Half ironman is done

Triathlon Forum
1

wow>did that half yesterday…I must say, all of you people who have been doing those things for years are just plain nuts. “Never again” is the phrase that comes to mind when I reflect on yesterday.

With the last 3 weeks of training basically dedicated to rehab, I sure lost alot of strength on the bike. Although pronounced “gently flat and rolling”, the course seemed VERy hilly to me, and it was if I had one hill in front of another for 56 miles. There was head wind galore, and immediately I knew it was going to be a long slow day.

In fact, there were parts of the ride where I was down to 11mph. The whole thing was hard, but in my mind I kept it together just fine by saying, “I’m doing the best I can at this moment in time” (whoever posted that link, thank you, it saved me), so I was able to stay positive despite it. At mile 40 there came the big steep climb that had me anxious for 2 months. I was able to go up riding and passed by at least 4 or 5 people walking. Riding up was an accomplishment.

Afraid I was going to miss the cut off, something inside me happened. I wasn’t going to be out there fighting through those 56 miles, only to not make the cut off. So, I started hammering the last 6 miles and had my speed up to 22mph. After that I felt tired, but was proud that I didn’t get cut off, and later found out that there were at least 40 people still on the bike course.

Off to the run. Or, should I say, off to the walk.

So much mental energy was put into the bike and swim, I just felt done. My knee hurt, my shoulders hurt, as did my legs. I ran a bit, and walked alot. Plus, the course had a 2 lap run, which I really hate>it’s so much better to just go out and back and not have to dread lap 2. At the end of the first lap, I really wanted to quit. Plus, coming back around gave me an opportunity to do that.

My knee hurt, and I felt sick. I actually pulled off the course to think about quitting. With all of the walking I had to do I didn’t think I could continue to walk and make the cut off. Under a shade tree I thought about stopping, and knew that I had to at least try. So, I continued on, and walked alot, and ran a small bit. Time was ticking, and I ended up cutting it short, by turning around early>my knee just hurt way to bad to push on (it was really getting scary actually, as I thought I could be doing long term damage, and could end up having surgery or in therapy for months), plus I didn’t think I would make the cut off. In the end, I fell short by 2 miles.

This was my first race ever that I did not truly “finish”. But, surprisingly, I’m not unhappy about it, because I feel that I did the best that I could in that moment in time, and to go on would have hurt me more than help me.

Also, I’ve come to accept that long distance running is not for me anymore. This is something that’s been hard to accept in recent years being that I am a former marathon runner. Now I"m finally able to accept that I do not enjoy running more than 8 miles. And, now I feel that I don’t have to anymore.

I’m excited to cross train now, and do other things. Plus, I’m really committed to loosing the 15 or 20 pounds over fall and winter. Next summer I’m going to race 10K’s, international distnace tris, and do one leg of TOSRV>from Columbus to Portsmouth, Ohio. So, there’s alot to look forward to!

thanks for reading and thanks for all of your support!!

kittycat

2

Kittycat,

I’ll give you a week before the thoughts start setting in: “You know, that half wasn’t so bad. If I had just done this…” Trust me, it is going to happen.

3

You’ll be back, just think how easy it will be to improve your time! Look how hard your race was, and you did it. You beat the I wanna quits. And if not, you did your best and that’s all we can do.

4

thanks, and I’m not sure if i beat the “I wanna quits”, because actually, I did quit. which, now of course, I regret. and, now I’ve learned that they didn’t stick to the cut off time>so, I actually could have continued to walk and not have a cut off–if I would have known this, I would have continued. It was not worth it though, to continue, potentially end up really hurting myself, only to make the cut off.

Oh well>it’s over, and it was a personall journey. I’m going to have to let it go.

5

So tell me, why do I think you will be back next year?

If you really do lose the weight, I can promise you it will make a huge difference on the bike and run.

6

you think I will be back? why?

7

Congrats on almost finishing. Halfs are pretty big deals, no doubt. I’m glad you didn’t cause yourself permanent damage, and it proves you’re smarter than me, as you might remember my story about running the remaining 9 miles of my first 1/2 on a broken and bloody foot. 'Course, being smarter than me is no big feat.

8

First you say never again, then you list all the corrections you will make and other competitions you will enter and your regrets at not finishing.

You aren’t going out beaten. You will be back, sooner rather than later I wager.

Happy almost birthday.

Lose the weight. It will be as different as day and night.

9

yes, a broken bloody foot. my dear, you are certainly one stubborn man–an exuberant finisher I must say. :slight_smile:

10

You’ll do it again because your psyche won’t let up until you actually finish. I ran my first marathon this past Jan.; it sucked. I’m signed up for Chicago in Oct. I’m dreading it, but I’m doing it because I KNOW I can improve on that slow-ass time I ran. This is the psychology of endurance sports. It will suck you in and it won’t let go. On the up side, your body will look and feel great. Give yourself a few months – or even a year; recover; compete in the shorter races; then you’ll be ready to give it a go again. Good luck and thanks for the race report.

