Vineman 70.3 - My first Half Iron Race Recap!
First off, thank you to everyone who sent me notes of support. The tumblr community is something else! You have encouraged and inspired me! I am so appreciative.
I still cannot believe I pulled off this race. It is no secret I was nervous. I trained on my own, doing my own thing. I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS METHOD! I will definitely do things differently next time around but more on that later.
Race Morning
Right before the start, all smiles ready to go!
Race morning I awoke at 3:50AM. My husband and I packed the car and headed to Starbucks to meet the rest of my crew, our dear friends Kim and Kevin who came up from LA to be my sherpas. I could not have made it to the start without Kim. I am so thankful. Kim helped me with all of my gear while my husband parked the car and I was able to hand off the tri bag to her so all that went in the T1 bag was the swim gear.
The Swim
The ladies of my age group - 35-39 - were so supportive and sweet. We were all cheers at the start of the swim.
The start of the swim - I am in there somewhere
The water was amazing, almost bathtub like. I read many blogs leading up to Vineman and all of them were true. The water of the Russian River is SHALLOW, 2 feet in some spots. I saw several people stand up and walk (water at their calves). I avoided that and swam carefully in the shallowest parts. Unfortunately, I did hit my right foot on the bottom at the turn around, ripping off part of my toenail. Ouch. My biggest error on the swim was wearing an old wetsuit that was too big (purchased when I weighed 30lbs heavier). It filled with water by the end. My arms were heavy with water and I cursed myself for not renting a smaller wetsuit. Wetsuits are meant to be hard to put on and skin tight. The wetsuit issue aside, I took the swim easy, knowing that I had a long day ahead of me.
SO THANKFUL to be getting out of that wetsuit!
T1. I took my time to get my gear set and headed out on the bike.
Walking up the hill out of T1.
The Bike - AKA Where I learned that bike fit is EXTREMELY important
The bike started off great. I made it through the hairy turn at mile 5 (hard right and hard left, miss the left and you can run into a large wall of blackberry bush which apparently happened last year). The course is beautiful, weaving through 56 miles of vineyards. The roads are not so great. Lots of potholes, rocks, etc. (basically no smooth road). Going into the race I knew my bike fit was off. I thought needed to raise the handlebars slightly but I really did not know. Since I was riding a borrowed bike, I decided not to spend the money before the race to get it fixed. This was a big mistake. For the first 15 or so miles I felt good. After that, the rough road exacerbated the strain in my shoulder blade from the bad bike fit. I stretched my shoulders as often as I could. Around mile 25/30ish, I started to feel a strange pain in the inside of my left knee. It was something I had never felt before. Fast forward to the infamous Chalk Hill at mile 45 and things were not pretty. Every downstroke on the left side felt extremely painful. I wondered how I was going to make it to T2 and if I would be able to run. For the entire bike ride, I had repeated the mantra “God is good”. I prayed the entire 56 miles and knew that I was meant to cross that finish line, come what may! I did not want to risk my running career but thought at the very least I would walk the half marathon.
T2 - SO THANKFUL TO HAVE MADE IT!
The look on my face is “Will I be able to run?”
I racked the bike, laced up my shoes, and told my sherpas that it could be a while before I finished. I was determined to finish.
The Run - AKA My favorite part!
I started the run very slowly. I do not know how slowly because I decided to do this race GARMIN FREE! I did not want to worry about my stats and instead went completely by feel. The only issue with this is that there were no mile markers on the course (with the exception of the miles through the La Crema Vineyard,thank you La Crema!). By the time I started running, it was hot and the run course offers little shade. At every water station I drank one water and dumped one over my head. Several stations had ice so I put the ice down the front and the back of my shirt. My knee loosened up and actually felt okay after a couple of miles.
I met several great people on the run. My friend and coworker Mike came up behind me around mile 6. He was running what felt like my normal 8:30 pace. I ran with him for a couple of miles but let him go when my knee told me that an easier pace was the way to get to the finish. At that point, Kumar, a man that I had met earlier in the run, pulled up aside me and told me that he would run me to the finish. He was a godsend. Thank you Kumar!!!! My mental state was off the charts happy. I felt like I could have run a marathon, slow and steady. At mile 12, I could not believe it was almost over. I savored every moment. As I wound my way through the finishing chute, I let out several screams. The crowd cheered back. I saw my whole family - husband, mom, sister, in-laws, niece and nephew. It was amazing! I crossed the finish line beyond thrilled. I completed 70.3!!!!
With Mike at the finish. We did it!
