70.3? Check!

Sourdough Half Ironman – Mile 41 Steese Highway, Fairbanks, Alaska

The Day Before:

I didn’t do whole lot the day before the race. Mark and I spent most of the day driving around Fairbanks while I stressed about how hot it felt. The hottest temp I’d seen in Kodiak over the past month as been about 55 degrees, so the high 70 temps in Fairbanks had me worried.

I spent a bit of time getting my nutrition ready to go for the morning. I mixed some Clif Electrolyte, measured out and counted gels, and filled my water bottles. I lined them all up neatly in the fridge, occupying 75% of unused space. I should note that we were staying with my fantastic friend, Katie, who moved to Fairbanks a few years ago. She was an incredible host.

Katie came home and we went to a local pizza joint for a carbo loading dinner. It wasn’t long before I became a royal pain in the ass and requested a special pasta dish that wasn’t on the menu. I chose not to think about the odds of someone spitting in my dish. There was a table of three women sitting next to us and it didn’t take long before we overheard them talking about racing and getting ready for tomorrow. I figured they had to be doing the race, but I had my game face on and didn’t feel like interacting. There were 19 women registered for this race….what are the chances that two of them would eat at the same restaurant the night before?

After dinner we hit the ice cream stand which features locally made heaven in a cone. I had a single scoop of fluffernutter (marshmallow fluff with peanut butter…oh yeah!). Sugar and cream count toward carbo loading, right?

Back to the house, one more check of the gear and then to bed!

Pre race:

The race didn’t start until 10:00 because the race site was about an hour out of town. I failed miserably at being the polite and quiet house guest when I opened the fridge and all 47 of my water bottles spilled out into the kitchen floor. Shhhhhhhhhhhhh! Quiet! I packed up the cooler with water, food, and beer (Mark did have to sit and watch for 6 hours, you know!) and then ate a big bowl of oatmeal.

Out the door by about 7:45 and I was beyond anxious to hit the road. I ate a bagel with peanut butter when we were just a few miles from the site…about an hour and a half before start time.

Crap! I notice as we pull in that everyone has brought bike stands. No one told me we needed to bring our own. We park and I get in line to get body marked while Mark scopes things out. The event is pretty small. This is the longest triathlon (only half IM) in Alaska, but there are only 22 men, 19 women, and 5 relay teams registered. While standing in line, I look over at the small transition area and notice that there is a small army of amazing tri bikes. No middle of the road gear here. I swallow hard. Small state + longest race = hard cord athletes.

Mark decides we can use the cooler as a make shift bike stand and it seems to work just fine. I start laying out my transition area, but then get nervous and have to pee. Only one port-a-potty. Long line. Have to pee bad now. Nerves are bad for peeing. Water is bad for peeing. Really, really have to pee.

Feeling lighter now, I go back to fussing in transition. Change my mind and decide to warm up a bit. Go for a five minute jog to get the blood pumping. I finish setting up and realize that most are in their wetsuits now. At this point, the nerves have really gone away. I’m just ready to start. I just want to be racing so I don’t have to think about it anymore. Wetsuit on, pink swim cap on, goggles in hand, I walk down to the swim start. Since there are so few people, there will be just one wave, which is actually kind of nice when you think about it. I get a feel for the water by doing a few short laps out and back. The time is near. The time is very near.

Swim:

The swim took place in what was called a D.O.T. gravel pit. Had I not been told that I would have just assumed it was a small lake or pond. The buoys are set up in a triangle, with one long leg going out. We are to swim 5 laps. Oh yeah, there are a couple of really shallow spots, so be careful not to beach yourself, we’re told. And before I know it, we’re off and I’ve started my first half ironman. The water was nice. Cool, but not freezing and mostly good visibility. I tried to draft off a few folks, but wasn’t really able to stick with it. I cut my feet on the shallow spot, but didn’t really notice until the end of the race. I felt pretty good and was really focusing on breathing out, which I tend to forget to do when I first get going in open water. Before I know it, three laps are down. I keep looking behind me to see if I’m the last in the water. No, no. I still see others. More than a couple in fact. Wahoo! At lap four, I look at the giant timing clock that is set up at the edge of “the pit.” It read 37 something. My goal for the swim was 45 minutes, so I knew I was within reach. I focused very hard on form during that last lap and tried to be calm and not rush myself. Coming around the last buoy on lap 5, I did not look at the clock. Instead I waited until I was standing and making my way to transition to steal a glance.

Time: 44:22 Sweeeeeeeeeeeeet!

T1: Nothing too eventful here. The tearing off of the wetsuit went as well as can be expected. Mark handed me my Garmin, which he had been holding to time me during the swim. Garmin, helmet, shades, shoes…check. I’m out!

