I was more nervous for the Kinetic Half Ironman than I've ever been for a race.
Race morning, I felt rushed getting transition set up. I thought I had lost my socks, I couldn't find my water bottles to fill up my aero bottle, I barely made it out of transition before they kicked everybody out.
Swim: The first 500 yards are the hardest for me. I take the strokes very slowly, but I still find myself going on my back a lot and breast stroking in places. Once I turned the corner, however, I finally got into my rhythm and cruised in. My watch said 45 minutes...an all-time PR for me! I found out later that the buoys had been blown short, but it was still a fast time.
T1: Had some trouble zipping up my bike jersey. Spoke with Donna and we were surprised at how fast we had swam.
Bike: Had my bike in its easiest gears because the first part of the bike course is straight uphill. Made it onto the course and was by myself for a long time, it seemed. Finally, the fastest people started passing me. Then I started passing people, who in turn leap frogged me. The winds started up. At one point, I was going 5 MPH DOWNHILL, the wind was blowing me so hard. It was hard to stay safe, especially with all the trucks and boats on the road. I was kind of hoping for a mechanical failure so I could just stop because I was getting more and more tired and going slower and slower. I would tell myself, just go 10 more miles, then see how you feel. When I got to 50 miles, I couldn't stop, so I kept going, just 6 miles more. It felt like the course was all uphill with a head wind.
I rode into transition and was stopped by a race official, who took my chip. Walter was there with me and we both told her that I could finish the race in the 2 hours and 45 minutes that were left. I only had to go 13 miles in 2:45. Surely, I could do that, even with lots of walking.
No dice, she said. These were race director's orders. I had never heard of this before in such a small race. On the race website, it said you had to be done in 8 hours, but there was no mention of a bike cut-off. I looked at Walter and he said, "just run without a chip." So, I took off my bike shoes, racked my bike, and put on my running clothes.
I ran the first lap very slowly. Well, I walked a lot of it. I did get to talk to lots of people, one who mentioned that this was a "death march." After the first loop, I decided to keep going. After the second loop, I was done. Walter and Alex ran in with me and I stopped short of the finish line chute. Four miles short of a half ironman.
This was supposed to be a training run, so lessons learned: I need more time on my bike. Even though it was so windy, I could probably have gone harder. I need more time running. I managed to run at least half the time, but I think I was so shot from the bike that that made it even more difficult. My swimming is coming along great. It's become my favorite part. This is good and bad: good because I was the most afraid of swimming, and bad because it's the shortest part of the race.
After the "race" I felt so bad I didn't even want to stay for my massage that I'd signed up for. I just wanted to go home. So I slept on the way home, took a shower and then a nap, dinner, then bed by 9 pm on Saturday.
My first real DNF.
