"I could never do that!" - Robyn, about two years ago watching a half ironman race

But....I did do it. I never thought I would EVER do a race like this. I did...and I LIKED IT. Granted, if you would have asked me at about mile 10 of the run what I felt like, I would have said "KILL ME NOW". But looking back, I would do it all over again tomorrow. Today even. So, here is my race recap (minus the times since they are not on the website yet).

Halfmax National Championships - September 15, 2007

Total time - 6:57:20

Well, it was a balmy 50 degrees when we woke up. Not to mention Court and I woke up at 3:30, instead of 4:15 like we set our alarms for. Oh well, pretty standard on race day. We got ready, ate a bagel, and loaded up the 'stang to drive to the race. We get there, get out and take our bikes to transition, get marked, and realize just how cold it is! Our feet were FREEZING. So we sat back in the car for about 10 minutes to warm up. We then realized we should probably get ready. We got marked and set up our transition. After lubing up, we got into our wetsuits and headed down to the beach.

SWIM - 1.2 miles - 29:35
My swim went way better than expected! It was about 27 min. I was worried I would have a horrible swim because after I rounded the last turn and started heading back to the beach, I was following one group only to realize they had started swimming further and further off course! I looked over and all the other swimmers were about 50 yards to the left of me! I started swimming towards them once again and finally reached the beach. I was thinking "man Court is probably on her 2nd loop of the bike course by now" and I heard them say "Courtney Crutcher of Defined Fitness comes out of the water!" I was right behind her! This pumped me up, knowing I had to have a good swim. Sure enough, I looked at my watch and it was around 27 minutes! Yeah! Good start! The transition is about 8 miles away from the beach (not really, but its a good distance!) so I slowly ran up the grass while trying to de-wetsuit. I make it to transition and Courtney realized I was right there! I think that made her a little mad....haha. Love you Court! I had a really good T-1 (2:08) and I was off to the bike course.

BIKE - 56 miles - 3:36:53

Take a look at the freakin hills on this course:

Well...From running up the hill to transition, then jumping on my bike, and finally starting out on those brutal hills, my heart rate was about 180. When my heart rate jacks up, I get dizzy. The first few hills are just straight up and down. I was going up the hills about 4-5mph. Barely fast enough to NOT fall over! At mile 5 I was going up one of the worst hills and I must have leaned too far to the left, because my front wheel turns to the left and I go flying off the left side of the road. No big deal, I unclipped before I had the chance to fall. I got back on the road and walked up the rest of the way. I get to the top and realize there is a small downhill, a short flat followed by a big downhill with another hill to climb after that. I thought "ok I'll coast down the short hill, clip in and then crank down the big downhill so I can climb again". Perfect plan! Flawless! NOT. My tri shoes have an adaptor which makes them difficult to clip in and out. I start coasting and cannot clip in! I realize I HAVE to clip in soon or I'm going to end up walking up the next hill too! I shove my foot down into my pedal with such force, that when my foot slipped off the pedal, it sent all my body weight flying foward, over my handle bars and onto the pavement! MY FIRST MAJOR CRASH!!! In a race of all places!!!! My bike went flying to the side of the road and I bounced on the ground 3 times. How do I know it was three times? I could see the wet marks on the pavement from just getting out of the lake!!! My immediate thought: I'M DONE. GET ME OFF THIS COURSE. Then about .5 seconds later, I thought "what the heck am I saying?? I would never quite unless I'm mangled so badly I can't walk". So I hop on my bike, as another racer screams "Oh my gosh are you ok?!?!" I said "yeah I'm fine" and I'm on my way again. Nothing else too serious happened, but here are major things by the mile:

Mile 5 - crash
Mile 12 - I feel like I have grass stuck in between two of my toes on my right foot....ANNOYING.
Mile 18 - My toes start to go numb....neat.
Mile 20 - I notice a llama farm to my right...awesome!
Mile 39 - LONGEST MILE OF MY LIFE for no particular reason. I felt like it was 8 miles in 1!
Mile 40 - My watch beeps to remind me to take a gel. I reach back in my pocket only to realize I have none left! I must have lost one during my crash! I think I'm going to die, realizing I still have nearly an hour on the bike left. Alas, an aid station appears!!! I'm thanking God for this one....
Mile 42 - I see the llama farm again, only to realize they are actually goats....not llamas. Sad.
Mile 52 - I realize how close I am to getting off the bike, and I almost cry with joy. Then, I arrive...

