So......water temp was 77 deg. And compared to how cold and wet it was on land, jumping off the dock actually felt really good. Overall the swim was pretty uneventful. I felt great, no burning in my shoulders, arms never got heavy, could have done without the mats of seaweed and the couple mouthfuls of boat fuel though. I got a little off course which did affect my time a bit. Official time was 42 min. I was shooting for 35-40. So thus far I'm right about where I want to be.
Slow jog to transition, get the blood into my legs slowly. Jump on the bike and out into rainy downtown. The buildings funneled the wind so what was a 15-20mph wind all of a sudden becomes 25-30. The flats started early and often. I consider myself lucky not to have flatted the entire race. I must have passed at least 50 people changing their tires. A lot of wipeouts as well. Wet roads and train tracks make things trickier. Some poor girl in front of me wipes out for no apparent reason. I finally get through downtown (losing both my water bottles on the train tracks) and make it out into the Glades. Wind is still at my back at this point and I'm able to hold 23. Initially I had trouble getting my heart rate down where I wanted it, but once I get out into the open I'm able to get it under control. At the turn around I'm still keeping my pace. 1:15 to the turn around. Problem now is the next 28 miles are directly into the teeth of the wind. My pace drops to 18mph and I keep telling myself to just take what the course gives you. I concentrate on my HR and RPMs, thinking about the run. The rain and wind pick up as I get closer to downtown. I carefully dismount coming into T2 and my legs surprisingly don't buckle. I'm thankful I trained as much as I did, until I start to jog to my spot. I immediately feel my IT band. I take my time in T2 since I'm suddenly light headed, but my HR is right where I want it to be and I'm feeling really good. I'm a little off my pace but head out believing I can still make it up.I was wrong. Few hundred meters and my knee is telling me its not going to cooperate......not one bit. Trying to hold back the panic, I try to think of options.....the whole time telling myself this is the last time I do this distance. I stop, stretch, walk for a bit and try to run as much as I can........I WILL NOT DNF AGAIN!!! So I just tell myself "One mile at a time. Fight through the pain". That doesn't work. So I look up and pick a rabbit and do my best to reel him in. Running as long as I can stand the pain and then walking. At about mile 4 I noticed all the other walkers and decide that I'm going to walk faster than they are. One at a time I start passing people......getting up to a power walk. Suddenly I feel great and I'm actually making decent time. This is my race now! I power walk the remainder of the race, not only passing a bunch of people, but leaving my initial "rabbit" in the dust! At mile 10 my body starts to break down. Everything hurts but I keep going. Mile 11 I start telling myself that I'm an Ironman :) At mile 12 I start allowing the thoughts I've been suppressing all day to surface about Liz and the accident and start to cry. We had decided to do this race together the morning of the accident. I really miss her. As I come into the finish chute, I see my support team and all the pain goes away. I decide no matter how bad it hurts I'm sprinting the last 100m. You couldn't smack the smile off my face as I cross the finish line.
All the training was totally worth it. For the first time I actually enjoyed a 70.3. I didn't hit the time I wanted, but I overcame the pain and finished with a PR anyway. Official time was 6:53, which is 25min faster than my last finish in '08. I'm proud of that and of my accomplishment.
Once I can walk normal again, I'm going to make an appt with an orthopedist to have my knee looked at. If I want to do this or longer distances, I can't have my knee hurting like that.
I haven't worked out in 2 days now and I had this strange feeling of "What now?" this morning. I guess I'll wait for the euphoria to subside before answering that :)
