The day started off with a 4:30 AM wake up call and a full breakfast to prepare for what was soon to come. We then packed up our gear and headed down to the race site. I was in good spirits and the body felt prepared. I was only nervous about one thing, the heat. I was watching the news the night before and they advised people to seek air conditioning, there was a national heat advisory in effect. I then wondered if it would not be the best plan to run a half Ironman.... but it was too late now, I was going for it no matter the conditions.
We made the 1.5 mile walk down the beach to the swim start. I warmed up in the calm waters of North Beach and then got ready to go. The gun went off at 7:40 AM.
I missed the first group of swimmers, they were a lead pack of three. I ended up being the leader of the chase pack behind them. I was confident in my swim and just took it in stride. I focused on staying calm and working hard. I came out of the water in 28:47, in fourth place. A good place to be at this point in the race.
I got out of the water and ran onto the bike. While running into the transition area I felt a slight cramp coming on in my right hamstring. I brushed it off and kept going, took some salt tablets when I got rolling on the bike and forgot about it.
The bike ride was flawless. My nutrition plan and pace were both right on point. I was at mile 50, preparing myself for the run with a 3+ min lead over my original plan. I was ecstatic. I knew that if I kept my head and raced smart, I could break my goal of 4:30.
Well, mile 55 came around and I was still cruising along until I felt that hamstring again. I downed some salt and some electrolyte drink. It then really started to seize up, 1 mile away from the transition area. It was locked up and I could not get my foot clipped back into the pedal.
I was forced to stop my bike completely to rub it out. Once I stopped, my abductor and VMO tightened up as well. And after two minutes of getting in all of the fluids I had on me, I made it back to T2. Still with a very solid bike time of 2:31:12.
The first two miles of the run I dealt with the same exact thing. Cramps and tight legs. There was nothing I could do. I had had a great swim and a mostly great bike. I needed to figure out a way to get the cramps under control. I decided to take the remainder of my salt tablets in the first two miles of the run in addition to some sports drink and coke at the first aid station. Finally, the cramps subsided. I clicked off 6 miles at a sub 7 pace. At this point I was aiming to break 4:40 and I was on pace to do it.
Then mile 8 came. The cramps came back and I was done. I had no control over my leg muscles and it seemed as if they were in a sustained cramped state. I walk/ ran the back 5 miles but pushed through to a 1:49:29 run split and a 4:53:10 finish time. I was 8th in my age group 18-24 and 106th overall.
Originally, I was disappointed. But looking back on my race I did the best I could with the conditions. I also believe that my cramping problems were caused by my overhydration in the days leading up to the race. I was over consuming water trying to prevent cramps on race day but I ended up flooding my cells. It is called hyponatremia. It is funny to think that I could have possible given the cramps to myself.
Still, it was a great learning experience and I learned a lot about myself that day. I know I can suffer and I know I am tough. I also learned that I need to improve my running cadence!
I have a lot of motivation and determination going into the end of the season. I want to ramp up my speed and work on getting some quickness. It is only short stuff from here on out and I want to prove myself at this distance. 70.3's can wait until 2012 :)
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