Transition 2 (2:52) was definitely interesting. I hear Moto and Ashley yelling for me as I come in, and I'm just so happy to be off the bike! I think I go down the wrong row, so I keep going, turn up the next row, only to realize I was in the right row to begin with! I racked my bike from that side, then had to run around to the other side again to get to my stuff! I had no fine motor skills because it was so cold on the bike, and my hands were frozen. Moto said "we should have left your run stuff in a trail because you were throwing everything everywhere and ended up running around all over the place anyway!" I couldn't grab on to anything because my fingers were frozen! Finally, I got all my stuff together and was off for the longest run I've ever done!

RUN - 13.1 miles - 2:45:50
The first mile I felt great! Until I saw a sign that said "mile 7". I freaked out (stupid me didn't realize that the run was two loops) so I asked some dude that passed me "is this really mile 7??" He goes "yep" and keeps running. Shortly after, I see a sign for "mile 1" and start to relax. Then the hills came.....and came.....and came..... This run course was freaking BRUTAL. When I saw Dawn for the first time on the run (she was ahead of me obviously) she yelled "this course blows!!!" which just made me laugh and keep going. I saw Courtney too, and she looked strong! Gave me some motivation. When I was heading back to turn around to do the course again, all these people who were going out for their 2nd loop said "OH! You're almost done, keep going!" To which I yelled..."yeah and I have another loop!" Most of them said "oh, my bad" and kept running. I find this humerous now, however at the time I want to slide tackle them even though I was on pavement... When I came out to turn around for my 2nd loop, I saw Megan, Chad, and their dad! They were cheering for me and that REALLY motivated me! I think I ran the next 2 miles without walking at all. Until I got to the brutal hills. I ran as much as I could, down the hills and flats, and walked up most of the hills. They were too steep for my tired legs to run up! Finally I see mile 11, and I think "wow, this is officially the furthest I've ever run". I ran with a few middle aged men for a while, and we chatted a bit, they were hilarious! I ran ahead to mile 12, and I saw Moto run up to me! She ran with me for about a half mile which was VERY helpful and I finally saw cars and people! I was almost there! I saw the finish line and as I entered the chute, I told one of the volunteers "gee thanks for leaving the finish line up for me!" He said "oh no problem!" I made the turn thru the "cattle herder" and I like to call it, and ran thru the finish! I DID IT.

Something I never dreamed of doing, I completed a half ironman!!!! I was hurting, but I finished!!!! My teammates were there to congratulate me and so was Megan and her brother and dad. I was so happy to be done! My legs were spent, my road rash was burning, but I didn't care. I just realized that I went 70.3 miles, and I get to add another sticker to my car! I was so happy to join my teammates at the finish, I just smiled.

The awards ceremony was great. I ended up in 5th place, which qualified me for world championships! I just like to be able to say that, because everyone knows I can't afford to go! Holland? That would be sweet...but alas...I'm a poor college student. Courtney ended up 4th right ahead of me, and everyone had great races! We all went back to the hotel, chowed down on pizza and cupcakes and celebrated Dawn's birthday, with some very weird people and situations all night long! hahaha. Overall, it was an amazing weekend and I've already started planning my next half, as well as future planning for a FULL IRONMAN! IM Louisville 2009? Who's up for it????

Oh yeah, marathon training continues tomorrow...am I crazy?!?!?!

****Special thanks to all my girls that were cheering me on and competing with me: Courtney, Dawn, Julie, Michele, and Ashley!