wooohooo- I'm done! My first..

[Pika]

1/2 IM.
Can't decide if I'm more excited about that or finally trying "timtams" for the first time
Overall I'm happy but I have tons of room for improvement.
My Time was 7.20
Here's a run down of how it went

Woke up early to pouring rain.. it was the kind of socked in, low cloud cover, never going to quit, kinda rain- good news there seemed to be only a slight wind and well it was a "warm" rain.

hmm- not sure how to set up my transition in pouring rain- never thought that through at all..( the day before had been gloriously sunny at 27C.)
I had a few grocery bags and kinda laid things out and then put then in the bags- just hoped for the best- I mean I wasn't going for an agegroup record or anything

the swim was good-
Time 39.07 ( 2.04/100m pace) this was a 2 loop swim- after the first loop you had to get out of the water and run around a bour on land and then get back in for the second loop.

T1 8.25min
well it was pouring rain Did I also mention that my bike was racked at the furthest possible spot from the exit of transition?- It was about 250m away from the exit!! Couldn't decide how to go all that distance- with my bike shoes on or off? Did I mention it was pouring rain Decided a weird gimpy kinda shuffle with my shoes on was the way to go..albeit slowly

Bike was 2 loops again
Time 3.35, ave speed 24.6km/hr
I was happy with that..did I mention the rain????
Actually I was happy my max speed was 57km/hr flying downhill woohooo
but the difficult thing was that I had a good swim and am really a below average cyclist so that although I was out of the water ranked 85/317, I finished the bike 223/317 so it didn't just seem like 200 people passed me...they actually did and that doesn't count the people in all the other agegroups- so I spent the whole bike ride with people flying past me (including Michielle Jones) ( that was actually kinda cool- to see how fast they go!)
Met my DH in the transition so we could actually start the run together- that was a nice suprise- my run fell apart pretty quickly unfortunately - something I ate was not agreeing with me- my tummy was really crampy and I couldn't decide what I could or could not eat or drink to make it feel better
Run time 2:51 - should say run/walk/bathroom time
At least it had stopped raining by then and actually it was just nicely overcast with a light wind- definitely could have been worse ( well maybe not the time but how I felt
So overall I'm happy- it started out well even with the crappy weather
As for the rest... live and learn- I suspect it was the rain soaked stuff I tried to eat on the bike- I have a pretty sensitive gut as it is so the soggy fig newton coulda done it!
The only real drag of the day was about 35km into the bike I heard a "tingle/jingle" as I was coming down a hill with a sharp right turn. I thought at first I might have had a flat but it seemed ok so I kept riding- it flattened out and I refilled by profile bottle with my other bottle- then I went to get back onto my aerobars and I realized that the "tingle/jingle" was actually the entire pad of my aero bar falling on to the pavement- not just the foam but the whole darn thing!!
I chose not to go back ( we went back after the race but it was nowhere to be found) The big drag is we went to the LBS to replace it and the guy said it would be cheaper to replace the whole set of bars ( at 90.00) than to reorder that piece- at 60.00!!! That is crazy!

I think I'll try another 1/2 sometime- with more consistent training- try to improve on the bike- would be nice to be solidly in the middle of the pack next time. ( Apparantly I'd have to shave off 10min AND be in the 70+ agegroup to see the podium)

[Wahine]

That is so funny. While you were writing this I was in my yoga class thinking that I really had to email you to see how your first HIM went!! No lie, in the middle of yoga class it came over me, cool.

Congratulations!! You're first HIM and under terrible conditions. You're one tough cookie!! I am very impressed.

[Pika]

Thanks Wahine:0
I was thinking about you too- I was thinking you are CRAZY fast!!!
It is funny how the perspective changes after doing one of these things- DH was hilarous..he kept saying "wahine is crazy- God how does she do it??"
He also said that was it, for him - no thoughts of IM at all- I told him to tell me that in a few days- not immeditaly after the race
Will be fun to see how your race goes
I'm sure you will pull it out of the bag

[teigyr]

Pika, I love your attitude

It sounds like you did great despite everything that happened. It can only get better, right?

I know what you mean re the podium except for I'm thinking 80+ and just finishing

[colby]

Congrats, Pika!! Great job!!

I get passed on the bike a fair amount, and then on the run even more. When I pass people myself, I try to say something - "great job" or "keep it up" or "good luck". I know how it feels.

[roadie gal]

Girl, I am so impressed! I think I would have bagged out of it. Way to go!

[Tri Girl]

Wow- you are tough! Rain makes for a terrible racing day, especially a HIM. I'm so excited that you did so well despite the weather/tummy trouble/armrest falling off the bike. Crazy!
Congrats on your first. I'm sure there will be others. The next one can't possibly be as hard as the first. Way to go!!!!

[minn]

Cool, Cool, Cool. Congratulations on your race! I love reading about you and others who have done such ambitious triathlons, always very inspiring.

[Veronica]

Woohoo! Way to go.

Come do Barb's Race with me in August. I'm 95% sure we won't have rain.

V.

[KSH]

WOW Pika! Great job lady! With all that rain and miserable weather, you had a rocking time! That sounds so HARD! I can't imagine having to race for that long in the rain. Well, for 5 hours, or however long it rained.

Great job! Congratulations!

[spindizzy]

Congratulations on competing and completing - especially in crap weather. I cannot imagine getting back in the water after running around for an hour on land. A swim duathlon in the middle of an IM.....! I have a hard enough time on land!

[Skeezix]

I'll echo everyone's sentiments that I'm wickedly impressed by your perservence for competing in crap weather. You rock.

[Pika]

Thanks for all your kind words- it really was fun in a "suffer-o-rama" kinda way
It does give me a benchmark- something to improve upon ( I hope)

Hey V where is " Barb's Race"?
I'd like to do another later in the year- maybe sept- but that would mean giving up some other sports- so not sure I can convince DH or myself to do that- still mulling it over...

[kelownagirl]

Oh man, Pika, I was thinking about you all day on Sunday with that dumping down rain. I know a bunch of people who did the HIM and they all said the weather was crap. I think you did an amazing job for your first HIM tho - well done!

So how was the water temp? There's a sprint tri down there in two weeks and I've toyed with the idea of doing a 'practice' race....

[OakLeaf]

Great job Pika! Good on yer for persevering in awful conditions!