Lake Stevens Half Ironman

Sunday I did my first half ironman distance triathlon the Lake Stevens 70.3 in Lake Stevens Washington which is north of Seattle outside of Everett. Rode up in the Headhunters van on Friday morning with a stop along the way at a Nike outlet store. Got to hotel and they had an expo and packet pickup in the same hotel we were at on the edge of downtown Everett. The expo was really weak- 4 booths and all the jerseys were too small. I bought a bike jersey anyway, but the XL was more like a M. For lunch we walked a couple of blocks to Buck's Grill which was in an old bank building with the old vault door intact. Really good food. In the afternoon we went to the Woodfire grill on the water by the Everett navy base. Huge windows with hundreds of sailboats moored outside and microbrews. I had two "blind pig" dark beers, they were good. Then when it was getting late we found the Vintage cafe downtown for dinner and we were the last customers in the place. Then to the hotel pool for games and hot tubbing.
Saturday up early and over to Denny's for breakfast because it was next door. Wow- after being around triathletes and then seeing the customers in Denny's. Then over to the lake to ride some of the course. We broke up into two groups and I was in the first group and we rode 6-7 miles of the loop to get a feel for it. Then got in the van drove to the halfway point and the next group rode some of it. It turned out to be pretty hilly, not big hills, but tons of small ones. Then we drove the run course which also was pretty hilly, but not as hilly as the lake trail by the club that I've been training on. Some of us didn't think ahead and put our numbers on our bikes, so we had to go back to the hotel to get numbers, then back to the lake to put the bikes in transition.
The race started at 630 so we needed to go to bed early. For dinner they had a pasta buffet in the hotel, but they said they had to set it back up when we got there so we went back to Buck's for a good pasta dinner.
Up at 430 in the morning and packing everything into the van because they didn't have late checkout even though that was the expo hotel. Then out to Lake Stevens to set up and do my first half. Nervous would be an understatement, but there were so many people from the club in this race that I was too busy saying hi and good luck to think about it. Then putting the swim cap on and down to the water for the 45-49 men wave. (top picture, I'm in the middle somewhere) They had some country music playing as we sat on the dock then in the water and the gun went off- I started. Face in and a great rhythm and feeling strong. Then around the first buoy I was on the inside having discovered that the buoys were tied to a steel cable that was very shiny and visible so I didn't have to look up- just follow the cable. Others discovered it and converged and I crashed into four people converging into one point. I lost my rhythm and the heartrate and breathing were way too high as I fought the panic and started swimming again. Because of that I was gasping and not feeling good and wanted to quit, so I dog paddled for a couple of strokes and said to myself- "get it together, you're not a pro don't worry about it, enjoy the day". Started back up and caught the group I was in and did combat swimming for about three buoys where I would hit people and they would hit me. Finally it worked out where I was following one guy and one guy was beside me and that's how we stayed through the halfway point and into the turn back to shore. That's when we caught the back of the wave in front of us- a first for me. I had to do a lot of weaving and going over people for a bit to stay over the cable. Then into shore and I went up the ramp and pushed my lap button on the watch and couldn't believe it- 37:23. The four previous years of doing tris that would have been a best for an olympic distance swim! Ran through the bike area to find Gigi and got my wetsuit off in record time for me got my stuff on and was off jogging Gigi to the mount area with a 3:03 transition time- most of my non wetsuit transitions aren't that fast. Started out and couldn't clip one foot in, so I stopped took a breath and clipped in and started up. Something new happened as I left for the bike- people were yelling my name and good luck- lots of spouses from the club plus some relay people. From riding the day before I knew it had about two miles of downhill to start, so I kicked it in and was doing 27 for a good part of that. Then the rolling climbs where if the legs started to feel the hill I would use the small chain ring- "have to save the legs for the run- remember the run". I was sipping my Accelerade every couple minutes and at the halfway point of the first loop (14 miles) they had a bottle exchange and I had just finished my aero bottle, so I took a bottle of water and squeezed it into my aero bottle and tossed the bottle they had given me. Then for some screaming downhills with a couple of short steep climbs in between. On one downhill a truck was in front of me and a rider who was slower then me was in front of the truck and it was curvy so he couldn't pass the rider. I ended up having to brake and it ruined a 40+ downhill. Then after a climb there was the best downhill of the course and I flew down it and it comes to a curve and a bridge with a bad seam with water bottles strewn everywhere and a right hand turn. I looked after the race and my max speed was 50.1- a new all time high- pretty