I didn't realize it had been so long since I posted. September is flying by! I have a small excuse for the delay as I was in the middle of nowhere two weeks ago! A separate post to follow on my adventure into the Boundary Waters in northern Minnesota.
The Cedar Point Half was a great experience and had so much fun. Leading up life was a little hectic because I was trying to get ahead at work and pack for a week vacation that was starting the day after. Despite packing a little light I had the essentials but I only packed one change of clothes! My head was not necessarily in it.
 |
| Roller coasters in the back drop. Woot woot! |
Having never been to Cedar Point I was on stimulation overload rolling into town. Meeting all the teammates, checking inn, and arriving at our pad, aka, Margaritaville, I was ready to go. At least I thought I was. I seem to have most of my failures right after my peaks. I get cocky and lazy and this was exactly the result at Cedar Point. Coming off an overall placing at Dells and some solid training blocks with a combination of that busy last week I didn't take the time to think and focus on this race. I was cruising on a jet ski when I should of been thinking through the race.
 |
| Where we stayed,aka Margaritaville. |
17/252 Female; 152/715 Overall
Swim (29:51; 3/252 Female; 14/715 Overall)
The swim was a little choppy and kind of hard to sight. I need new tinted goggles because the ones I have are filled with 5 years of gunk. I have used some epic
Foggle on all my goggles, and it has worked great, but these are past the point of no return. Control what you can! I wasn't really stoked about the time, but I recently realized I had the 3rd fastest female time and the 15th fastest overall time. Not too shabby.
 |
| Hanging with Zach in the car before the start. It was chilly! |
T1: 2:29 Need to work on this...bad! What was I doing? I need a system or a mental checklist to speed through because I remember being like okay, what do I still need?
Bike (8/252; 100/715)
The first part of this course is awesome. You ride right along the water with gorgeous houses and epic views. Rev3 also did an awesome job of keeping us spaced out. I felt great heading out and consciously held back a little but it was hard as I had one girl in my age group leech on. I hate cheaters. Miles 10-40 felt great and was chugging along. Getting food in, just not the right stuff. With about 10-15 miles to go I felt like I wasn't moving as fast as I ought to for the effort I was putting out. I was fading to later determine it was mainly caused by my nutrition.
T2: 2:23 Needed to put on socks. Still too slow.
Run (17/252; 152/715)
This may of been the worst I have ever felt on a run. I was up and down with pace and energy. I failed in my nutrition and the result was feeling like I would be going straight to the med tent after finishing. Starting out I felt decent. I again tried to hold back and was aiming to be hydrated enough that I would need to use the bathroom right away. Right on schedule I needed to at mile 1, but there was a line so I made it to mile 2. By mile 2 I was feeling like this was going to be a long walk in. Heading out I took a big cup of coke, a big cup of water, and a cup of ice to-go. The next few miles were coke, water, ice, repeat. Walking the aid stations and surviving to the next. Around mile 4 or 5 I got busted. I had yet to meet Charlie, owner of Rev 3. I was thoroughly convinced that I was one of Charlie's angels. He had caught me on the run walking at an aid station. "No walking allowed in that jersey!" He was right on and helped light the fire. It hurt to move but was just what I needed to hear. Wearing the Rev3 jersey gives me super powers...I just needed a little reminder. I shook hands with Charlie and shuffled on. To my surprise Charlie was right there at the next mile. Just what I needed though. Thinking back, I realized there is always another level to go to and another push. For the next couple of miles I had Charlie there to push me. Looking at my Garmin data I went from a 9:27 mile at mile 6 down to a 8:18 mile at mile 9. I know at one point I looked at my Garmin and was running 7:30 pace. That is basically my 10K pace. All slow and above the goal pace, but considering how I felt for the brief moment I was cooking! By no surprise, since all I was taking was coke and water, things went spiraling downhill quick. Mine 9:42 mile for mile 13 felt like 11:00 minute pace. I really thought I was going to black out at one point.
Lesson of the day: nutrition is everything.
 |
| Not a happy face. |
All in all a great weekend of new friends and fun times.
