Figured it was about time to get a race report on here. We headed down to Sandusky on Friday after Henry’s bed time. We decided to put his pj’s on him and hoped he would sleep most/all of the way. Starting off the weather wasn’t bad, but once we got into Ohio the rain really started coming down. Progress was slow, but we managed to find our way to Hotel Breakers at Cedar Point a little after midnight.

Hallow-weekends were starting up soon and they had already put up decorations in the hotel. We pulled up to the entrance (we weren’t sure and had to go by twice before stopping). It was super eerie, there was no one around, the doors were wide open and the green lighting and Halloween decorations were more than a little spooky.

After getting checked in, we got Henry and his stuff into the room so he could at least attempt to sleep (apparently he doesn’t like sleeping in new places). We stayed in the Snoopy Suites and although they were a little outdated, it was pretty nice.

Saturday we hopped on the shuttle bus (with my bike) and headed over to registration. I got my stuff only to find out they didn’t include a swim cap. We had to wait around for awhile so they could find a yellow one (only color I didn’t have with me in my transition bag). I got my bike set up, watched a little of the new coaster and headed back to the hotel.

Susan tried to get Henry to take a nap while I headed back to transition for an athlete’s meeting. It was pretty neat, since Rev3 is merging with Challenge Family, they gave out a TON of free stuff. I managed to get a Knoxville visor, which is cool because the one I had was stretched out and didn’t fit me anymore. I was suppose to get a Knoxville shirt as well, but they weren’t able to find one that fit me. It was a pretty fun meeting though.

Sunday morning was kind of crazy. Henry didn’t sleep much so that meant we didn’t sleep much. The weather wasn’t too bad, partially cloudy and quite a bit of wind. My race started an hour after the full, so I thought I had plenty of time to get ready. I went down to transition to drop off my gear and forgot to grab my bike nutrition. The transition area was a little over a half mile from the hotel. I got a good warm-up going back and forth over the beach sand!

I had some Gatorade, grabbed my wetsuit and headed to the start area. I had a little bit of time, so I decided to squeeze into my wetsuit and try to swim a little before the start. I was not prepared for the waves on Lake Eerie. They were probably in the range of 5-8 foot big. I knew sighting would be an issue, but it was too late to pull out now.

They called out my wave and we headed into the water. It wasn’t long before the gun was off and we were heading out for the first buoy. I felt like I was swimming up and going air-born on the way down the wave. Up and down, up and down, I got pretty nauseous and thought I was going to puke for sure. Once we got to the turn buoy, things weren’t as bad. Then I rounded the last turn buoy and going with the waves was a little more fun. I could also sight off the coasters and that made it a lot easier.

Getting out of the water, I had my wetsuit down to my waist quickly and I headed over towards the wetsuit strippers. They had my suit off in no time and I started making my way to my bike.

My plan was to carry all my nutrition and hydration and not worrying about picking up either on the course. I had three bottles of Gatorade and two packs of powerbar gel chews. I ended up grabbing a bottle of water near the end of the bike.

The bike course wasn’t too bad, there were a couple of hills, but for the most part it was pretty flat. The wind was a bit of an issue going out, but I managed to hit my goal time. I had a few miles left when I ran out of chews and was looking forward to the banana I had left in transition.

It was the best squishy banana I had ever eaten! I racked my bike, slipped on my running shoes, and jogged out for my “run”.

I can’t really call it a run as I was only able to run the first mile or so. Every time I tried to run, my legs started cramping out horribly (I wasn’t sure if I was going to finish the half-marathon). Every mile I had to keep motivating myself to just put one foot in front of the other and not to worry about how long it would take me to finish my first half-ironman distance race.

When I got to the parking lot, near the finish line, Susan and Henry were waiting for me and started to cheer me on. A wave of emotion hit me and it was pretty awesome to carry Henry across the finish line.

I’m not sure if I would do another one, but I’m glad I was able to finish this race! If I had to sum it in one sentence, it would go something like this, “I was happy to get out of the water, excited to get off the bike, and almost cried when I crossed the finish line!”