Overall, the race went well. It was supposed to be really rainy, and I was very worried we'd have s repeat of my first tri last August, which was cancelled due to lightning. It did rain overnight, but when we got up and out of the hotel it was dry, and it stayed that way.
The downside to overnight rain was the humidity. Being from KC I'm no stranger to humidity, but I haven't had much chance to train in it, and it made for a sweaty, sticky run. It's been a long time (since last August, at least) that I've been in this kind of humidity. When we got off the shuttle back at the hotel, I quite enjoyed the high heat and humidity (I love the heat), but it made racing much more difficult.
I started the race keeping up with the 2:30 pace group, which, in retrospect, was quite ambitious for me. I haven't been able to train much recently because of long work hours and general laziness on my part, and I could tell at the race. I kept up with the pace group for 1.25 miles, then had to stop and walk.
For the next mile and a half or so, I had random run/walk intervals, but finally found something comfortable in mile 3. At 2.9 miles, I started running, intending to run 1/10 of a mile and walk 1/10 at mile three. When I hit mile 3 though I was feeling pretty good and told myself "Just go to 3.1 before you walk, then you'll only have 10 miles left." Yeah. "Only" 10 miles left.
I did manage to run to 3.1, then I walked to 3.25, then ran to 3.5, walked to 3.6, ran to 3.8, walked to 3.9, then ran to 4.1. I kept up with those intervals until mile 8. They helped the miles go by faster and easier, which was the goal.
At mile 8, my walk breaks started extending and my runs started becoming shorter. The longest I ever ran in training was 6 miles, so after the extra 2 miles my body was like "Dude! You are the stupidest stupid person ever to grace the planet with their stupidity! What are you doing?" Unfortunately, I listened to my body and let the walk breaks extend.
At mile 11.5, I finally decided I was done running for the day until the finish line. I started running a bit at 11.5, but couldn't keep it up for more than 0.02 miles. I had a small blister on a toe on my left foot, both feet generally just hurt, and my right knee ached something fierce (not an uncommon problem for me - my knees have always given me problems), so I decided I was going to walk until I got near to the finish line and then run across it.
This actually ended up being a great decision. At around mile 11.75, another member of Team RWB pulled up mext to me and we started talking. We were both in our Team RWB shirts, making it easier to identify each other. She was from LA, and did 10 half marathons last year. She was super excited that this was my first half marathon, and we had a good conversation over the last mile in. I told her that if she wanted to run on ahead, she didn't have to wait for me, but she said she wanted to cross the line with me since it was my first one.
I really enjoyed talking to Deedra (might not be the right spelling) for the last mile. It was kind of unusual for me - I'm not a people person and usually find conversations with strangers very uncomfortable, but this was relaxed and easy, likely because we're both half marathoners and belong to Team RWB.
For anyone that doesn't know, Team RWB (Red White Blue) is an orgainization dedicated to helping American veterans. I've always been pretty patriotic (I tried to serve in the Navy but was declined due to my asthma), and my cousin, who was also the best man in my wedding, had been deployed to Iraq twice, so when I found out about Team RWB it was almost a guarantee I would join. If you're interested, check out www.teamrwb.org
Almost right at mile 13, Melissa caught up with Deedra and I. Her joining us there worked out wonderfully. Once she got there, all three of us started running because the finish line was right around the corner, and we all crossed the finish line holding hands. It was a great feeling crossing with both of them.
Overall, the race was a great experience. I would have liked a faster time, but given the lack of training I'm not disappointed. I had a really good time doing it, and it's given me a baseline for the half ironman in October. This race, more than anything, has me charged up to start training again. While the running is my least favorite part of triathlon, I still enjoyed the race today. I'm very much looking forward to my next race on May 17th.
Myself, Melissa & Deedra after the finish
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