Viking Man Half Ironman (Race Day)

Allen coming across the finish line
Total time: 7 hours 11 minutes
As Ashley (member of the club) came across the finish line her boy friend (Matt) purposed

Nice nails Ashley! Oh ya, and nice ring too!

It happened, it really happened! Lindsey and I finished!

Allen and Noreen (Alive and smiling)

Well, I made it. It took me 8 hours and 51 minutes. I truly thought that I would get the race done under 8 hours but gave myself a cushion. Apparently the cushion wasn't big enough. The weather was so bad!

Swim: Allen - 44 min 11 sec Noreen - 48 min 06 sec
We checked out the river (Snake River, ID) last night and there were white caps. We thought for sure that the wind would calm down but when we got there it was worse. There were more white caps and the waves were still being blown against the current. I got dressed in my wetsuit and headed down to the river. As I got closer, I was adjusting my wetsuit, pulling up my sleeves so I could have a nice relaxed stroke and RIP! My right shoulder seam burst open (looks like I'll be getting a new wetsuit). When we got in the water it was soooo cold. As soon as I started swimming, I lost my breath and had a panic attach. I have never had that happen before. I thought about pulling out of the race right then and there. It was so bad. But I was able to calm myself down. It took me somewhere between 5-10 minutes before I was able to feel confident enough to continue on. As I was swimming I looked up to sight and saw Lindsey. She had a look of panic on her face. I asked her if she was okay and she said that she had just taken eight big gulps of water in a row and wasn't doing to well. After talking to her for a while I asked if she wanted to draft. She agreed and I took off swimming. I'm not sure where I lost her but when I looked up to sight again I saw Sabrina. I asked if she was okay. She is a much faster swimmer then I am. She said she was okay so I kept swimming. I just sighted off of her for the rest of the swim. The waves were so big that it was hard to tell where we were going. I have never drank so much water during a race. It was so bad.

T1: Allen - 6 min 56 sec Noreen - 9 min 30 sec
By the time I got out of the water I had lost all feeling in both my hands and my feet. I was able to take off my wetsuit but it wasn't easy or fast. The hardest part was putting on my socks, gloves and zipping up my shirt. But the thing that was the hardest was putting on my helmet. I had to have Kim buckle it for me. I couldn't see or feel it. By the time I was done in T1 Allen was out of the water and ready to bike so we left T1 together.

Bike: Allen - 3 hours 36 min Noreen - 4 hours 35 min
Allen and I rode together for a while, then he took off. The wind was still blowing strong. I had gloves on but without feeling in my fingers shifting was close to imposable. I wanted to eat some gu but I couldn't get my fingers to open the bento box. All that keeps it closed is a little strip of Velcro. The wind was so strong that I couldn't let go of the handle bars for longer then 15 seconds at a time. I knew I had to pace myself but I felt like I was still putting out a decent amount of energy. I was trying to determine how far I had gone when I saw a mile marker coming up. I had decided that I had gone somewhere between 20-24 miles. When I got close enough to read the sign I just started laughing. I had only gone 10 miles. I knew at that moment that this was going to be the longest 56 mile bike ride in my life. The wind was just killing me. I did have a good pick me up when Lindsey came behind me and patted me on the butt. It's hard to ride by yourself. She said that she was going to stick with me the rest of the race because she would rather have a slower time and do it with someone then do it by herself. We drafted off each other as best as we could. With that wind it was hard to draft. We sang songs and played games with the cows. Every aid station we got off our bikes and stretched out. My lower back and butt were killing me. There was one time that we even got chased by a couple of dogs. We were on our bikes for over 4 hours. OUCH!

T2: Allen - 3 min 03 sec Noreen - ?
We (Lindsey and I) took our sweet time in T2. I ate a bar and laid around trying to stretched out my back. It didn't feel windy in T2 so I took off my jacket. Bad idea!

Run: Allen - 2 hours 41 min Noreen - 3 hours 25 min
As soon as I got to mile 1 I regretted not having my jacket. I was okay and upbeat until mile 3 but then I got depressed. My body was so tired and I didn't know if I could make it to the end. Lindsey convinced me that we were going to make it and we walked and jogged for the next mile. Then I broke down and started crying as I told Lindsey just to leave me and finish the race strong. When I started crying my through started to close up making it hard to breath and I had to calm myself down again. She refused to leave me. For the remainder 10 miles we did more walking then running. What a physical and emotional draining day! WOW!

Total times:
Allen: 7 hours 11 minutes
Noreen: 8 hours 51 minutes
Lindsey: 8 hours 51 minutes
Sabrina: 7 hours 57 minutes
Kim: 9 hours 18 minutes

After relaxing and getting in the hot tub, Lindsey, Allen and I went out for a nice steak dinner. I think we were all to tired to enjoy it.

PS the winds got up to 35 mph