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SRRC Race Reports

Lake Anna Half Ironman: Lake Anna, VA—September 24, 2005
by Catalina Gomolka

The weather was perfect for my first half ironman--cool and overcast, no humidity.  The race started a bit late.  It was supposed to start at 7:00 a.m., but my wave didn't start until 7:40. The swim was really nice--the water was 78 degrees, and the lake was much cleaner than the others that I have swum in this year.

I wore my wet suit and felt great the entire time. It was a triangular swim, which was a nice surprise. I had originally heard that it was an out and back swim course, and I really hate those. It seems like you are swimming forever. This was nice and seemed short. I took my time. By my watch, it looks like I did it in about 35 minutes, which was really good for me!

The transition went well.  To get to the start of the bike course, however, you have to carry your bike up two grassy hills. Why do they always complicate things?

Once at the bike start, I mounted my bike and started the 56 miles. The roads were freshly paved, so that made the ride very smooth, and for the most part, the ride was good. My right hamstring was tight the whole time, and it had been for the past week. I was afraid that it would cramp up, but it didn't. The bike didn't seem too long. I have no idea what I think about when I am out there, but the time seems to go by fairly quickly. The course was two loops. At the end of each loop they threw in this killer hill. Again--why do they do these things? It was a tough and long hill. When I was almost done with my second loop, all I could think about was how I still had that big hill to go. I made it, though. Overall, Rolling Hills would be the accurate term. I think next time, I will have to do more hill training. My time was about 3:45.

At the end of the bike, I felt pretty tired and had no clue how I was going to run a half marathon. That was not my plan. I expected to get off the bike and maybe start feeling some pain around mile 6 or 7.  I am not sure what I did wrong. Maybe I tapered too much, or I should have done more 60 milers with the 60 minute run afterwards. I guess you live and you learn.

I got off the bike and got ready to run. The run was 75% up hill. It was awful. The mile markers were also all mixed, between the bike and the two run loops, so the only way that I could really tell where I was was to estimate my pace. I kept a 10 min/mile pace during the first loop.  I walked some during the second loop. I really didn't want to, but I was in serious pain. For a bit, I didn't know if I could do it. I kept on telling myself that this was like running the second half of a marathon, that I've done it before, and the pain was only temporary. It was really a battle of the mind at that point. I finished the run in 2:30.

The entire race took just under 7 hours.  I was happy because I kept the pace that I wanted in the swim and the bike. I was off in the run by 15 minutes, but that is nothing considering that I walked some and felt pretty bad during the entire run.

I am glad that I did this. I really enjoyed training, and it is a good feeling to know that I did it. I am not sure if I want to do another one. Right after the race, I said, "No way." Today, I am leaning towards doing another one, but this time I will pick a better half ironman--a bigger one with more crowds and even a finish line. The finish line in this race was a bunch of cones and a table--no FINISH sign, no big crowd. During the entire race, it was just me--very lonely but truly a race against myself.

 

September 2005

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