. my. gosh. I'm doing a freaking Half Ironman tomorrow!!!". For the most part I felt calm, and it wasn't until we racked our bikes and started visualizing race transitions that my stomach began to get knotted up.

Goodnight bike...

We then ran into some familiar faces, which definitely helped lighten the mood :)

Swim Bike Mom, Swim Bike Dad, and their friend

Then we met up with our parents near the swim start to make a race day spectating plan for them. We tried to explain as much as we could about the race and decide upon meeting spots and cheering locations for them. The stress was beginning to set in as we realized just how HUGE this race was (with 3400 athletes!!).

I can't even see the swim exit buoy from here! EEK!

We checked into our hotel rooms about 15 mins away, and began race day preparations. I ate my gluten free dinner of corn pasta with ground turkey, olive oil, sea salt and half an avocado. Drank my coconut water, NUUN and regular water to stay plenty hydrated and was in bed around 9:15. I am quite the night owl, so it was excellent that I was able to sleep then.

Race Morning

4:30 a.m.--my alarm went off and I was a little confused, then got nervous, then got excited because I got to eat my gluten free waffles for breakfast. It's the little things in life, right? :)

5:45 a.m.--Kimberly's mom was a saint and drove us to the transition area. We got there around 6, got body marked and began setting up our areas. The race was set to start at 7:30 for the pros, but our waves didn't start til around 9, so we weren't in so much of a rush.

This is the part where I always am the most nervous. You can feel the nervous energy from everyone around you, and there is so much to think about as you carefully count out your gels to take on the bike and set out what you need for the run. Just as I was in the middle of this process, the woman who is supposed to be next to me arrives and does not see her bike there. She begins asking "Have you seen my bike? It was right here yesterday, I put it here, where is it?". I checked her race number on her armband to make sure it coincided with the place next to me (it did). She got race officials involved, her friends and husband were all around us, and it was somewhat chaotic.

At that moment I was getting more nervous and had to take a step back and some deep breaths. I told myself "There is nothing you can do for this person. The race officials are getting it under control, just focus on your race plan." Sure enough her bike was found...she racked it in the wrong place the night before and was in tears from humiliation. Poor girl. As soon as I was done with setting up my things I just wanted to get out of there and head to the swim start. Too many people were voicing their concerns and worries and I didn't want it to get to my head.

7:00 a.m.-- Kimberly and I head to the swim start on the shuttle and promptly get in a long line for the porta-potties.

My parents happened to arrive and found us in line. It was so nice to have them there and to be able to goof off and lighten the mood.

My dad found the whole putting-on-of-wetsuit process hilarious and waited for the most awkward moments to take pictures.

And before I knew it, it was 15 mins til swim time for me, and I needed to book it down to the dock where the other purple caps were already waiting in line! But first, one last model shot:

The Swim-1.2 miles in the Savannah River WITH the current :)

By the time all of us purple caps got down to the river, the race announcer said less than a minute til start time. My heart skipped a beat or two. Yikes! Goggles on, slide into the river, pee one last time (come on, everyone does it! :P) and find a place between the start buoys.

I consider myself an average swimmer, so I definitely do not like to be at the front of the pack when the horn goes off. However, when I start further back, I tend to get stuck behind the slow people who swim with their heads up in the beginning. Once I maneuvered around some people, I found a good pace in an open spot. I felt good until around the halfway point when my left hand began to go numb. It has happened before in open water swim practices, so I did not panic or freak out and just kept going. Raising my head to sight and the added pressure of the wetsuit around my neck most likely was causing some nerve issues. I knew it would be ok once I got out of the water, so I pushed onward.

Things I most notably remember about the swim:

1) Swimming through river weeds and plant-life, some of which got caught in my fingers and wrapped around my foot at one point.
2) Trying to pass a backstroker who kept veering over in my direction and hitting me every time I came close to passing her

Things I’m glad I didn’t know before the swim:

1) An alligator was removed from the river near the swim start on race morning

2) There are bull sharks in the Savannah River (true story which I heard someone mention but I laughed thinking they were joking at the time)

Transition 1:

I call this the transition time warp. What the hell was I doing for 5 minutes in transition? In my defense, I DID have to go all the way to the other end before I could mount my bike.

There is not a whole lot I remember from transition, except for the following:

1) Coming out of the swim, I was running on the carpeted areas and could still feel rocks under my bare feet.

2) I had tons of grass all over my feet, which I attempted to rinse off with a water bottle before putting on my bike shoes…this was pretty much a failed attempt and waste of time.

3) We had to wear our race number on the bike and I was having an issue with fastening my race belt. I put it on and noticed it was twisted, so I took the time to fix it

4) In the process of running with my bike I had a few snafus. For example, there was some netting under the grass and my shoe cleats got caught up in it (of course!), and I almost dropped my bike.

The Bike—56 mile loop from Georgia to South Carolina and back to Georgia

The bike course was pretty congested in the beginning. After I was passed by the super-fast aero helmet wearing triathletes on tri bikes, my legs were warmed up enough and I decided it was my turn to start passing people.

