Wow.. What a day it was. The sky, the rain... I thought o boy it’s going to be a fun day and was it ever.
Before I tell you about my day let me go back a little. Last year the 1/2 ironman took me about 9 hrs and 30 minutes to finish so I knew that I had alot work to do. First thing was getting a better wet suit. The one I have been using was for water skiing. After reading different magazines I came across a company called www.Wetsuitrental.com. They are the best!!! To rent the suit only cost me about 40 dollars (after that if you wish to buy it you can.. they offer you a great deal) plus the suit was almost brand new.
Swim: Lets just say that getting a good wetsuit made all the difference. With the rain coming down it cause some small waves (in me eyes they were 6 inches) but I'm sure they were less then that. I was using bi lateral breathing while swimming and for some reason I wasn’t thinking straight. I noticed that breathing on my right (were there was less waves) was easier. But, did breath only on my right side nope..... After swimming about 500 yards I was looking at one of the boats and thought how easy it would be to swim over there and call it a day and no one would blame me.
But there was a voice in head playing the song " You're got the Touch" here's some of the words that were going thru my mind:
You're at your best when the goin' gets rough
You've been put to the test, but it's never enough
When all hell's breakin' loose
You'll be riding the eye of the storm
You never bend, you never break
You seem to know just what it takes
You're a fighter
After hearing these words how could I stop? Lets say that I finish the swim in a better time then last year plus I felt pretty good.
Bike: I felt really good getting on my FELT bike. The bike and I knew that we wouldn’t have no problem with the course being that I live in Clermont and have riding these hills a number of times. No problems with the aid stations they all did a great job!!! On the back of the lake there was a water stop that had Super heroes. I couldn’t believe my eye was it Wonder woman or Super girl (can’t remember now) the only think i said was "I'll be back to see you on the run". The weather was just right not too hot and the rain had stop already. I believe in racing the same way I trained. So I carried my 100oz camel bak with me. I knew for the 56 miles I wouldn’t have to worry about running out of fluids. But that didn’t stop me from getting water bottles at each of the stations. One can never have enough cold water. I think at the end of the bike ride I drink the 100oz mix with cytomax, plus 4 bottles of water. Again my time on the bike was better this year then last year. Something that made a difference was aero bars. If you don't have any you should get some.
Run: Started out good. My goal was to do 5 miles in hour. Thus the run would only take about 2 1/2 hours. Going up the trail and back no problems and felt good. I made sure to drink something at every station. It wasn’t until I got around the lake that the outside of my knees started to bother me. This never happen before. I realize what was causing the problem. The road slanted downward to the lake thus i wasn't running flat. So I did a walk and slow jog. Many thanks to everyone out… the volunteers did a wonderful job. Back to my earlier comment about Wonder woman or Super girl. When I came the super heroes station on the run I wanted to know where she was. They told me she had to go help someone. O well life goes on...
Finished the race and better my time by 60 minutes. Not to much more to say then thank you Fred, Andrea and Joann. All of you made all the different. I'll be back in 2008 and plan kicking some as_. My goal is to knock off another 60 minutes off my time.
Chaz
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