At the end of last season, after racing several sprint and Olympic distance tri's for a few years, I decided I wanted to train for my first go at the half-Ironman distance. I had been working hard at riding stronger and consequently my running fitness had improved. My swim; however, was still far too slow. I was not spending enough time swimming. So, I swam right on through off-season for once. In April, when our masters swim schedule changed to Mon-Fri in the very early morning, I committed to swim
everysingleday at masters until open-water season began, then I switched to alternating masters practice with OWS. I kept my promise to myself and never once swam less than 5 days/week leading up to the race. I went to work from the first of April through the end of June with my hair in a wet, sloppy bun. Believe me, I sacrificed ;).
In April, I still hadn't decided which race would be my first half. I was toying with Boise, Troika and Lake Stevens. As luck would have it, the decision was left to luck. At our Tri Fusion meeting in mid-April, a race entry for Troika was raffled off. I did not win that raffle. Instead, I won another prize, a product that I am very well supplied with already. The Troika entry kept getting turned down. Finally, when one of my teammates was hedging on accepting the entry, I offered to trade her prize for my prize. She gladly accepted my offer and I was finally committed to an half IM race!
I'm one of those people that needs to be VERY prepared when doing something unknown, challenging or extremely important. Because of this, I was already following a training plan that was somewhat aggressive on mileage/time spent training, to get myself ready. I worked my way through three different training tables from the beginning of the season until race day: a sprint plan until March, then onto the Olympic plan through April; to finish with the half IM plan. I also left myself room to participate in random longer training sessions with teammates and friends and race some fun, local venues. I wanted to enjoy training and learn from athletes with experience. I needed lots of solid swims, rides, and runs.
All of the preparation proved to be very physically and mentally helpful. I'm not saying I never had a "downer" day/week of training or that I felt 100% confident I would finish the race. I will say that on the last day of training before the week of taper began, when I finished a triathlon followed by a long ride, I finally felt like I just might make it. Waves of built-up doubt left my mind.
Taper week seemed so boring. I felt like a person without a purpose. Absolutely lame, I know. But I kept my nutrition in check, followed my plan and waited patiently. The day before the race, I listened to the advice of my experienced (and successful!) husband and focused on a specific race plan. Nerves eventually crept up on me again about 15 hours before the race.
I managed to sleep almost 7 hours that night and woke up thinking, "I should be excited, this is going to be an amazing adventure, no matter what!" And so I was.
Race Day (I know, finally, right?)
Publicly, I had NO time goals for Troika. My only real expectation for myself was to finish the damn thing already. Get it over with, please.
Swim: I figured logically that the swim would take me 45 minutes. In previous Olympic distance races I had completed the swim within 36-38 minutes, but I had made some improvement. I really wanted to avoid feeling overly anxious at the swim start and swim steady throughout. I was able to do that. Before starting, Greg had suggested that I begin kicking harder and really push it in at the last buoy before shore. Right about then, I got this horrible feeling that I had already been out there for 52 minutes and my time was gonna suck. But when I got out of the water, I checked my HR monitor and it read 42 minutes! I gave a little fist-pump as I ran to T1 and let my family/friends know that I had exceeded my private goal. Just then a smile on my face appeared and remained for the duration of my entire race :)))).
I have to mention that I had the most incredible and loving support crew beyond belief at this race! SERIOUSLY. My husband, Greg, had
every.little.thing. dialed in for me for race day. He had a ton of confidence in me. He loved me up all day long, with unexpected sightings of him throughout the course and whoo-hooing I've never heard from him before! Carrying me from the swim all through the bike to finish my run, with hooting and hollering, making me look like a rockstar by encouraging me and cheering with all their might at the race were: Tiff, Eric, Steve, my mother-in-law, Trish, John, Jessi, Rog, Emma, my mom, step-dad, Rosi, Barb, Tim, Andy, Elise :), Nate, Merissa, Jenn, Adam, Gg, Dd, Craig, Kathy, Eric, Brynn, Teri, Laura, Phaedra, Amy, Jeff, and Rodger.
Bike: My plan on the bike was to ride in HR zones high 3-low 4. I'd used my label-maker to post stickers on my handlebars with those 2 zones only, to keep me totally focused. I was able to maintain exactly what I planned. Since I had ridden between 56-70 miles at least a half-dozen times during training, I expected the ride, at my target HR zones, to take 3:05-3:15. There were times when I wanted to pedal harder, go faster and stand up on the hills, but I heeded the advice I'd been given and stuck to the plan. I really only felt a lull in the ride from miles 45-finish, because basically everyone out cheering had gone into town to get ready for the run leg of the race. I finished the mileage in 3:02 and I was still smiling!
Run: Typically, the run of any triathlon is the part I am most looking forward to racing. The run is where I have the most experience. I did not feel the same about the half IM distance. Running a 5K or 10K after biking your legs off for 30 minutes or an hour is not comparable to running a half-marathon after 56 miles of riding and 1.2 miles of swimming. While training recently, I'd run 13.1 miles in 1:47 and 15 miles in a bit more than 2 hours. To put the run into perspective at the end of an endurance race, I wanted to finish in 2 hours or less. Greg, Jessi and Erica had advised me to start out running conservatively, take in all the nutrition I had planned, and stay steady until about mile 10. With 3 miles to go, I was to pick up my pace (if I could) and finish strong. I ran mostly in HR zone 4 and had no idea my pace whatsoever. I didn't even care. I just smiled my way up and down the run course, congratulating every racer that I ran by, coming and going.
Again, I followed my plan and felt pretty good the whole run. In the last three miles, I picked up the pace and ran with my heart, so happy to accomplish a goal that I'd prepared diligently to finish. I'd pictured the finish line only a zillion times before, but I didn't expect to feel so happy and loved as I did. An entire hillside was loaded with my family, friends and teammates as I approached the finish chute. The sound of cheering was ENORMOUS and unbelievable!
As I de-briefed the race, I checked my run split...1:59:59! My secret, told-no-one, overall finish goal was to not exceed 6 hours. Total time = 5:50. It's good enough for me!
I wasn't the only one out there trying to either make peace with the half IM distance, set a new PR, or try it for the first time. My good buddy, Matty accomplished a major PR at Troika, overcoming some demons that have chased him before, but no more! Congrats to a much deserved solid race, long and strong :). Erica (pictured with me far above), one of my fantastic friends and a fast lady that is crushing the field this season, also endured Troika for a solid PR and a first place in her AG! She amazes me all the time. Rene joined me in the first timers club and finished in a highly respectable time! Way to go, man.
Many friends commented on my permanent grin for the entirety of the race. I was truly happy to have the health to participate at Troika on Sunday. I value my life and what I have been given and the people God has blessed me with who make me who I am.
