On the shore of the Lake with some of Team Z!
(Holly & Jim, 4th and 5th from left)
This past weekend was the Black Bear Half Ironman at the base of the Pocono Mountains in Pennsylvania.
Black Bear Half Ironman
May 31, 2009
1.2 mile SWIM/ 55.4 mile BIKE / 13.1 mile RUN
Bike course included 5012 feet of altitude gain (VERY HILLY, VERY CHALLENGING)
I could go on and on and on - and I kind of already did to some folks - but I find the longer I dwell on this weekend, the less confident I become and I want to turn this experience into some positives so I am keeping it short - just the facts please!
HIGHLIGHTS OF WEEKEND:
• Watching my husband spontaneously sign up for his first TEAM RELAY Triathlon by doing the Bike Leg with some Team Z folks! (Team Coleman aka "TEAM Something Like Awesome!"
• He rocked the 56 mile bike in 3:36:51 - pretty d@mn good for low milage season on the bike to date...
• Setting a PR (Personal Record) in the 1.2 mile swim distance with a time of 51:00 - 8:35 faster than I swam the same distance just 3 weeks ago and 3:40 faster than my previous PR at Timberman Half in August 2003.
• Having one of the young volunteers at the Water Station on the bike tell me "I want to do triathlons so I can ride a bike just like you!"
• Getting my nutrition on the bike nearly SPOT ON!
• Being allowed to finish the Bike Course
• Getting comforting hugs from Jim and from Pam C. and feeling, in that moment, OK again...
LOW POINTS
• Another DNF - I missed the cutoff for the run by a large margin - over 35 minutes - I averaged 10.7 miles per hour and covered 55.4 miles in 5:35
• Crying like a baby in transition...
• Experiencing the pain of DNF because I was too slow - I'll be frank - It SUCKED! (and yet it is very motivating - I don't ever want to feel that way again...)
FINAL SYNOPSIS: I gave this course all I had and it wasn't enough. I'm told this course is much harder than Lake Placid - let's hope so because I'm not backing down and I am honestly getting sick of these @#&#&$ DNFs.
TWO is TWO too many! Back to the training at hand!
ONWARD!
4 comments:
Congrats on the swimming PR!!
I heard the bike course was a biatch.
keep on keepin' on!
Maggie
Hon, I am so sorry that you had a bad experience. Coach Ed tried to encourage me to do this course but after he talked about how incredibly difficult it was, I simply refused. I admire your courage in attempting this ridiculously brutal course.
Way to go on the swim! I'm inspired by you yet again. Wow!
You are amazing for giving Black Bear a try. I'm sure the experience made you stronger. Don't let this get you down. You're going to CONQUER IMLP!
your swim is swimmingly fast. your stroke must be getting better.
Challenging doesn't begin to describe Black Bear. Good on you for having the courage to sign up, toe the line, and give it your all.
As always, learn from this race and take away the good, i.e. swim, nutrition, etc. That's why we do these "little" races before the big event.
Ever ONWARD!
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