Hard to be disappointed with a new PR (and a trophy!)

Yesterday I raced the Jerseyman half iron distance. It was fun! This was the first small race I've ever done, so it was a different experience than the Ironman (brand) 1,500+ entrants I normally line up against. There were only about 150 people in the race (including relays and aquabike). I slept well, got up and felt good, had my coffee, pb&j and banana, and Mad and I hit the road. We got to the park, got checked in, etc., and I still had plenty of time. I was in very good spirits, and I was excited to see how the race would go. Although, the weather was a little gloomy (60ish degrees and cloudy/wet).

Swim: Warming up felt good. Putting on the wetsuit for the first time this season was a dream. It makes you so buoyant! The plan was to go out hard and then cruise. The big unknown was how I would respond to the swim being that my swimming yardage has been way down over the past 2 months bc of baseball, and I hadn't been in a pool in over a week due to the bike accident 10 days ago. I went out hard, and felt good. I reached the first buoy with a pack of good swimmers. That's about the only good thing I can say about the swim... My goggles fogged up pretty badly, and mixed with the fog on the water I was almost completely blind. I had to start treading water and pull up my goggles 4-5 times to figure out which direction I was going. On top of that my arms were really tired, and I lost all form by the time I got to the turn around (which I actually hit at 16 minutes). During the duration of the swim I was stopped by a kayaker 3 times and told that I was going off course. I exited the water in 36.xx. No improvement from the Syracuse swim (in terms of pace).

Grade for swimming: C-
Notes: No improvement from the last 70.3 I did is unacceptable. From here on out it's a necessity that I swim longer and more often.

Bike: As soon as I got out of the water I could feel my legs starting to cramp up a little bit - not good. The bike was chilly and wet, which also didn't help me get loose. I felt like I was mashing just to get my legs going. As much as I tried, they just wouldn't go. Within the first 5ish miles I was passed 4 times. Overall I think I might have passed 2 people, but got dropped by far more than that. I had no idea how fast I was going either bc my cycling computer (which was just fixed last week) decided not to work on me! I couldn't get my HR up either. When my legs were burning, and I was slaving to get them to push through, I looked down expecting to see 170+ and it was only about 154... That is honestly the first time I've ever been in that situation. I'll put some blame there on my relaxed approach to the week and not doing any high intensity stuff since before the accident. Anyway, I hit the halfway point (where I actually had to stop and get off the bike to get a water bottle bc I missed the volunteer's hand) at 1:25 and figured I would get home in about 2:50. I ended up getting back a little better and got off the bike after 2:43. Not the split I was hoping for, but not terrible.

Grade for biking: C+
Notes: I've GOT to spend more time on the bike. Longer miles and higher intensity. One positive, I didn't feel very mentally or physically drained after the bike. Those 3:30-4+ hour rides definitely helped me.

Run: Saved by the run! My feet were numb from the cold bike and not wearing socks. It took about 10 minutes before I could actually feel anything except the impact of the ground. I started getting a little crampy after the first mile (ugh!), but slurped down a powerbar gel (**see note below) and they went away quickly. I was moving pretty good, but there weren't ANY (not a single one) mile markers on the course so I really had no idea how fast I was going. I did what I planned and kept my HR below 162 for the first half, but I was hunting down a guy that was about 1 minute down the road. I really wanted to catch him. It took me 7ish miles, but I did finally catch up to him on a decent sized hill. He was cramping, and although I started to again, I was yet again saved by the powerbar gel. He tried to hang on for the next few miles, but when I kicked it up a bit around mile 10, he fell back pretty far. I was happy to earn some places back on the run, passing about 7 people and only getting caught by 1 kid (in the last mile!). He did run about a 1:22, so I didn't have a chance. I crossed the line in 1:30. Right on pace with where I wanted to be. I'm very happy with the run.

Grade for running: A
Notes: I'm happy. I felt strong. I even had more in me if I needed to keep going.

Overall: 4:54
17/113 overall
2/8 in age group (which earned me my first trophy since I was about 10 years old!)

**powerbar gels are awesome. I found a great deal at Philadelphia Runner and bought 2 boxes (48 gels) for $20!! I love them because they have a ton of electrolytes and salts in them that other gels don't have. So when I start to cramp up, I slurp a gel and they go away. This happened 3 times on Sunday, and I got through each one of them. (I am by no means affiliated with powerbar, but if anyone working for powerbar wants to send me free stuff, I'll gladly accept. I'm a big fan of it.)

Finally, I was able to have my recovery 5 Guys burger. I think God was the founder of 5 Guys. It's that good.

double cheeseburger lettuce, tomato, mayo, pickles, onions.
please excuse the excess on my face.