Timberman Ironman 70.3

Well, it's done!
This weekend was the Timberman Triathlon, a half-ironman race. It consisted of a 1.2 mile swim, a 56 mile bike and a 13.1 run.

We got up to Lake Winnipesaukee on Friday evening just in time for check-in and packet pick-up. It is gorgeous up here! Ted found us a great rental house with a view of a lake and at the top of an insane driveway...hills are to be a theme for the week!

Race morning started off at 4:30...way too early! We had to leave the house early enough to get parking at the race site and we barely made it. Traffic is tough here as there is one entrance to the park and very limited parking on-site.

The actual race started 45 minutes late due to a car-accident somewhere on the bike course. Most of the local police and fire personnel were at their posts to control traffic and had to be temporarily taken away. Once things started we got to the beach just in time to see Ted off on his early wave.

Liz and I were in the same wave (pink caps!) and got to start together which was nice. We even swam together for the first bit of the race. Awesome! My swim went pretty well...the usual scrum at the start and a few kicks to the side but nothing too terrible. That is until the men's wave behind us caught up. All of a sudden yellow caps were everywhere as men swam over and around me. I kept my cool though and did much better than expected, considering my lack of swimming this training seaso. I got out of the water in just about 43 minutes.

The bike was ok. There were some hills for sure, even one called the "Marsh Hill Monstah" with a woman ("Simplicity the Clown") dressed up like the Devil on the side cheering everyone on. I am sure I could have gone faster but my legs just were not having it. I kept having to try and stretch out but the pain would go in/out. My stomach wouldn't take in solid foods very well but liquids and clif shot blocks/gels seemed to be fine. My time was 3 hours 36 minutes.

The run was a rough one...did way more walking than I would have liked, considering that the run has been my main focus. It was hot and hilly and two loops-it took a lot to keep going after running past the finish line at 6.5! It was nice to see friends time and time again on the out-and-back course though. I stopped and walked every water/gatorade stop which was a good thing. The last few miles my back really started seizing up which was no fun! Never have I been so happy to see a finish chute! Total run time was 2:21.

All together, I finished the total 70.3 miles in 6 hours and 47 minutes. Looking forward to my next one where I hope to improve on my previous times. Now on to the Marathon!