Signed up for Ironman South Africa 2015

I believe I mentioned in my last post that I am taking 2014 off from Ironman training.  I've been very happy with that decision.  My "big" race for the year will be Timberman, and the thought of training for "just" a half is so, so much less daunting than a full.  3 hour bike rides?  45 minute swims?  No problem.  And also the feeling that every little run will help, and I don't have to somehow make it through 26 miles. 

Last weekend I actually did a little race.  Half the reason I did it at all was because it happened to fall on my birthday, and I'd never done a race on my birthday.  Since usually I do pretty much nothing outside of normal training on my birthday, it seemed like a fun alternative.  It was a very small Olympic distance race in a part of New Hampshire I'd never been in before.  Or at least I don't think I had.  The weather was gorgeous and it was a nice, very small and low key event.  There was also a sprint, and a duathlon, and I think an aquabike option for both distances.  The longer race was also the smaller one, so with only 40-something of us, it was actually a mass start swim which was kind of fun.  The lake was the perfect temperature, and nice and clean and a course that was easy to follow.  I managed to be 5th out of the water.  As usual, I was way too slow for the fast people (I think the top 4 all came out at least 3 minutes before I did) and too fast for the average people.  I think I'm forever doomed to swim in no-man's land. 

The bike was actually 30 miles which is a little long, and since I didn't do my homework I didn't realize how long it was going to be until I showed up and looked at the map.  Not that that's a big deal, but I probably should've brought along another energy gel.  I raced without any data whatsoever.  No watch, no Garmin, no bike computer.  It was kind of nice.  The ride was fun and went by fairly quickly.  I probably could've pushed harder, but since I am officially a terrible runner, I figured I was better off not completely destroying any chance to at least kind of, sort of run. 

Off the bike and onto the run course, I think it was good not to know how slow I was going.  I've had once again some pretty interrupted training over the spring with the back issue and minor surgery over the winter, so mostly I just wanted to "run" and get through it.  Wow, I was slow.  And that course was very lonely.  But of course I got through it, and the good news is that if you lack the capacity to run anything resembling "fast" then you don't get blisters and you're not sore at all afterward.  So I've bounced back nicely.  That race also proved that if you find a small enough race you can always manage to place.  I came in third.  Out of all of ten women.  And I won a tri top, size small.  I'm not trying to put myself down, but I'm definitely not a small.  Oh, well, it was a fun morning.  And that's how I spent my birthday. 

July looks to be empty of races but will consist of some training and the annual trip up to Lake Placid to train, coach, and generally have a fun time hanging out with a lot of my friends.  And today I officially signed up to race in South Africa in 2015.  The race is at the end of March, which will make the winter.... interesting.  But I think this will be good for me.  I've never raced internationally.  Actually, I've only ever left the country once, on a family trip to Ireland way back in 1999.  I've got some friends who brought up the idea of making a big trip out of it, and you know what?  Why not?  How often do you get to go to South Africa?  I'm guessing just the once, so I can't wait to make the most of that.  Also, race entry fees there are about $200 cheaper than your average Ironman.  So it also has that going for it. 

Other than that, weather has been good, lots of lake swimming and enjoying sun.  Looking forward to a good summer of not Ironman training, before I have to spend the whole winter very much Ironnan training.