Well this was it!!! I had been training for months – My first Half Ironman Triathlon. I had done some small ones, yet every time I thought about the Half it was like “my god that’s more than double the distance than I have done so far” Race morning was here and after the usual breaky etc I arrived at the transition and went through my routine and making sure I had everything with me from the swim to bike and the run, except this time I think I went through it about 10times! Finally it was time to head for the start line – a final good luck kiss and hug from my wife off I went. (I didn’t want to stick around as everyone’s emotions started to surface, I may very well have ended up a sobbing mess). I had enough time for a small warm up and to put myself in what I thought was a good position for the swim (eg not too far to the front so I wouldn’t get smashed). Okay Vanders here we go I said to myself, one more look out to sea and the gun went off. The swim was good and after a few minutes of getting kicked, punched and scratched like never before I managed to find either clear water or a good set of feet to hang onto for the whole swim. The first turn came slightly quicker than I thought and the small swell that was running seemed to make the swim back to shore that little bit more bearable. After making it out of the water and finding my feet I managed to get a reasonably trouble free transition and was on the bike. All I could hear for the whole bloody 90km were these 2 voices in my head (and you know who you are!!!) they were saying over and over “don’t go too hard on the bike” The bike was quite enjoyable. I could just get into a rhythm for the first half of the bike as there was not too much traffic, yet the longer I was on the course the more concentration it took to keep out of the marshals sights due to increased people to contend with. Lucky for me I only got a warning. Okay Paul here comes the run. I remember thinking “Gee I hope my legs work after 90kms” as they definitely felt like they had been used. Transition 2 was swift and trouble free and I was on the last stage. My aim was to get into a tempo and it didn’t take too long and after washing down yet another gel I was almost finished the first lap. It was time to see how the legs go and try and maintain what I was doing. Pain was starting to set into the legs by the end of the second lap and even my mind games such as slapping the hand of spectators and fellow competitors was not taking my mind off the fact that the legs just wanted to stop. I vividly remember seeing the shade of the summer dress ladies (you know who I’m talking about if you saw those ladies) on the last lap. This meant the finish was near and so I thought “okay the sooner I get there the better” I put my head down and picked up the pace (even if it was ever so slight). The finish was excellent, I ran into that chute and thought, yeehhaaa I have done it! The crowd was great and it was even better to see that clock with a time under 5 hours as I passed beneath it. Paul Vanderweide |
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