My legs felt good and strong on the bike, so I just let them lead the way. I wasn’t sure where Kimberly was since she began the swim a few waves after me. Around mile 17, I came upon my friend, Mere (Swim bike mom), and she informed me that Kimberly came out of the water before us because she is THAT fast, and she zoomed by her around mile 11 on the bike. I replied with, “Shoooooot! I NEED to catch Kimberlyyyy!”, and off I went. Kimberly is a little faster than me on the bike, so I doubted I would actually catch her…but it was good to have a rabbit to chase! And it turns out that she thought she was trying to catch ME the whole time! Hehehehe…We aren’t competitive AT ALL ;)

There were a few things I was worried about on the bike:

1) drafting, getting a yellow card and having to go to the penalty tent
2) being able to grab water bottles from the volunteers while on the bike.

It was almost impossible to keep 4 bike lengths between people on this crowded course and luckily it seemed like the race officials weren’t being too picky about it, as long as you were trying to keep some distance. I was pleasantly surprised that I was able to grab water bottles on the move without a problem. They chose great locations on hills so that we were already slowed down enough to make successful hand-offs.

I was also surprised by how many people were out on the bike course cheering for us in their driveways. There were military personnel standing throughout the course as well. At one spot, an army guy was doing pushups as a group of us ladies rode by, and we started hooting and hollering and I even let out a little whistle to show my appreciation ;) Oh…and I passed this guy (below) in Superman briefs. He most definitely had to be a man of steel to ride 56 miles without any padding between him and the bike saddle.

My nutrition plan for the bike was this:

Consume water and at least 3 bottles of GU Brew 2X sodium (200 calories each bottle) and consume only gels OR 2 gels plus a larabar. My nutrition coach told me to decide if I was going to eat the larabar by mile 30 on the bike, otherwise it would be too late for it to digest properly before the run. Thanks to throwing up a little in my mouth early in the bike, that decision was made for me way before the 30 mile mark! So, I consumed 4 gels, spread about 40 minutes apart, and I felt good!

One of the signs my parents were holding :)

Overall, the bike was REALLY fun and went by much faster than I had anticipated. I had told my parents that I would probably be done in about 3:30, and I came off the bike in 2:57! I was super excited to come in sub-3 hrs.

Transition 2: “Lost in Transition”

Perhaps I was a bit TOO excited because I ran right passed my transition area…twice! Ooooops! It is a lot more difficult to find your area when your bike isn’t there!

Take off helmet, sunglasses, bike shoes. Put on socks, running shoes, hat, camelback, cooling towel. I remembered to put on MORE bodyglide (Lifesaver!), and then I was off on the run!

The Run—13.1 miles 2 loop course through downtown Augusta

I found my legs quicker than I thought I would and ran a sub-10 min mile pace for the first 3 miles. It was so bizarre and strange for me to be feeling that good and to look down at my Garmin and see my pace. I kept asking myself “Howwww is this happening? Am I going too fast? Should I slow down? How do I feel?”. Then I passed my parents cheering for me and holding up signs and I tried to wave and smile and tell them I was good.

It was so great to run through the downtown area with all the cheering sections and people just so excited. I noticed my pace picking up a little more from the adrenaline of it all, but caught myself and backed off again. The last thing I needed was to burn out too soon!

The weather was perfect…an overcast day with a chance of rain. If the sun had been shining, it would have been beating down on us for the entire 13.1 miles. Thank you God for the clouds! I tend to overheat easily, hence the reason I wore a cooling towel, and I was starting to burn up even in the cooler overcast weather on race day!

I'm in the background with the camelbak, cooling towel, hat and the whole shebang :) I know what I need and what works for me, even though it may look silly to some. Sidenote: I like this picture because it looks like my run form is actually good and both feet are off the ground!

Somewhere between miles 6 and 7 I began to feel a little light headed and I saw a few bright spots floating around. Then I remembered I needed to take a gel! Oops! I had been sipping on more GU Brew electrolyte mix in my camelback, but there was no way to know how much I had consumed at that point. My hamstring was also starting to get tight and crampy feeling, so I made it a point to drink more water at every aid station since that could be a sign of dehydration. Also, I hadn’t peed at all and didn’t have the urge to in the least bit, so I figured I needed more water. A gel and a couple cups of water later, I was feeling much better…and on mile 8!!!

Around mile 10 I saw my parents again and yelled out “Only 3 more miles!!!”. They told me they would see me at the finish line… and then it clicked in my head… “You are really doing this! You are REALLY doing this!! Keep going, keep going!”. I looked at the overall race time on my watch and realized at that moment that I could finish this entire race in under 6 hrs! “Holyyyyy Coooowwww! Can I do that? Am I really going to do that? You bet your ass I am! Keep going keep going!”

Another sign my parents were holding up :)

Soon after, I finally saw Kimberly for the first time. She was coming towards me on the other side, and I yelled out “Gooooo Kimberlyyyyyy! Home stretch!!!!!”. I was so thrilled to see her doing so well too. We were doing this!

That last mile I dug down deep and was determined to keep going and finish strong. The entire race I was nice to people, smiling and encouraging...

See? This is me smiling and being nice :)

....BUT when there was only about ½ a mile left, I came across a narrow part of the road where 3 women were spread out walking and chatting side by side. I said “Excuse me, sorry, coming through” and they failed to move, so as I got up on them I said loudly “Coming through please!” and they moved a little as I squeezed through them. I’m guessing they were on their first loop, but I was determined to keep my strong pace no matter what! Sorry ladies!

Then, oh my goodness, I could hear the cheers, I could hear the announcer, I knew my family was waiting for me, I knew I was coming in under 6 hours for my FIRST HALF IRONMAN and I was just so overjoyed!