11

I’ve gotta back Kittycat up about that 1/2 IM bike course. Even the male and female pro winners (Chris Legh and Bella Comerford) got up and said that they thought the bike course was tougher than advertised. I can see where it took the starch out of a lot of racer’s sails yesterday. Plus, it got hot (relatively, at least, since I’m from Hawaii :slight_smile: on the run, which was a very honest course. Indeed, I didn’t think that there were too many spots in the race where you could kick back and coast along for a while.

And there was one hill, towards the last 1/4 of the course, where I saw plenty of people (including a lot of studyly-type men) getting off their bikes and walking up rather than trying to go up it on their over-geared bikes. One guy went past me, and I was thinking that he must’ve been some sort of bike superman, but it turned out that he had a triple chainring and a 25 on the back, as I found out when I went back past him at the top :wink:

But hey, the worst day of doing triathlon is better’n the best day at work, in my opinion :slight_smile:

1/2 Ironman-Once-Again Kahuna

12

thanks for the encouragement. now that you mention it, I can see doing a half in 2006, but probably not before then. next year, I’m just going to concentrate on slimming down, improving, gaining confidence, and having some small achievements which will rouse me on.

as for your marathons, i really think they are addicting. Just be smart. most marathon approaches do not include recovery weeks>don’t be afraid to include them, it is important. keep stretching and you’re gonna do great. if you ever have any q’s about marathoning, PM me!

best~kittycat

13

I know what you mean, I could not get going on the bike either. If it was flat there was a head wind and if I had a tail wind it was up hill. I missed the cut off but kept going anyway and they were nice enough to leave water out there for us pokey people and I was able to cross the line although it was questionable between miles 9 & 10 of the second run. I think that I will do it again, after I work on the bike, and the running, and hopefully I’ll be swimming by then! I think the worst part was having to drive home last night, getting to bed about 12:30 and then having to get up at 5:30 to come to work. It’s going to be a long day!

14

Congrats! Its been 3 weeks and 2 days since my first HIM. At the finish I swore I would never do another. The day after I was not sure I would ever walk again. But, now I feel fine and thoughts of doing another are starting to creep into my head. You might do another one and you might not but I guarantee you you will feel much better both mentally and physically in a few days.

15

Here’s what I know from doing a ton of 1/2 IM and IM distance races. I can almost guarantee that Kittycat will be doing another one. And I can guarantee that she’ll be at least 10 minutes faster at the next one, just from general experience and the training effect that she’ll receive from this one.

Kahuna

16

I was wondering about those cut-off times myself. They were a tad early than most races. I also had several opt-out plans at T-2 and at the run turn-around. My knee starting giving me trouble in the second loop, had I known that I would have packed it in early. All that to say we make the decision we need to make in the moment. Let it go, your long term health is clearly more important. If you mange the weight loss over the off season, you will be in a different place in 05-06. No telling where your aspirations may take you.

Yes I agree with you and Kona, bike was tougher than advertised. The wind knowcked overall speeds down and there were quite a few false flats. And although the temps were great, it was hot in the sun. I got burned and used sweat-proof SPF 30…not sure what happened there?

I’m no tri-stud, won a few pieces of hardware, and so I’ve had a few AG FOP and BOP finishes. No comparision in deciding which is the more difficult, the BOP finishes are much harder. It took a lot mental toughness for you to press on. If you can take that and apply it to the weight loss and training then I’m with Art, never say never. Take it a day at a time, no telling where the journey will take you. It’s all good.

17

Kitty–Handle the weight situation. If you are running, you have to pick up that 20 pounds once every three feet (at least). About 1600 yards in a mile. That is 20X1600=32,000 pounds extra you have lifted for one mile. That is 16 tons. Multiply that by 13 miles. You get 208 tons. That is a lot of extra work. And a lot of stress on your joints, etc.

18

I have here on my desk a 15+ year old cartoon from “Running Times” magazine. I tore it out and kept it after a horrible race, I think at the 1992 L.A. Marathon.

It shows, in successive panels, a runner at the start of a marathon saying “I feel great, I have trained well, I’m rested, I think I will have a PR today”. At mile 10 he says “I’m on pace, I feel great”. At mile 18 he says “I feel like crap, why did I sign up for this, never again, I must be nuts”.

Final panel: A few minutes after the finish-

" I know what went wrong, next time I will do better, where do I sign up"

You’ll be back, take some time and enjoy some recovery time and feeling of accomplishment.

19

Congratulations. Doing this off of rehab and over your best racing weight by at least 10%…you’ll be back next year…if not at this race, some other. You did great for your first one, don’t you want to know how you could do on another one? I’ll bet you will!

20

Hey Kittycat,

Yesterday was my 9th Half, and it also was the slowest and hardest one I have done. You picked a heck of a hard course for your first. I was really happy to get to the finish and I hurt like heck today. There are a lot easier ones if you ever get the bug to try again.

Mike