Time: 3:04

Bike: My plan on the bike was to push it to the extent I felt comfortable and try to average between 16 and 18 mph. Having never done this distance before, I knew that there was a fine line between giving too much on the bike and not giving enough. I preferred to error on the side of not enough because of my inexperience. By this time, the wind had really started to pick up and it was getting cloudy. The bike course was 2 laps of a 28 mile loop that actually had you pass the transition area three times. The first 6 miles of the 28 was rolling hills, while the rest was pretty flat. At about mile 7 or 8, the rain started coming down in sheets. It poured rain. It was that awful stinging rain the hurts your skin. So, now I was contending with wind and rain, but you know what? I was really having a great time! I started to get cold but somewhere inside I knew the sun would come out eventually so that kept me from getting too caught up in it. Lap one went well with no major issues except for some initial side cramps coming off the swim. The cramps made me put off taking my first gel until about 40 minutes in, but that didn’t seem to impact me much. My plan was to take a gel at 20 minutes in and then every 45 to 60 minutes, while drinking water and occasional sips of electrolyte. Since it was much colder than I had planned on it being (i.e. stinging rain), I ended up drinking much less of the electrolyte and more water. The rain continued for about an hour and half before finally letting up. And that’s when I had to pee. Ok, so what do I do? Stop and pee or pedal and pee? Well, I’ll spare you the details, but I took the plunge so to speak and peed on the go. Gross, but no major problems and I felt loads better. It wasn’t long after that that I dropped my water bottle due to cold, non-functioning hands. I decided to stop for it for two reasons: one, it was my good, insulated water bottle and two, it was still quite full. So, I probably negated any time I gained by peeing and pedaling my stopping for the bottle, but you can’t plan for these sorts of things. And, at least I didn’t lose time for the bottle and a pit stop. With about twenty minutes left on the bike, I took my last gel and started riding a bit out of the aero position to get my legs and back ready for the run. The pavement was finally starting to dry and I was warming up a bit. Damn…THIS IS FUN!!!

Time: 3:14:46 (16.9 mph)

T2: Very quick transition. On with the shoes, fuel belt, and visor. Of course, this was all made so much better by the fact that Mark, my brilliant and quick thinking husband, covered my run gear when the downpour started on the bike. This being such a small race, such help from the outside is allowed.

Time: 1:23

Run: Damn, I felt great. The sun was out, but it wasn’t hot. My legs felt good and my husband had just saved my ass from running 13.1 miles is soaking wet kicks. I had to be careful not to go out too fast. The run was over much of the same course as the bike, except the hills were saved for the last 6 miles of the leg instead of the first. I knew I would have to conserve some for the hills, but also wanted to put a little time in the bank on the flats. I had to really work on my race math to figure out how best to tackle the next 13.1 miles. I knew if I ran a 2:10 half-marathon I would be happy with my finish time. I had only run one half-marathon before and it wasn’t in a triathlon. My time on that day was 2:11. I told myself I was going to do it and forged ahead. I was averaging a 9:20 pace and hit the 7mile mark, which is where the loop passed the transition area again, feeling pretty good. It wasn’t long after that things started to get hard. I would say at about 8.5, my feet and legs started to rebel. I’m not sure if it was on purpose or not, but I’m pretty sure the race organizers covered the last 4.5 miles of the course with thousands of tiny needles or pieces of glass. My feet were killing me. My pace slowed quite a bit, especially because I was hitting the hills that had been waiting for me. But I was so close and had actually managed to pass 7 people up to this point, that I wasn’t about to walk, let alone stop. I plugged on. The aid station at mile 10 was like an oasis. I knew once I hit it, I only had a 5K left. A measly 3.1 miles. I had water and, what I later decided was the best Fig Newton I have ever had in my entire life, put my head down and literally said to myself “You will finish this race. You will finish it running. You will finish it happy. I don’t know where it will come from, but you will find it. Now move.” And I did.

In order to make up for the needle/glass situation mentioned earlier, the last mile of the run was blissfully down hill. I ran it in under 8 minutes.

Time: 2:11:01

Total time: 6:14:36

8 out 18 women

The fact that this race is behind me is still sort of sinking it. It was an incredible day. I would have to say that this was probably my best executed race to date. I don’t have any regrets. If I had to change one thing it might be to push it a bit more on the bike since it is usually my strongest leg. I was cautious, but I’m not looking back. I cannot wait until my next half. I don’t know yet when that will be, but you can be sure there will be another one…and another…and another.

I have to say thank you to Mark for being my unwavering support. He was amazing. He will never truly understand how much having him there helps when the going gets tough.

Oh yeah, I can't forget the best part: I beat those two women eating next to me at the Fairbanks restaurant!

Well, if you’ve made it this far….good on you and thanks for reading!

Making it happen (70.3 miles of it!)…

Bree