HIM - Barb's Race Report 7/31

[Veronica]

Cool goodie bag, I like getting cloth grocery bags at races. When CA grocery stores go bagless I'll be all set. This was the tenth anniversary of the race and my third attempt. They gave us socks and a really nice running shirt, plus various food bits, and samples of body lotions. The finisher's medal is blue glass.

The Swim - a little slower than I had hoped at 41:26, roughly four minutes slower than last year. But since I've only been swimming when I race, to be expected. 149/372 Overall

The Bike - was awesome! You really can buy speed! I was about 16 minutes faster than last year and I'm convinced it's all because of the new bike. The Cervelo accelerates so well downhill. I was coasting at 28 mph and passing people who were pedaling. This course has a lot of rollers and the bike really holds its speed well. I was so fast on the bike that Thom was not ready to take my picture when I got to him on the course. I waved vigorously and got his attention, so he still got a pretty good photo. I'll post it later. I had been hoping to finish in less than 3:20. Official time was 3:18.39 for an average speed of 16.96 mph. Last year I averaged 15.68. I've only ridden about 750 miles this year, so that's not bad. I'm really thrilled with how well the bike went. I think that if I work at it, I can get that time down to 3 hours on this course. 140/372 Overall

The Run - sucked! I had the slowest half marathon EVER! I am so not trained for running. I gave it all I had though, since as soon as I crossed the finish line I started having dry heaves. They couldn't even put the finisher's medal on me, but had to hand it to me. I'm glad Thom didn't get any pictures of that. 329/372 Overall

Final Place: 42/71 AG, 255/372 Overall

Recovery - I slept in my Zoot compression tights. I woke up a few times because they got too tight over the bunion on my right foot and my little toe on left foot. I discovered that if you roll the material so that you have a double layer, it gets REALLY tight. My quads felt bruised and hurt just to touch them right after the race and yesterday. That's gone now. I had a session with my trainer this morning. That was fun as today was a leg day. We took it kind of easy though. So far I don't seem to be having having of the issues I had after the Tarantula Run last October. That bodes well for me actually focusing on improving my run over the winter. If I can just stay injury free, I can be solidly mid pack next year.


Veronica