Black Diamond Half Ironman - Meh day for me, but good result.

After the lack lustre half iron in July I thought for sure I was ready to rip it up in Enumclaw, WA for the Black Diamond half iron.  Not so much.  Well, let me clarify, I was 6th woman overall and 2nd in my age group, but placing is completely relative so I never use it to measure success.  I felt good on the swim.  Thought for sure it would be a good time, but when I looked at my watch as I crawled out of Deep Lake and saw 37:07 I couldn't help but mutter, "WTF?!".  Oh well, swimming has never been my strong point, moving on to the bike.  

Legs felt heavy right away, "oh crap" I thought, this is going to be a LOOOOONG day.  I decided to hammer regardless and told my legs to "SHUT-UP!" a-la Jens Voigt.  The course was fast at points, but numerous turnarounds, some deceptive false flats and small rollers and a dropped bag full of Pit Stop and a $100 tubular slowed my pace a bit.  I expected more from myself on this bike course, but felt like I gave it all I could on the day.  At least the legs finally came around at the 2hr mark.  I came in off the bike in 4th with some strong runners right behind me, two of which were in my age group.  

Breaking the run up into 30 min segments helped me to keep focused for most of the run.  There were two out and backs (hills might I add) that we had to do twice - brutal.  Each time though I would see the only other woman wearing a Betty Designs kit and we would each yell out, "good job Betty!".  I also got a compliment on my hat from the woman running in first place.  My fashion choices seemed to be making up for the lack of ANYTHING in my legs.  I felt pretty good during the run, the legs weren't too bad, just a bit heavy.  I tried to pick up the pace a few times, but my brain said no and my legs listened.  I decided to just gut it out and not let any other women in my age group pass me.  I kept my eye on the one that was 100m ahead and never let her get any further.  I had no idea where I was in the placing, but figured if I learned anything from this race it should be how to fight to the bitter end.  I waited until the last 2km that was on a trail around the lake.  I reeled the chick in and as Jeff has told me numerous times, I waited for a section where she was slowing and I could hammer by; on a downhill is where she slowed for some reason, so I went!  S*&#!  I thought, too early!  There is still 1.5km to go, but I told my brain to STFU and let my legs go and just ran as fast as I could for the final km.  I looked behind a few times and there was no one there, but I couldn't let up just in case.  I crossed the line in a pathetic time of 5:25 (yes time is relative to each person, it's a good time, but not for me at this point in the season) and had no idea what my placing was and didn't care - just get me a beer people!  

After a quick dunk in the lake to refresh it was off to the beer and food tent.  One thing is for sure, AA Sports does this event RIGHT!  Each competitor got two free beers, a huge plate of food (salad, fruits, rice, pulled pork and even strawberry shortcake with whip cream!), a giant medal and a nice finisher shirt.  As I crammed the shortcake down my gullet and enjoyed the beer Jeff milled around the results table waiting to find out his placing.  Turns out he biked and ran his way into 5th overall and 2nd in his age group with a 4:48!!  While my time wasn't as stellar, our placings were pretty much the same so we collected our hardware and headed home all the while already planning to come back next year :)

Bought TWO new tri suits oh, and I did a half iron

Figured I would continue on with my theme of buying stuff and sort of combine it with a race summary.  I have been coveting Betty Designs tri outfits for awhile, but it's a popular brand and has really taken off over the last couple of years so it's hard to get my size and style that I want.  I opted for an early season choice of the FLY outfit from Smashfestqueen in the interim.  They happen to use the same manufacturer for their products so it was also a good chance to test out the sizing before snagging a Betty Design suit as soon as they were back in stock.  Here's the FLY outfit in it's premier at the Subaru Vancouver Half Ironman:

survived the worst swim mass start I have ever partaken in; even stopped to tread water for a few seconds to shake my head, get my breath and mutter a few, "what the f&*% people!?"

"How many more times am I riding up this hill?!"

The outfit held up really well and got a lot of compliments! It was the only one out on the course - I love to be as original as possible and in a sport where most options for womens' clothing are pink or flowery, there are finally some great alternatives.  Not that I am all about style, in fact, first and foremost is comfort and practicality.  There were zero chafing incidents and almost no time spent fidgeting.  The top does tend to ride up a bit on the waist, but with a small bag in the back pocket during the run it seemed to be weighted down and I had no issues.  About the only thing I could make a small complaint about is the bra top.  There is virtually no support and unless you are an A cup this will not suffice.  This is the manufacturer Squadra, not Smashfestqueen.  I love the design of this outfit and will continue to wear it in training and racing.

Ok, back to the race.  The swim was ok, except for the crazy crowding and ensuing pummeling by fellow athletes.  I would like to have finished a minute or so faster, but counting the several times I treaded water to get out of the pummeling I would guess my minute is in there somewhere.  The bike was good, I pushed a bit harder than last year.  The no pass zones became a real nuisance because I am a stickler for rules so I strictly adhered and did not pass, but by the 2nd of 4 laps the Olympic and Sprint athletes were now on the course and the no pass zones became some sort of "break time" where people would sit up and cruise for several minutes.  Frustrating, but part of the race so I just used it for nutrition and stretching.  Onto the run I felt pretty good and was shooting for a solid pace, which I held for the first 6km until a brutal side stitch smacked me in the face and said, "hell no, not today, muwahahaha!!"  The next 12km were a combo of slower paced running and walking/stretching to get rid of the stinkin' stitch.   Finally I ditched the stinkin' stitch around 17km and was able to pick up the pace and run my last 4km faster than the first.  Not a great run, but all said and done I will take the 5:24 overall.  Funny how relative things are, last year I did a 5:13 at the same race and placed 2nd, year before a 5:27 got me something like 15th, this year I was 8th.  Not that I worry about placing, just a good example of why people shouldn't care too much about it.

Not long after this race my Betty Designs Tattoo tri top and shorts came and I was not disappointed!  Hello Bitches!:

Ride up Mt. Baker with the husband.  I earned the name Heatherto Contador after this ride haha.

A week later I thought I would really shake things up and wear the top and hat combo in the half marathon.  Let's just say I still have to sort out a firm little bra for underneath cause nipple chafage is effin' brutal!!  

While the SeaWheeze was a bit fru fru for my taste (everyone in matching clown shorts was a bit much), it was a great event, challenging course and the rewards at the end were the best I have ever seen (earbuds, essential oils, medal made of wood, blueberry waffles).

This will be my go to outfit for Cozumel in December.  Now that that is out of the way I can finally focus on training - Phew! ;)