Syracuse 70.3

Going into this race, I had such a poor feeling.  The weekend prior was Bill's Ironman race in Wisconsin.  The kids and I had gone with him to cheer him on.  It of course was a long day for Bill, but also for us.  Being a spectator is not easy... I was actually sore from standing so long and holding Dahlia up so much.  Plus the travel and feeling that my taper was too long, my expectations weren't as high as I had hoped for my last big race of the year. 

But the unease went away once I was racing and I really enjoyed the swim and the bike.  There was a good hill soon after the bike started, and there on the hill were Cadence and Bill all dressed up with masks and wigs, hooting and hollering... Cadence screamed "Go Mom Go" and a few riders around me were laughing and someone said "Better get going mom"  The bike was through foothills in fog and drizzle.  Up hill in the beginning and then fairly fast, it was nice to just watch my average speed getting faster as the km clicked by.  One final riser before the bike finish, and Cadence and Bill were cheering again, I seemed to soak up their energy.  Then I put down my best 1/2 ironman run of the season.  I prefer an out and back run, so that you get to see more competitors and it wasn't nearly as scenic as the bike, but I enjoyed all the chalk messages on the road.

Unfortunately one of the downsides to this inaugural race was that Bill and Cadence couldn't get out of the park where transition was, to come to the finish.  The logistics of the site also caused a traffic jam before the race started, so that they actually delayed the race start.  A couple little quirks that way, but otherwise a nice race.

I ended up doing my fastest 1/2 ironman time at 5:30 and was 17th in my age group.  Just goes to show what the mind can do.  Wonder if my lousy feeling prior to the race was just nerves or how I managed to ignore them and get the job done? But glad it worked