For those of you faithful readers that have wondered how the Beach2Battleship half-ironman went I apologize for the delay in my post. The race was a huge success! I finished in 5 hours 42 minutes; that's 18-minutes faster than the goal I had set for myself. I am very proud of this accomplishment because the weeks leading up to the race did not go so smoothly, and I actually questioned whether I would be able to finish.
As you know, I competed in an adventure race 3 weeks prior to the half-ironman. While this race is special to me and had an awesome time, probably not the best decision. Following the adventure race I jumped right back into heavy training without a rest period. My body was definitely not ready for that. I had a false sense of hope after my long run that week; I ran the best 11-miles of my life to that point at near 7:30 min/mile pace. From there it was all down hill. During my next run that week I had a sudden onset of sharp hip pain (in addition to some insertional achilles tendonitis that had been going on for about 2 weeks).
At this point I think it is worth stating how extremely frustrating this is. Despite the fact I am a physical therapist and work with injured endurance athletes every day, I had personally never been hurt running since I began running in college. Fortunately, I have some awesome co-workers who helped mend my broken body so that I could limp through my race. I was able to keep riding and swimming with minimal-to-no hip or heel pain, which was probably my saving grace of the training period. I wasn't able to run for over two weeks prior to the race. I knew that healing out-weighed limping through a work out. There was little fitness to be gained, but lots of confidence lost. I am fortunate to have a co-worker who is certified in dry needling and after one session of this for my hip (one of the most uncomfortable things I've endured) my pain subsided and I could walk without pain and my strength returned!
The build up to the race was a little anti-climactic. I originally thought I would have quite the cheering section, but due to many circumstances that dwindled to one; my mom. Thank God for her though. There are lots of logistical concerns with getting to and from a race of this magnitude with multiple transition zones in an unfamiliar town, not to mention the motivational boost of a familiar face cheering for you when needed most.
I was fortunate to have some awesome folks with numbers near mine to help ease some of the pre-race jitters. Lots of strategic talk and laughter to preoccupy the mind. We had all heard that the current would give us an awesome push, but had no idea how strong it really would be. While standing on the dock waiting for the start of the half-ironman race, the full distance folks came swimming by at quite the impressive pace. Our minds were put at ease when one gentleman stopped swimming to adjust his goggles and still managed to move at the same rate as those swimming (which may make my 18-min goal broken not sound so impressive). I finished the swim in about 27 minutes dock-to-dock. The swim was chaotic. I can't count how many times I was kicked, punched, and held under water. I don't mind the getting kicked part, but getting dunked by a competitor was pretty low. My wetsuit also rubbed my neck raw leaving me with quite the abrasion after the race.
When I got out of the water this was going to be the first test for my heel and hip. Much to my amazement I had zero pain! A confidence boost at exactly the right time. We had a near 500-yard transition so it was a true test. When I got on the bike I felt great. My goal was to average 17-mph for the 56-mile ride. I was feeling so good I was hovering between 18-20 for the first 6-miles. This was short-lived, however, because that is when the wind and the rain began. Not fun! The wind quickly humbled my pace to 14-16 mph, despite pedaling as hard as I felt I could maintain. When the wind would momentarily die down, I would shoot up to 18-19 mph. So I was working at a work load higher than I trained for, but moving a pace slower than I planned. Not a good combination. Due to having to pedal so hard my hamstrings were killing me by mile 30. I had never been so uncomfortable on the bike. I was planning to crush the bike because it was the leg that I had trained the hardest for. It was the most mentally exhausting bike ride I had ever done (and that includes the 112-mile training ride I did with my friends training for a full-distance). The entire time I wanted to quit and rest. I was able to suck it up and keep going. The sun started poking through and the winds shifted! The last 15-20 miles we had a tail wind! I was able to bring it in over 20-mph to make up for some lost time. I finished around 3 hours 17 minutes riding time. Right at my 17 mph goal.
I had been nervous for the run leg for the past three weeks and now was the moment of truth. And who would have thought, I felt great. I didn't have the "brick" feeling or pain I was expecting. I was able to run out at under 8 min/mile pace for the first couple of miles and from there only got faster. I was catching and passing lots of competitors. During the race I felt amazing and watching the clock I was actually on pace to set a 1/2 marathon personal best. Talk about being on cloud nine. I felt I could do no wrong so I pushed the pace faster. Then, around mile 9, that same head wind from the bike returned as I was heading toward the bridge back to the finish. I felt like I was running in place. Please not now is all I could tell myself. I really wanted to stop and walk because fatigue and mental exhaustion was setting in. Once I got half way over the bridge with about 2-miles to go I said to myself, "The faster I run, the sooner it will be over with." I was able to dig deep and keep going. Longest 2-miles ever. I didn't set a PR, but it was only 2-minutes behind my PR and it was the second fastest 1/2 marathon I'd ever run.
When I crossed the finish line it was exhilarating and exhausting all at the same time. As soon as I crossed my body knew it could relax and that is when the pain set in. Praise God that it didn't happen during the race. I was unable to take a step without my heel or hip hurting. Post-race I gingerly moved around trying not to faint, trying not to freeze. I didn't realize how cold it was during the race. I went to the warming tent, got a complimentary massage (I guess it helped, still super sore for the next few days), and consumed as much finish line food as I could.
I am still dealing with a lingering heel injury, but continuing to see my physical therapist to work out the kinks. I have had my calves dry needled so I can at least walk normally again. I have been okay about doing stability and strength training, but aside from that I have fallen into my usual post-race funk. Shear and utter laziness. I hope to get back in the swing of things over the next few weeks so I don't become totally out of shape. I did a 34-mile charity bike ride last weekend and by the end my poor legs were screaming at me, "Please stop!" It is crazy how fast we can decondition.
I still hope to complete a race in each state. I also hope to use this blog to write about what I am learning or going through in life. Life is a journey and I have been very blessed along the way. I hope to be used by God to bless others in their faith and in their racing journeys.
