Hi All,
First of all, thanks to all of you who've given me advice. I tried to
put it to good use in the last two weeks of my training for the Parry
Sound Half.
The race went really well for me, considering my lack of enough quality
training. My goal was to finish the distance and to have fun! I did
both, clocking in at 6:19:19 (which was better than I expected), and
having a fun time (thought the intensity of the fun varied 🙂 ).
I drove the course the day before the race and wished I hadn't. Man,
that course is hilly! I went to sleep the night before the race
wondering if I'd be able to finish.
I felt better when I woke up and told myself that I didn't have to go
fast, I just had to keep going.
The swim went swimingly. I felt comfortable and relaxed, and was able
to complete the 2 km in a little over 42 minutes. My transition was a
little long because I put on a bike jersey and bike shorts (with a
decent chamois), and even wore gloves. the whole changing process took
a little less than four minutes.
A surprising thing happened on the bike. It rode easier than it drove.
The hills didn't seem as big once I was on the course. I did just
acquire a really sweet bike, a 2006 Trek Team Time Trial bike. I credit
the bike with making my ride more enjoyable than I ever expected. Of
course the tail wind for the first half helped, too!
Even with the head wind on the return leg of the out-and-back course, I
managed to average 20 mph (32 kph) for the 56 miles. That was an
incredible result for me, and I did it without hurting too bad or
cramping. I was wearing a HRM and kept my heart rate around 155 (169 is
my max on the bike).
My second transition was about another three minutes and then it was out
to the run. My run sucked! I did a lot of walking. I tried to keep my
heart rate below 170 (my max running HR is 187). When it went up over
172, I walked. I did still have fun giving and getting encouragement
from the other athletes.
There are some big hills on the run and most of the people around me
walked the uphills. I think I liked the hills, because it gave me a
chance to walk up them and then I got help from gravity running down them.
My half marathon took 2 hours and 40 minutes. Pretty slow, but I was
pretty tired.
I feel great for having made the distance! I'm already thinking about
which Half I'll try next year, but I think I'll work on my running
before then.
I'm going to write a longer report describing the course in detail, but
it may be a while before I get to it.
later,
Bob