Branson 70.3 - Sept 19, 2010

the day started out as you might expect, up at 4:30am to eat breakfast and then head down to the water and our bikes..... Karen (Happy Birthday - race day was her birthday!) and I look pretty relaxed.



Thank goodness for teammates - would've been a lot harder to get in that water without a pat on the back (and a hug!) from Susie!


Well, there were positives and negatives last Sunday during the race for sure -
the highlights? swim time and blood sugars
the lowlights? brutal bike course and not finishing the race

Highlights first!
I took almost 5.5 minutes off my last timed 1.2 mile swim race (2 weeks prior)! My last race was 1:00:04. Branson's 1.2 mile swim was 54:39!
My blood sugar going into the water was 124, out of the water was 160. An hour into the bike - 136. Two hours into the bike - 153. Three hours into the bike - 167. End of the bike was an expected 251. Correction made and down to 204 in an hour!



Now the lowlights....
The bike had 5000 vertical feet of climbing and took me FIVE hours. Which didn't leave enough time for me to slowly limp through the 'run' which was more of a walk, it appeared, for most of the participants. I 'quit' after mile 5 and headed back around and through the finish line.

My blood sugars after I cut my basal for after-race insulin sensitivity - 251 and finished at 204. I can't believe how good they were still! This gives me great confidence in the 140.6 mile distance of the full Ironman that I will be completing next fall! :)




The team did some teamy goodness events - like the old time photos!!


*A year from now you'll see a picture of me crossing the finish line at Ironman Wisconsin on September 11. 2011 (my niece's 21st birthday!)*

--but for now (I did go for a short bicycle ride this morning) I will NOT swim, bike or run competitively... only short, fun stints in those 3 sports as I now am preparing for ski season by taking out my mountain bike - will post pictures of blood from that soon enough (I'm guessing)