Amber's Race Report - I am a Half Ironman!

Today was truly a great day! This was the race that I have been working towards since October and I couldn't have been happier with the results - it would have been awesome to be sub 5 hours 30 minutes, but considering that I honestly thought I would be done in 6 hours, I really surprised myself - even looked at the clock at the finish line twice to be sure! I guess it goes to show that hard work and training do pay off - it was a great feeling arriving this morning and knowing I was ready - thank-you Coach Noa!

Swim
Shawnigan Lake two weeks ago was my first open water swim start and I couldn't have started in a worse position - in the middle of the pack which resulted in being swum over by a bunch of people. I'll post a Youtube video that will give you an idea of what these swims are like. But... back to this morning - a great swim! Started on the edge, rode someone's wake to the first buoy, then fended for myself for a bit and then joined back up with the traffic for the sprint to the beach. Official swim time: 34 minutes, 10 seconds

T1
Pretty good although I did spend at least 5 minutes in the water wondering if I should have put clear lenses in my sunglasses because it was pretty cloudy. Tried jamming my gels into the bottom of my shorts and seemed to work well. Time: 2 min 31 seconds

Bike
I knew that this was not my forte so rode the first lap fairly easy but keeping a steady pace. Ride was great except for the occassional segments of heavy rain that filled my shoes with water and for one milisecond made me wonder "What the hell am I doing out here in my bathing suit in this weather?!?". The bad weather didn't last and the second loop was good. My Argon is definitely a speed machine with the SRAM Wheels - it feels great to go fast! Official bike time: 3 hours, 3.36 seconds

T2
Under 1 minutes (56:56) - nice and fast - wish I had brought another pair of socks because they were soaking wet from the bike. Oh well - no time to worry about it - time to run!

Run
The run was really great. Felt really strong coming off the bike and settled into a steady pace. By now the sun had come out and I was focused on watching the route so as not to get caught by any of the roots. Something must have been wrong with my timing chip because it said I did the run in 55 min which is impossible (it was 20 km long), but I know that I was well under 2 hours which was a great accomplishment. Most importantly finished strong and felt great.

Official 1/2 Ironman Final Time: 5 hours 32.24 minutes