sure it was on that downhill on the first loop. Then some flats were I did 22 or so, then a long curvy climb and a turn and the course goes along the lake back to the start where there was a straight for the second loop or a turn to finish. It is slightly down through that corner so I was in the aero bars and flying through a big crowd and I heard my name and cheering, talk about pumping you up, that was fantastic. One person got a picture of me there, but I haven't gotten it in email yet. The second loop was much harder. On the first part and the rolling climbs, I ate a couple fourths of a peanut butter sandwhich and half of a protein bar because my stomach started to growl. I had poured Accelerade into my aero bottle after the water ran out and at the halfway of the second loop, it was gone, so I got water and poured again. The downhills were not as fast this time it seemed, maybe I was tired or maybe because it wasn't new. Some of the pros passed me on the second loop- they went by me like I wasn't moving. They had P on their legs and low numbers. I had been leap frogging a beautiful 38 year old blond (ages were on the legs) on a Trek for a loop and a half and then she tired and I lost her on the fast downhills. She passed me on the run and said "good riding". Finally the bike was done- I was ready to get off of that thing but came in at 2:54:20 for a 19.3 average. Ran in and parked Gigi (there were TONS of Cervelo bikes, mostly P3's but also alot of P2's like mine- I've rarely seen P2's before) got my running shoes and braces on, hat and sunglasses, gels and was off. Didn't want to go too fast but saw some Headhunters and they called my name and cheered so I started out faster than I wanted. Went up a small hill where the Headhunter van was parked along the street and hit it with my hand like a high five as I passed. Got to mile one at 8:54 and got some water and kept going. Then a barren stretch of industrial land with no trees on the road and slightly uphill for a long time. Got to mile 2 and walked through getting water with a 9:22 split. To mile 3 was downhill and I had a split of 8:22. Just past mile 3 was a water stop and port a pottie which I used and then the hilly out and back portion. It was flat at first along the lake and really pretty with a split of 9:37 to mile 4 and then up and up, luckily not as bad as the hills I train on so it was just a matter of going up at a speed that was not taxing. Then it goes downhill to a turnaround and back up. Got a split of 9:52 for mile 5, by this time I was taking both water and Gatorade because it was hot out. Then back to the start area but along the lake they didn't have mile 6 marked, they had 10K marked so mile 6.2 split was 11:57. Then the second loop. High fived the van and my mile 7 split shows 7:52 because it was only .8 of a mile. Then the "badlands" as I called them the uphill slightly, no trees, and ugly part. I forgot to split mile 8, but I was flagging by then and at mile 9 got a 2 mile split of 21:09 for a 10:34 a mile pace. But I looked at my watch and I realized I could make under 6 hours if I keep running, so I slogged on. I had been leap frogging a young (28 or so) Portland tri club girl and when I started to flag, she said "come on Headhunter" (I was wearing a Headhunter tri top), but I couldn't stay with her. Hit mile 10 with a 10:24 split and was back to the double hill climb area. Looked up and most people were walking up the hill I thought- "come on it's not that steep" and ran slowly up halfway and my shoe lace came untied, so I had to stop and tie it and start running again. Hit mile 11 at an 11:05 split. I looked at the watch and knew if I could keep running I would make it under 6 hours. All during the out and back portion I had been high fiving or saying hi to people from the club and at one point coach Denise, Nicole, and Karen were all running together, so I high fived all three in a line. Then Bridget came right behind them. I saw my ex-training partner and put out my hand and said her name- she nodded and gave me the peace sign- " God I miss her". Hit mile 12 with a split of 11:06. By then I could hear the announcer and there was a woman playing a tambourine and I could sense that it was almost over!! So I stepped it out and around the corner and through the shoot and I finished. with a mile 13.1 split of 9:45 for the last 1.1. I haven't got the email with the finishing picture, but it's ok- I did 5:47:13 - 13 minutes under my goal, very pleased with each part of this race. Went around congratulating everyone and then went to the lake and stood in it to help the legs recover. They had cookies, fruit, and Coke's- but that was it, very weak for a major 70.3 event I thought. Loaded up the van after awards and some people had mentioned a brewery and grill on I-5, but first we went back to the hotel and they let us use the pool shower to rinse off- that was nice of them. We all put on our tech t-shirts they gave us and our medals- I'm on the far right with the sunglasses. Then to Olympia were we found the place called Ram. One person agreed to stay with the van and watch the bikes and we went in and had really good, huge gourmet burgers (I haven't had a burger in a long, long time). I also had one "butthead amber" that they brewed there, very good. Then the drive home and it was over. Stats: 5:47:13 33/61 for my age group- they don't have an overall ranking. I was 26/61 for the swim and 23/61 for the bike and 38/61 for the run in my age group.