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First Him RR - Boise 70.3
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I got a lot of great advice from the Womens and dipped my toe over in the main forum as well and said I'd post the aftermath. Most of you probably wonder who all those DFL folks are and how they end up waking up one day deciding to do a HIM. Well, that would be me :)

I dunno, you do a few Olys and think, OK, I got the swim. You do a marathon, a couple 1/2 marys and think, OK, I got the run. You do a smattering of centuries and think, OK, I can do the bike. It's when you rack your bike and think OMFG, I've still got 13.1 miles to run that it sinks in.......

So here goes:

I'm upright and ambulatory (and perish the thought, a week later thinking about trying it again some day) The hubster and I headed to Yellowstone & Tetons afterwards and I kept moving, so that was good, but overall I feel just a bit that I was clearly in over my head, but I did finish, which is more than a lot of folks who were DNS and DNFs which I don't think show on the results page anymore.

I am in awe of all of you who continue to do HIM after HIM and, <gulp> IM / IM after IM. Not sure I have the HTFU gene to keep on at that level.....

I did manage to meet up with Sto, Lilpups and Centermiddy, who I appreciate did utter the words "we don't get paid to do this."

Yeah, I show up pretty much DFL for the whole thing. Lots of lessons learned. I really only started out hoping I'd finish in 7:30, *maybe* 7:00. I had these what at first were conservative time estimates of 1 hr swim, 4 hr bike, 3 hr run, thinking I'd slightly exceed that and feel OK, but that turned out to pretty much be it.

The 2:00 p.m. start time IMHO sucked. I thought it would hamper my physical ability being a morning person but all I did was spend hours and hours fretting, using up valuable energy. I was pretty much in tears just before heading into the swim corral at what I'd gotten myself into.

I followed a 20 week Beginner HIM plan, that probably wasn't as tough as it should be. It got me to the finish, but it. was. not. pretty.

I was in the first wave after the pros and ballparked the rectangle swim as each buoy turn being 500 yards and some change for the 2112, so when the next wave after mine went off and I was more than halfway to the first buoy I felt pretty good. Once I turned the first buoy, it all went to shit. The wind kicked in and I did things I'd never done before in a race, stopped to catch my breath. I'd crane my neck back at the finish (bad idea) and a couple times thought, OMG, I might have to bag it but somehow had the fortitude to carry on.

When I rounded the last buoy and was near the finish and they were still doing wave starts, I had a renewed energy. I thought, "Wow, I haven't been out here for hours!!!" The wetsuit strippers were my favorite part of the whole dern thing! (I posted a video on the Speed for Rent page of FaceBook)

As others have probably said over and over the swim was tough and maybe a tad long. The weather seemed like it'd hold at the beginning of the bike but then the downpours ensued and all I kept thinking was, hmm, I guess I really could pee on the bike and no one would know :-> I became so cold that I kept dreaming of my rain jacket, envious of the few I saw with one, and even ended up lingering in a portapotty to warm up. Yeah, pathetic.

I really felt the bike course coulda used another portapotty at an unmanned aid station. My bladder was about to burst by the 2nd station and I was almost in tears by the time I got there. Somehow I remembered at the Athlete Briefing they said the stations were 15, 30 & 45 but that was incorrect. The 2nd was more like mile 35 and trying to pedal and not pee is a Herculean task.

By the bike finish, all I thought was OMG, I still have to run 13. 1 miles. It was a 2 loop course, which actually mentally made it easier. I just thought one loop at a time. In T2, I was so cold and wet and demoralized, I truly did not care about time. My T2 time looks like I was having a friggin picnic, but I headed out and just put one foot in front of the other.

When I rounded into the 2nd loop, I decided I could really cut myself some slack and walk most of it and still make it in before the announcer shut down for the night. But somehow I hobbled along.

I'm still trying to figure out why I became so bloated. My after photos I look at least 10 lbs heavier. On the run I ended up eating things I never did before just to try to feel better, chips, pretzels, Coke. The thought of another Gu made me wretch. I don't know if I overhydrated with water during the frigid bike and underconsumed electrolytes? Again, my inexperience screaming out at me.

The people of Boise were great! Everyone I'd meet was so hospitable. The support on the course was top notch. The hub and I really like the whole city. Thanks, Sto, for all the great recommendations. The course I think is a good one. I live in one of the flattest places on earth and didn't think it was too bad hill wise, but I'm a turtle so didn't worry about speed. I did like the organization and support that an Ironman event has but again, boo hiss to 2:00 p.m. and also boo hiss to no practic swim in Lucky Peak.....

I'll be really curious to see how that plays out for next year's entries, b/c seems to me even HIM vets didn't care for it. A local run store in Boise (triple hearsay :) said that they changed the time because the city would not let Ironman shut the streets down Friday night.

