Tackling Muncie



Spewage
I've never gotten emotional crossing a finish line.

Until now.

The occasion was the Muncie Endurathon, my second attempt at my first half-ironman distance tri, consisting of a 1.2-mile swim, a 56-mile bike, and a 13.1-mile run. My goal was to finish under seven hours, and I came close enough to be very satisfied with my time.

Since this was my first half-ironman, my goal was simply to finish feeling strong and pain-free. To that end, I really tried to pace myself and not push too hard too soon. This distance was completely new territory for me, so I just listened to my body.

Two very special people were there to support me, Paula and Shirley. Shirley flew up from Houston and was my unofficial photographer.

At the ungodly hour of 5 a.m., I resisted the urge to hit "snooze" and got up. Ate instant oatmeal, banana, and muscle milk with 30g protien, and drank a Costco-brand slim-fast in transition. Wondered what this experience would be like. My warmup consisted of multiple trips to the restroom and the walk from car to transition.

The Swim

This is definitely not a speed-demon race report...the race began with a very slow swim. I was hoping for 50-55 minutes, but was really thrown off by the strong chop that was pushing everyone north. Unfortunately the course was east-west, so everyone was constantly sighting and adjusting. After an hour of swimming, finally got out of the water and headed for transition, talking to Paula and Shirley along the way.

T1

Wow, I peed and changed in four minutes? I'll take it. Walked most of the loooong way from water to transition, then sped it up. Sucked down a gel. Next time I'll try to save time by peeing in the water instead of transition ;-)

The Bike

Because I was so slow in the water, my timing on the bike WRT weather was, well, a bit of a suckfest (I wasn't fast enough to miss out on the worst of the weather). The headwinds were brutal for the entire first 28 miles. The "tailwind" was disappointing, as it was mitigated by a nasty crosswind. I was hopeful the torrential downpour that began at mile 23 might tame the winds a bit, but no luck. Nonetheless, I was very, very pleased with my bike. I have done minimal training on it, and my longest ride this year was 30 miles. My goal, remember, was to feel good and not hurt. Didn't enjoy the crotch-beating patched section of road around miles 51-53, though. Yikes. Nutrition was Perpetuem (sp?) in the water bottle, half a power bar, two gels.

Couldn't believe it when I rode up to the dismount and saw crazy Shirley, trying to take pictures in the pouring rain. Paula had long since bailed to somewhere dry!

T2

I was completely unaware that my right shoe was bumping a nerve or something until I got off the bike and could barely plant my right foot. Would have taken the thing off but didn't want to put a mud-coated sock into my running shoe, so limped to my very wet transition area. Thankfully the pain went away as soon as the shoe came off.

Transition was soggy. Very soggy. Did I mention that it was soggy? Had to laugh when I picked up my running shoes and they weighed about five pounds more than normal. Well, at least the rain kept me cool! Sucked down a gel, put on soggy shoes, and left. At least there was no need to waste time drying off anything.

The Run

Shins finally stopped screaming after 1.5 miles or so. Had to walk/stretch until then. Sheer agony. Finally they let go and I could begin the run, er, trudge. Didn't think "oh geez, now I have to do a half-marathon." Instead, focused on getting to the turnaround. The brain handled that much better. Alternated walking/trudging, and did ok. After initial pain, felt fine, just tired. They kept moving the finish line the last mile, though! Took gel at miles 5 and 9.

The water stops were plentiful, and it was amazing how many volunteers were standing out in the pouring rain, and still smiling! Their moral support was truly helpful.

Finally crossed the finish line at 7:12:04. Boy was it good to see Paula and Shirley standing there! The race photographer had long since packed up and left, about which I am still cranky. There were quite a few of us (I was NOT last!) that have no finisher's pictures, which is very disappointing. Shirley's flash card decided to blow up, and recovery software didn't rescue all the pics she took, so I'm S-O-L on the finish photos.

Oh well, it felt amazing to finish and feel so good. It was a bit overwhelming to realize that six years ago I literally couldn't run four blocks without needing an I.V., and here I was completing a 70.3 mile race with no real suckage! Usually during a longer race, there's a point where you question your sanity and reasons for doing this to yourself: I had none of those.

I can't eat solid food for about an hour after exercising hard, so I enjoyed a nice massage. On the way back home, Shirley and Paula were patient while I whined for coffee. Everyone in the car (including myself) was grateful that rain had washed off most of the stink. The hot shower at home was sheer heaven.

Followed the Beer-Aided Recovery Plan. Had no pain the next day (Sunday), was walking normally, and did a nice four-mile jog Monday. Fabulous!