Peterborough Half Iron - FINISHER!!!



Half Ironman = MENTAL!!  LOL

 


 

May 29th I injured my IT band in my half marathon.  I was just stretching it out and rolling it on my own trying to heal it but the few times I ran proved that it was not getting any better.  So two and 1/2 weeks ago I decided to seek professional help.  I was seeing a physiotherapist and a chiropractor.  The physio guy did a run analysis to show areas I needed to strengthen and in time would help with the IT band.  I also have slightly contorted legs, my heals slightly pronate and I am slightly bow-legged too! .... Oh, and my right hip is sit about an inch further forward then my left (probably from child bearing... damn kids  jk  ;)  )   Yes, I am a freak!  lol  Nothing that halts my running but something to keep in mind and to make sure I am strong in the areas I need to be (namely my gluteus maximus).  I also had 5 acupuncture treatments to help with the inflammation.  The chiro guy specialized in A.R.T. (active release therapy) and I seen him twice. 

R&R at Sandy Beach

About a week prior to my race I went for a short 5km run and it was the most pain I have been in.  My IT band tightened up so bad that I could hardly walk... I wanted to cry.  I was running with our Road Rebels running coach at the time and he stop and massaged it out for me.  THANK GOD!  It was awful.  After this run I was so scared that my race would be compromised.  I was not about to quit though.... NO WAY!!  I would walk the whole run if I had to.  I was not about to concede defeat before I even tried!  I am waaayyy stronger then that...not to mention I have a high pain tolerance! 

So Friday after work, John, Dylan, Tyler and I headed up to our friends, Brian and Renu, cottage in Peterborough.  Renu was our hostess for the weekend.  Our oldest son, Blake, could not make it as he had to work.  We arrived about 10pm.  We unpacked, visited with Renu for a while, then went to bed. 

Saturday we were up at 7:30 for breakfast and then drove to Sandy Beach for a swim and some r&r.  At this point I could still feel my IT band pain when walking down or up hills.... or when John tried to wrestle with me in the water....  I yelled.. "my knee, my knee" and he let go.  I think he was trying to sabotage my race!  LOL  The rest of the day consisted of normal cottage activity and trying to keep my mind off the race..it was working until it was time for bed!  The feeling of worry was starting to overwhelm me.

Sunday we were up at 5:30 and out the door at 6:10ish.  It was about a 40min drive into town and race start was 8am.

When we arrived I put my bike in transition  and went through the normal motions ( body marking, timing chip pick up, ect. ect.)  My boys were with me the whole time and John went to help out a friend for a bit as it was her first sprint triathlon that day. 

SWIM 2km


John giving me some last minute advice  :)



This was my first ever mass swim start and I was a little nervous.  402 participants in a mass start.   Ummm, I hope this ends well for me!  I don't know if I was more worried on my own or because John was hugging me so tight all the time.  I think he may have been more nervous!  ;)

I heard the gun and we were off.  You can walk in quite a ways before it gets deep so I took advantage of it.  While swimming out the the first buoy there was this guy that DID NOT know how to sight.  He kept criss crossing right in front of me.  Really buddy, pick your damn head up and look!  It was really annoying but I kept my cool and tried to avoid the collision.  On our second loop I am not sure if it was the same guy but was at a point that I was getting angry.  I put my hand on his head and was going to shove him but didn't.  ( I am too nice).   As I was on the last stretch of my swim a guy in front of my kicked my fingers..  OUCH..  It felt like they were broken.  I checked them out and they did not look deformed so full steam ahead.  Swim time - 48:25, 2:26/100m pace

BIKE - 90km
I got on my bike and it was already insanely hot out.  I seen my boys and John and off I went.  The course was A LOT harder then I anticipated.  The hills for me were long climbs so I could not carry as much momentum them from the downhill.  It was all hills.  John said after that I did not have the proper gearing so that did not help.  Oh well, it will just make my legs stronger right!    At about 15km in had to go pee.  I did not want to stop, this was going to be a painful ride!  Oh no!  :(    I tried to go on my bike sooo many times but I just couldn't do it.  When I wanted to try there were people behind me and I didn't want them to see peeing.    I guess I need to practice!  hehe 
I had some tremendous pain in the bottom of my left foot.  I had to unclip from the pedal quite a few times to shake it out.  Sometimes I could not even put my foot back in the pedal because the pain was burning so bad.  I will have to figure out what that is all about!? 
I was pretty slow on the bike.  By the time I was on the road leading to transition the runners were everywhere.  I am going to need to do some serious speed/hill work over the winter for IMMT next year.

Bike time - 3:44, 24.1 km/h

RUN - 21km

I ran out of transition.... yes, ran....with no pain..... yippeee!!   But then seen a port-o-potty so ran in there!  RELIEF!!  lol


BIG high fives and all the chalk was for me!  Love my family!



Once back on the run course I was feeling pretty good.  My pace was slower but did not want to push my IT band limits so did 10 and 1's for the first half of the run.  After that I think I was running 5 min walking 1 min.  This is was working out perfect as the uphills were during my walks.  The clouds also rolled in while on my run.  THANK YOU Mother Nature!   I knew I was cutting it close for time and when I was at the 18km mark I seen John standing there at a feed station waiting for me.  :)  He was getting worried so ran out to meet me.  I wanted to stop and kiss him but just wanted to finish the race so I can sit down!  At this point my quads started tightening up too.  I think I could even feel all the micro tears as they were happening.  It was a strange feeling. 

As I was approaching the finishers chute, the people that were in their cars already leaving were all clapping and cheering out their windows. It was awesome!  Then right at the finishers chute Renu ran beside me for a couple of seconds cheering saying "go Fran go, you did it!", I almost cried.  All the people that were still there cheering was fantastic.  I loved it!  My first half iron triathlon was a success.  After I received my finishers medal, John ran around to meet me and gave me the most amazing hug and said how proud he was.  I kissed my boys who waited all day for me and then we walked to the water where I could cool off.
Run time - 2:42, 7:44 min/km pace.  -- run needs work but with an injury I am happy with this!!!

I think I was bang on with my nutrition..  I ate one Lara bar and 4 gels on the bike.  I wanted to eat more but with all those hills made it difficult.  On the run I had 2 gels and drank half a Gatorade and water at each feed station.

All in all, this was a great accomplishment.  I am happy I was able to finish considering I had not been properly training for the last 5 weeks!  I am tough like that!  LOL  :)

Time - 7:20:14, place AG 16/16, Overall 353/402