So it's back to the drawing board.......................
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Re: First Him RR - Boise 70.3 [cindyloohoo] [ In reply to ]
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Good for you for toughing out a really rough day. I was thinking about you and wondering how you held up. Loved the stripping video :-) Give yourself a couple more weeks and you'll be thinking about your next HIM an daring to dream about an IM :-)

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Jen

"In order to keep a true perspective on one's importance, everyone should have a dog that worships him and a cat that will ignore him." - Dereke Bruce
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Re: First Him RR - Boise 70.3 [cindyloohoo] [ In reply to ]
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Sounds to me like that whole RR is all about how you DID HTFU.
though it did not sound very fun, you finished through less than optimal training, and crappy weather. congrats.
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Re: First Him RR - Boise 70.3 [cindyloohoo] [ In reply to ]
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This was your first HIM? Congratulations on your PR!

The first race of a new distance is more about figuring out how it works than any sort of racing/time effort. It sounds like you figured a few things out (e.g. train harder next time) and have a few things to figure out (why the bloating?). Get those sorted and your next attempt will be way better. Ask anyone here, the second and third times are way easier - less nerves, better fitness base, you hurt less after.

Finally, in my obnoxious "glass is half full"/"what drugs is she on?" perspective - you're guaranteed to have bad races in your tri career so kudos to you for getting one out of the way! One less to worry about down the road.
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Re: First Him RR - Boise 70.3 [cindyloohoo] [ In reply to ]
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I agree with the previous poster, you definitely HTFU. You kicked ass for your first race, hold your head up high and own that. This sounded like a really tough race and you finished it. As Jenhs said, before you know it you'll be signing up for round two and it will be so much easier.

Congratulations on your race!

M

------------------------------------------------------------
The beatings will continue until morale improves
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Re: First Him RR - Boise 70.3 [cindyloohoo] [ In reply to ]
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Way to go on finishing your first HIM! WOOHOO!!!
Sounds like a tough race and you really gutted it out. Now you can relish your accomplishment.

Although, I have to admit, the 2pm race start time sounds super - I am NOT a morning person, and have no trouble sleeping in...and I've got enough HIMs under my belt that I don't think I would get overly nervous.
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Re: First Him RR - Boise 70.3 [cindyloohoo] [ In reply to ]
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awesome - good for you! having just done my first race saturday and nearly killing myself with just a super sprint, i bow to your stamina and heart for toughing it out through a whole 70.3! :)

cheers!

-mistress k

__________________________________________________________
ill advised racing inc.
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Re: First Him RR - Boise 70.3 [cindyloohoo] [ In reply to ]
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As I said before, that was honestly one of the worst race condition days I've seen in a really really long time. The rain was coming down horizontally at times and the wind just never let up. Congrats on a very well run race.


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Re: First Him RR - Boise 70.3 [cindyloohoo] [ In reply to ]
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Congrats on your first half IM finish and for toughing it out. Jenn said you looked good at the finish and I wish I had been able to be out there to cheer you on. Those were epic conditions, unlikely to be repeated so your next one should be no sweat.

Again great job.
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Re: First Him RR - Boise 70.3 [centermiddy] [ In reply to ]
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In Reply To:
Jenn said you looked good at the finish.

Ha, it was mere maniacal delusion at being done, heh heh.

As I said to a friend, the weather was what it was. The funny thing about WHY I kept on moving forward was because all the while it was going on, all I thought was, "there is NO effing way I'm ever doing one of these again, so I have to finish this one."

And good grief if I'm not pulling the plug on a 12 week training plan to set me up for a pretty much local HIM the end of September.

I still think all you IMers are craz -- er I mean to be revered :->
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Re: First Him RR - Boise 70.3 [cindyloohoo] [ In reply to ]
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Good job on a tough day!!!

clm

clm
Nashville, TN
https://twitter.com/ironclm | http://ironclm.typepad.com
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Re: First Him RR - Boise 70.3 [centermiddy] [ In reply to ]
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Anything can happen on race day. I thought the conditions were so bad for my first IM that they wouldn't be repeated and the second one would be no sweat. I was wrong - at least the second one's conditions weren't AS bad as the first. (IMWI 06 & IMLP 08).

Although, I didn't realize the conditions at Boise were so tough! Wow, extra great job!!!!
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Re: First Him RR - Boise 70.3 [cindyloohoo] [ In reply to ]
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Hey GF. Good job in some nasty ass weather. If anyone is really interested in what we mean but crappy weather, check out the pix on the race winner's blog.

http://magalitisseyre.blogspot.com/

scroll down to her Boise 70.3 story and pictures. honestly, I've been doing this stuff for a long time and never raced in anything like what we had 2 weeks ago. luckily i did not get hypothermic, well, at least until 2 seconds after crossing the finishline. BTW, it's 90 and sunny here now, like it was supposed to be on race day :)

i agree on the 2pm start... way too much time to sit around and freak out, micro analyze the race, wonder if and how you are going to eat enough to run well past the dinner bell, and not to mention that even if we started at 10AM, we would have beat the storms for the bike part...

will post my RR after the weekend.

Sue
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Re: First Him RR - Boise 70.3 [sto] [ In reply to ]
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Sue:
Thanks, you did AMAZING!! And thanks for all your help.

Here's a pic from her blog (taken during the race) and thanks for the posting the link:


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