September 10, 2008 Utah Half Results

Overall, the race did not go as well as I had hoped, but I made it. Here is a recap of how it went:

Shandi and I arrived at the Utah Lake State Park at about 5:45. It was dark and cool. The mosquitos were out in swarms. That spells trouble for me as I am a mosquito magnet. The little buggers would not leave me alone. I finally got brave enough to put on the wetsuit a friend let me borrow. I still have a hard time believing that I fit in that tight, little thing. At about 6:50, we started the swim.

I lost my nose plug at the beginning of the swim and really struggled to get going. The swim consisted of two long laps. I think the first lap took me over 30 minutes and the second lap took me just over 20 minutes. I was able to relax some on the second lap and just went for it. Unfortunately, I had to keep my head out of the water since I cannot swim with my head under the water without my nose plug. The velcro on the back the wetsuit really scratched up the back of my neck and it is was all raw. It was good to find out that the swim was 200 meters longer than it was supposed to be (at least it made me feel better after the fact). My time on the results page on the tri website are not accurate because I forgot to get my time chip until after the swim.
I was extremely relieved to finish the swim.

The bike was much better. I had a great first half of the bike where I know I was going at about 19 miles per hour. About one third of the way back to the transition point at the State Park, I started to cramp in my legs. I had been taking my electolyte pills and drinking more water than I usually do, but I guess it was still not enough. I made it back pretty well, but I was slower than on the way out. I still averaged around 18 miles per hour.

The run (or should I say walk) ended up being very hard. I was able to run some, but my legs would cramp, and I was forced to walk. I did okay for the first 7 miles alternatively running and walking, but my legs gave out for the last 6 miles. It took me about 1 hour and 45 minutes to walk the last 6 miles. I was happy when I finally made it to the end.

After a good night's rest, I felt much better. I had told Shandi that I would never do anything like this again, but she didn't believe me. Now I am thinking that I need to figure out a better way to get the proper nourishment to sustain myself on race day. I had the energy and the desire to go hard to the end, but the cramping would not allow me to. It was very frustrating to want to run and feel like my heart and mind were still up to finishing strong, but not being able to do so. Anyway, now I feel like I need to try again some time. It is crazy how that works.
Thanks for your support and encouragement. At least I can say that I made it.