Brenda Ross - Patriot Half Race Report
Headed up to Connecticut on Thursday afternoon to stay with Kim "stop signs are optional" Dubord and her lovely family (Sherri, Kona, Maggie and Greta). I arrived at 7pm. Had dinner, picked up some stuff at the store and settled down for the evening.
Friday called for a 30minute bike and run. Kim promised me cows. In order to see them we had to extend our bike to 1hour (oopsy). She got her nickname above, because she ran every stop sign we came up to. Thankfully she stopped at the stop lights. We had a nice run on the trail close to her house and then showered, ate dinner and settled down for the evening. Bed time was 9:30pm with a wake time of 3:15am 
Kim lives approximately 2 hours away from the race sight, so in order to get a good parking spot, have time to pick up our kit and get our transition set up, we had to leave at that ungodly hour. Travel down was good. Had a large coffee to start my morning and then about 5minutes before we got into the parking lot I ate the refridgerator oatmeal I made the evening before (oatmeal, almond milk, chia seeds, almonds and craisins).
When we got into transtiion we had the pleasure of being racked beside Heidi and Brad Marcus. Michelle Swanson and former member Antoinette found us were we exchanged hugs and good lucks. Even got a visit from Michelle (did not get her last name) who is a team mate as well.
I like to make sure I know where the run in, bike out, bike in and run out are, so I found an official and did a walk through. I overhead people saying the water was warm, so I decided to forgo a warm-up swim, but I accompanied Kim down to the water for her hers, then we made our way over to the swim start. Michelle Swanson and I were in the swim wave together. I really liked how the swim started. Two at a time. Least amount of contact I have ever had during a HIM swim. I did get a little off course during the swim, but overall I am happy.
Swim: 46:05 2:11/100yrds 27/41 AG
When I came out of the swim I saw Brad in transition. We exchanged some thoughts while peeling off our suits and getting ready to ride. I guess he got a bit off track as well ( I see a theme here - apparently Michelle Swanson did as well)
T1: 3:11
When I was up in Boston for the marathon with Steve, me, Michelle, Kim and some others road the bike course, so I was familiar with what I was up against. The first 3 miles has lot of turns, so I just thought of that time as admin and waited for my chance to get some speed. The first loop was very crowded. It reminded me of the 70.3 Tremblant race. I spent a lot of time and energy making sure that I was not drafting, so that meant tons of passing. My goal was to ride at .80-.82 IF which is 137-140 watts. I was a bit higher than that on the first loop. The second loop was not as crowded so I pulled back a bit to save some for the run. I decided to wear my bike jersey over my tri top, which after the first loop seemed like a mistake, but I rectified that situation by taking water at the aid stations and poored it on me.First time I have ever used an aid station (yup, not even in an IM), but I remembered what the coaches said about them...point to the volunteer and look over your shoulder to see if there is a rider, move in, take the object, shoulder check and move out. BOOM! Nailed it.
Bike: Lap 1: 1:25:45 19.6mph
Lap 2: 1:28:30 19.0mph
Finishing time: 2:54:14 (PR of 4min) 19.3mph/ IF .83 7/41AG
T2: Uneventful. 4:49 (had to go to the bathroom)
Next up was the run. My running has been going okay. I am not running as much as is assigned in the Int. HIM plan, but that is a decision Coach Patrick and I made at the beginning of the plan, due to my work schedule. I also was a bit nervous about the run, because last year I had diaphram cramping on the run that was brutal, but I have been working on stretching out that area of my body and it seems to be helping, so I thought I would start out at a 10min mile and then see how things progressed. This is where Patrick's bag made an appearance. He gave me one when I was in LP at the camp and since it was hot out I thought it was a good time to try it out. I used the baggie at IM Chattanooga so I was eager to see if there was a difference.
Within the first 1.5 Heidi passed me. We exchanged some kind words and off she went. I did the 1mile walk breaks were I filled the bag with ice and took a couple of sips of Gatorade. By mile 4 or was it 5 I was starting to pick up my pace and passed Heidi. The baggie was working great as was my decisions to take it easy for the first little bit. As the ice would melt I could squeeze the bag and release the water over my face and neck. When the bag got filled it cooled my hand. It was easy to hold (felt like holding a gel). At mile 6 I took a gel and continued to feel better and better. My last two miles were my fasted of the day. I am pleased to say I did not get one cramp but I can not say the same for the blisters on my wet feet 
Run:2:03:41 9:23mile 8/41AG
Bag is in my right hand. So small you can not even see it 
Finishing time: 5:51:59 10/41AG 7min PR
Next up Delta Triathlon. Plan - get faster!!!!!
Comments
Top ten baby! Awesome! You are such a strong runner I am not surprised one bit you only got faster and faster! Congrats on that shiny new PR woman! You have worked hard and around al those jobs of your and you have been rewarded!!! (((hugs)))
PS...I want my bag to show up before Muncie!!!! Ima gonna need that puppy!
Well done Brenda!